BLOOMINGTON — Twenty months had passed since Ali Patberg last played in a meaningful basketball game, but it had been a lot longer than that since the former Columbus North star had been in the role she was Wednesday night.
Patberg scored 16 points and led Indiana University with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 68-66 season-opening win against Milwaukee at Assembly Hall. All were career highs.
“I felt good out there,” Patberg said. “I was ready to go. My coaches and teammates, we worked hard, and they prepared me for this.”
The journey to Wednesday night has been a long one for Patberg. After winning Miss Basketball and McDonald’s All-American honors after leading North to the 2015 Class 4A state title, she headed for Notre Dame.
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Patberg played well in a scrimmage her freshman year at Notre Dame, but then tore an ACL before the first game and missed the entire season. She came back the next year, but played only 7.7 minutes a game in 22 games, leading her to transfer to IU.
Last year, Patberg had to sit out because of NCAA transfer rules. But she got to practice with a Hoosiers team that won the WNIT championship.
Patberg showed a glimpse of what she could do when she put up nine points and four rebounds and led the team with eight assists and two steals in 36 minutes in Friday’s 78-52 exhibition win against Northwood.
“I don’t think I was too nervous (Wednesday),” Patberg said. “The scrimmage and the exhibition helped me get the jitters out. I’ve worked really hard, so I’m confident going in that I’ve put in the work already.”
Whatever jitters she had, she overcame them in the first minute. She put up her first shot 23 seconds into the game, but missed. But then she drilled a 3-pointer 50 seconds into the game to give the Hoosiers a 3-0 lead.
Patberg added a pull-up jumper with 3 seconds left in the first quarter to give IU a 17-14 lead. She converted a three-point play with 5 seconds left in the first half to give the Hooisers a 33-30 lead at the break.
“At the end of the day, I do what my team needs me to do,” Patberg said. “If someone is getting hot, I’m going to feed them the ball. That’s what point guards do. They get a feel for the game, and if I’m hitting shots, I’m allowed to shoot.”
Patberg’s 16th and final point came on a free throw that gave IU its biggest lead at 63-54 with 4:40 left in the game. From there, the Panthers went on a 12-2 run to take a 66-65 lead.
With the Hoosiers trailing by one, Patberg fed Brenna Wise for a baseline jumper that gave them a 67-66 lead with 1:08 remaining. Milwaukee had three chances to tie or take the lead, but couldn’t convert.
Wise, who led IU with 17 points, also sat out last season after transferring from Pittsburgh and formed a bond with Patberg. Wise likes the energy Patberg brings.
“We feed off of Ali’s energy,” Wise said. “We have Kim (Royster’s) energy, Jaelynn (Penn), Bendu (Yeaney), (Grace) Berger. Even our bench, Chanel Wilson and Alexis Johnson, we are all fired up out there. Positivity is contagious, and we get each other fired up, and we love when we feed off of it.”
Patberg said she feeds off their energy, as well.
For the night, Patberg went 3 for 8 from the field, including 1 for 2 from 3-point range. Her only downside was a 9 for 15 performance from the free-throw line.
“Ali is going to continue to get better as time goes along,” IU coach Teri Moren said. “She and I have a great understanding of some of our looks offensively. I thought she was good in the exhibition game. What I would have liked to have seen from Ali tonight is to hit her free throws. She’s a good shooter, she’s in the gym and she spends the time in there working.”
For that reason, Patberg knows she’ll have better shooting nights than the one she had on Wednesday. But she is off to a solid start.
“It was awesome,” Patberg said. “I played as hard as I could and gave it everything I had. Looking back, I could have made a couple more free throws, so that’s what I’ll be working on with a lot of other stuff. But it was an awesome feeling and an even better feeling to get the ‘W.’ A win is a win. We have a lot to work on, but we won, and we move onto the next one. It’s another day to get better.”
