No. 14 Indiana Remains Perfect At Home With Win Over No. 4 Iowa
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Senior guard Sara Scalia and graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes combined for 49 points as No. 14 Indiana upended No. 4 Iowa inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday night, 86-69.
KEY MOMENTS
- It was a tightly contested first quarter, featuring six ties and six lead changes alone in the first quarter. Indiana took the edge as sophomore guard Lexus Bargesser hit a buzzer beating jumper to give her team a 23-22 lead.
- The Hoosiers came into the second quarter to push an 11-point lead, 44-33, at the break led by sophomore guard Yarden Garzon who put up eight points. Indiana’s defense held the Hawkeyes to just 11 points in the quarter and just 36.4 percent from the floor.
- Indiana came out strong in the second half, going on a 7-0 run in the first four minutes. Senior guard Sydney Parrish hit back-to-back three pointers as the lead ballooned to as many as 17 with 4:27 remaining in the third. Iowa chipped away at the lead, cutting it to as few as eight at the end of the third.
- Garzon sank an early three pointer, sparking a Hoosier 7-0 run to start fourth.
NOTABLE
- IU improves to 14-0 overall at home on the season with Thursday night’s victory. It’s currently the longest active home win streak in the Big Ten.
- With the win, Holmes becomes the program’s all-time winningest player with 119 career victories, surpassing former teammate Grace Berger (2018-23) who had 118.
- Indiana splits the series with the Hawkeyes for the season.
- Three players for Indiana hit double figures – Scalia (25), Holmes (24), and Garzon (15).
- Garzon and Moore-McNeil led the team in assists with five each as the Hoosiers passed out 20 assists on the evening, its 12th game dishing out 20 or more dimes.
- Holmes led the Hoosiers in rebounds, pulling down nine against the Hawkeyes as the Hoosiers won the battle on the boards, 42-33.
- Indiana won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Iowa 42 to 33.
- The Hoosiers shot 52 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range in the win.
- IU posted a season-high nine blocks in the victory behind four from Holmes and two each from Garzon and Parrish.
QUOTABLE
Indiana head coach Teri Moren
“Wow, I think as we represent our program, all three of us up here, we would need to first start by just talking about the crowd and just how grateful we are. We knew it and people have said the ‘Caitlin Clark effect’ and that’s probably has somewhat to do with it, but I also think that our fanbase has continue to come out and support us. So once again, we are really just grateful for that. I thought our guys from the jump, really, really got after it defensively. I think we made everything very difficult for Caitlin Clark tonight and that’s hard to do. She’s a phenomenal player, but I think maybe the most important thing we felt like we did at halftime was we kept (Kate) Martin, we kept Molly Davis, (Hannah) Stuelke, we kept them relatively quiet and that was the key. Going into it, that did not happen when we went to their place and I thought tonight at halftime we were pleased with the way we had guarded those other pieces that they have on the floor. But you guys know this, Monday was really hard for us. It was a disappointing performance. None of us were happy we got back on Tuesday before film, they had a player team meeting, which they have often, and we came out and had one of our best practices of the year. You could just tell that they wanted to make this thing right tonight and there were so many moments during the game, and we tried to just continue to try to win four minute segments of the game. That’s what we’re trying to do throughout, especially in the first half. You have to get off to a good start against Iowa, but you know incredible performances by all these guys, and I haven’t even looked at the stat sheet but certainly Sarah and Mackenzie were great but they would all tell you that they had help you. We had 20 assists, which means we’re sharing the ball, but I thought defensively we were just terrific. I’m really proud of our team and the way they responded.”
UP NEXT
Indiana heads to Northwestern in a Tuesday night matchup inside Welsh Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. ET on BTN.