No. 15 Hoosiers Back In Win Column With Big Ten Opener Victory Over Nebraska
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A pair of double-doubles from junior forward Aleksa Gulbe and freshman forward Kiandra Browne highlighted No. 15 Indiana Women’s Basketball in an 81-45 win over Nebraska to open Big Ten play on Sunday afternoon inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall
KEY MOMENTS
- It was a back-and-forth battle to start the first quarter of action. Tied 9-9 in the final minutes of the first quarter, senior guard Ali Patberg and sophomore guard Mackenzie Holmes combined for the final points of the frame to give Indiana a 13-9 lead at the closing of the first quarter.
- After a cold first frame, it was all Hoosiers in the second quarter as they went on 17-2 run lasting 6:38. After a buzzer beating three by Patberg, Indiana closed out the quarter on 20-4 run and took a 38-19 lead into the halftime break. Holmes and Gulbe accounted for eight points each while Patberg scored five points. Junior guard Grace Berger and senior guard Jaelynn Penn each drained two. As a team, the Hoosiers shot 47.4 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from the behind the 3-pont line. They also held the Huskers to 25.0 percent shooting in the frame.
- To start the third quarter, Gulbe sunk her third 3-pointer of the afternoon, pushing the Hoosiers lead to 41-20. In another frame of runs, Indiana went 9-0 to push the score to 47-20 at the halfway mark. Indiana led by as much as 29 points after a second chance layup was made by Holmes at the 1:05 mark. Redshirt junior guard Danielle Patterson hit a driving layup as the clock expired to extend the Indiana lead to 57-29 with 10 minutes to go in the contest.
- Carrying the momentum over to the fourth quarter, Patterson pushed in a second chance layup, giving the Hoosiers a 59-29 edge over Nebraska. Piling on the points, redshirt junior guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary banked her first five points as a Hoosier, hitting a shot from behind the arch and a second chance layup. After a made 3-pointer with 2:42 to go, freshman guard Kiandra Browne earned her first career double-double. She ended the day with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Indiana would win the contest handily over Nebraska, 81-45.
NOTABLE
- Indiana won its Big Ten opener for the third straight season for the first time since 1991-94.
- The Hoosiers used a 15-0 run to go up 33-14 in the first half. Indiana held Nebraska scoreless for five minutes and 55 seconds during the run.
- Junior Aleksa Gulbe (13) and Sophomore Mackenzie Holmes (12) both scored in double digits in the first half. The Hoosiers led 38-19 at halftime.
- Gulbe led the Hoosiers with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. She added 12 rebounds for her first career double-double. Holmes finished with 16 points and added five rebounds and three blocks.
- Holmes had tallied 17 blocked shots through five games this season.
- Freshman Kiandra Browne posted a career-high 10 points and her first career double-double with 10 rebounds.
- Redshirt Junior Nicole Cardaño-Hillary scored her first points as a Hoosier with five points.
- Indiana held Nebraska to 16-of-59 (27.1 percent) from the field.
- The Hoosiers outrebounded Nebraska 61-35, including 23-7 on offensive rebounds.
- Indiana got 30 points from its bench, a new season-high.
QUOTABLE
Indiana head coach Teri Moren
“It was a good win for us. Great to be back on the floor so quickly after how poorly we shot it against Tennessee the other night. It was nice to see some of those shots go down. I thought Aleksa (Gulbe) came out of the gates early and knocked down some big, open shots for us. That was really good to see. I thought what Kiandra Browne gave us off the bench was terrific. It is always nice to play a lot of kids in a game like this and get them minutes. I am happy, we had four assists the other night against UT, and I told our guys it is always our goal to get 10 plus or more. We had 16 of those. We shot it better from the free-throw line which was great to see. Overall, pleased with opening up Big Ten play at home. It was a solid win. We know we still have a lot more work to do.”
UP NEXT
Indiana hits the road when it travels to Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon. Tipoff in Williams Arena is set for 2 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network Plus.