Sweet (Again!) – Hoosiers Sneak Past Princeton In NCAA Second Round
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Senior guard Grace Berger hit a layup with 29 seconds to go as 3-seed Indiana snuck past 11-seed Princeton, 56-55, to advance to its second-straight NCAA Sweet Sixteen inside a rowdy crowd at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
KEY MOMENTS
- A back-and-forth battle from the start, the Hoosiers got in the bonus with 5:02 to play as it challenged the Tigers defense early. IU saw its lead dissipate on a transition triple by Princeton as it would go up by as many as four in the frame.
- Indiana answered the call with the last four points of the first to tie the game at 17-17 after one.
- Graduate student guard Ali Patberg completed the 4-point play as she put Indiana up early in the second quarter. Junior forward Mackenzie Holmes made back-to-back buckets to push IU’s lead to six with 7:25 to go. Princeton would go on a 5-0 run as the Hoosiers regained momentum on a sophomore guard Chloe Moore-McNeil triple. IU would finish off the half with a 10-2 run and take a 39-29 lead at the break.
- After pushing its lead to as many as 14 in the early part of the third quarter, Princeton knocked on the door again as Indiana went over four minutes without a field goal. It allowed the Tigers to get within a single possession at the end of the frame, 45-42.
- IU broke its drought in the fourth early with back-to-back buckets from Holmes but another scoreless bout loomed. It would see Princeton go on an 8-0 run and take its first lead since the 1:42 mark in the first quarter.
- Graduate student guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary had the answer on the reverse layup to make it 51-50 with 4:55 to play while defense reigned on both ends. With 1:12 to play, Princeton’s Abby Meyers swung the game back in Princeton’s favor at the line but senior guard Grace Berger would come up clutch in the end as she connected on one at the line on a shooting foul to tie the game at 52-all.
- Princeton would miss a 3-pointer on its next possession as Holmes would grab the rebound and Indiana would call timeout with 38 seconds to go. Berger would drive to the lane and get the right-side layup to fall in what would really prove to be the difference maker on the night. Gulbe further sealed IU’s win with a pair at the line.
NOTABLE
- With the win, Indiana advances to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. This is the first time in program history that Indiana has advanced to back-to-back regional semifinals.
- The 9,627 fans in attendance at Thursday’s NCAA Second Round game against Princeton was the third most attended IU Women’s Basketball game in program history.
- Berger led the Indiana offense with 15 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out three assists.
- Holmes tallied a team-high eight rebounds and had 10 points on the night.
- Cardaño-Hillary was also in double figure, putting up 12 points.
- Senior forward Aleksa Gulbe collected seven boards and had five points.
- The Hoosier shot 51.2 percent from the floor and held the Tigers to just 33.9 percent.
- Indiana won the rebounding battle, grabbing 32 boards while Princeton had 29.
- Grabbing five blocks as a team, Holmes accounted for four of them.
QUOTABLE
Indiana head coach Teri Moren
“Well, first of all, hats off to a great Princeton team. They had a great year. They’re a great team. They’re well-coached, and they were terrific today. We had just enough, just enough to get the win tonight. They were great defensively. I don’t think that these guys, any of us felt like we were getting anything easy over there on the sideline, especially I thought it picked up their defense in the second half. As I said to our guys, if I told you that they got 20 more shots than we did and we still won the game, would you believe that, and they said, yeah, I would, or we would. And then we turned the ball over a little bit too much than we like. But again, give Princeton credit. Really happy for our group. I want to say, shout-out to Hoosier Nation. Thanks to Scott Dolson and Mattie White and everybody that was responsible for making sure there were a lot of people in the stands. I do think this: I think tonight was our crowd willing us to this win. They’re going to share as much in it as we are, and so we are really, really grateful that we had our fans tonight inside the hall. You know, it wasn’t pretty for us, but these guys have been through a lot throughout the season. They’re a veteran team. They’re an experienced team. If there’s time on the clock, we always give ourselves a chance to win games, and I thought our experience, our maturity, and the fact that we have vets out there on the floor tonight really showed up in a big way.”
UP NEXT
The Hoosiers will travel to the Bridgeport regional on Saturday, March 26 against UConn. Time and TV are to be determined.