#19 Maryland Spoils Indiana’s Senior Night and Puts the Hoosiers Back on the NCAA Tournament Bubble The #19 Maryland Terrapins came into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Thursday Night and spoiled Senior Night with a 74-60 win over the Indiana Hoosiers. Maryland is 22-6 overall and 12-5 in the Big Ten and will host Ohio State on Sunday to close out the regular season and are in position to finish in the top four and clinch a double bye in next week’s Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. Indiana is 17-11 and 9-8 in Big Ten and will close out the Regular Season Sunday Afternoon at Purdue. The Hoosiers are back on the NCAA Tournament Bubble with two straight losses against ranked team and the Hoosiers cannot afford a lost at Purdue who beat Penn State Thursday Night in State College to keep their Big Ten Tournament hopes alive as the Boilers currently in the 15th and final position.
Yarden Garzon led the Hoosiers with 18 points, and she drilled three 3 pointers as she stands second all-time with 205 Career Three Pointers and sits one behind Kris McGrade with 206 career three pointers and will have a chance to break the record Sunday at Purdue. Shay Ciezki added 15 points. The Three Seniors led by Sydney Parrish scoring 13 Points, Karoline Striplin adding 10 points and Chloe Moore-McNeil dishing out 10 assists and scoring 4 points as the starters scored all 60 points. Lexus Bargesser, Juliana LaMendola, Henna Sandvik and Lilly Meister all played but did not score. Indiana finished the game 23-55 from the field for 41%. 8-23 from three-point range for 34% and 6-9 from the free throw line for 66%. The Hoosiers pulled down 24 rebounds, 17 assists, 4 blocks, 4 steals, 28 points in the paint and committed 12 turnovers. Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren was not pleased with her teams focus throughout the season. “If there’s one thing that I attribute some of our mishaps. it’s focus, and its consistency, being consistent night in and night out” Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren said after the game
Shyanne Sellers led Maryland with 25 points, Kaylene Smikle added 16 points along with 11 points from Chrstina Dalce and Allie Kubek pulled down 11 rebounds and added 6 points. Maryland finished 29-61 from the field for 47%, 6-15 from three-point range for 40% and 10-12 from the free throw line for 83%. The Terrapins pulled down 39 rebounds, 15 assists, 4 blocks, 3 steals, 30 points in the paint, 8 bench points and committed 12 turnovers. Maryland is always a physical team and were able to push around Indiana. “I don’t think we’re as physical as some other teams, but I know we need to be” Moren said after the game. Indiana jumped out to a 6-0 lead with the three seniors involved as Chloe Moore-McNeil two assists one to Sydney Parrish and the other Karoline Striplin. Striplin scored her first basket to give Indiana a 4-0 lead. Maryland responded with a 7-0 run and the game was and forth at the end of the first quarter with the game tied 14-14 as the game had 4 ties and seven lead changes.
Indiana and Maryland were tied 18-18 with 6:21 left in the second quarter when the Terrapins went 14-2 run for the last 6:20 for the second quarter and did not score for the last 2:20 as Maryland took a 30-20 lead into the locker room. In the third quarter Indiana outscored Maryland 19-16 as the Hoosiers got within two 39-37 with 2:48 left in the third quarter as Maryland led 46-39 at the end of the third quarter. Maryland outscored Indiana 28-21 in the fourth quarter as the Hoosiers got within 8 points on a couple occasions but Maryland answered the bell every time the Hoosiers made a run. “Maryland was much better than we were in every category” Moren said and “I question if we had the fight tonight” Moren added as she let her feelings known about her team’s performance after the game.
Indiana’s three seniors were honored before the game with their families and then after the game there were video presentations as Karoline Striplin, Sydney Parrish and Chloe Moore-McNeil thanked everyone for all the love and support throughout their college careers. But a win on Senior Night did not happen and that is disappointing for the Hoosiers coaching staff, players and fans and now it’s on to Purdue for the Regular Season Finale on Sunday and build momentum for the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament.
Indiana University Men’s Basketball travels to The Pacific Northwest to Face Washington on Saturday The Indiana Hoosiers make thier two game West Coast Road Trip starting Saturday when the face the Washington Huskies in Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle at 3 PM Seattle Time which is 6 PM Bloomington Time with the game streaming on Peacock. This will be the first time Hoosiers will travel to Seattle. Indiana leads the all-time series 3-1 with the Hoosiers winning the last three meetings. This will be the first meeting since November 21, 2013, when Indiana beat Washington 102-84 in New York City. The Hoosiers beat the Huskies in Portland Oregon 71-57 on December 27, 1978, and the Huskies beat the Hoosiers on Portland 81-79 on December 29, 1968, for their only win in the series.
Washington will make its second ever trip to Bloomington next season and the first since a 73-56 Hoosier victory on December 19,1978. Washington is 13-15 on the season and 4-13 in their inaugural Big Ten Season and have a road trip to USC on Wednesday and the Regular Season finale with Oregon at Home Next Sunday the Huskies are in danger of missing out on the Big Ten Tournament with the Huskies sitting in 17th place and the top 15 heading to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament in less than two weeks.
Great Osobor leads Washington with 14.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game. The 6-8 Senior from Bradford England started his career at Montana State from 2021-23 and spent the 2023-24 Season at Utah State before coming to Seattle to his final season. Osobor followed Head Coach Danny Sprinkle from Bozeman, Montana to Logan, Utah to Seattle, Washington. Sprinkle is 122-66 in his 6 seasons as a head coach. He was 81-43 at Montana State from 2019-23 and took the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2023. In his only season at Utah State in 2023-24 the Aggies were 28-7 and made the NCAA Tournament Second Round. Now in Seattle he has to rebuild a program who lost 11 players with five graduating and six to the transfer portal. He brought in 8 transfers and 2 freshmen along with 3 returning players and 2 returning Walk Ons along with a freshman walk on for this season. Tyler Harris averages 12 points per game and leads the team with 1.1 blocks per game. Freshman Zoom Diallo averages 11.1 points per game. Washington is averaging 72.3 points and committing 12 turnovers per game. The Huskies are shooting 45 percent from the field, 35 percent from three-point range and 67 percent from the free throw line.
Indiana is 17-11 overall and 8-9 in the Big Ten after escaping Penn State 83-78 Wednesday Night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as the Hoosiers have won two in a row and three out of the last four. Indiana is averaging 75.8 points and committing 11.9 turnovers per game. The Hoosiers are shooting 46 percent from the field, 32 percent from three-point range and 71 percent from the free throw line. Oumar Ballo leads the Hoosiers averaging 13.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Ballo has face Washington five times when he played at Arizona for three seasons winning all five matchups. Ballo returns to the State of Washington after starting his career at Gonzaga. Myles Rice who started his career at Washington State will face his Huskies for the third time in his career after splitting a pair of matchups last season. Rice leads the Hoosiers with 1.1 steals per game while averaging 10.1 points.
Kanaan Carlyle played at Stanford last season and split a pair of meetings with the Huskies winning in Palo Alto and losing in Seattle. Even though the Hoosiers are traveling to Seattle for the first time for these three Hoosiers they provide the experience and expertise on how to navigate facing new Big Ten opponent after battling with them in the Pac-12. The Hoosiers were without Junior Malik Reneau Wednesday Night after he taken to the hospital Wednesday afternoon after the teams shoot around when he got sick. Reneau is averaging 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and no update has been provided on his status for this weekend. Mackenzie Mgbako is averaging 12.6 points per game. Trey Galloway leads the team with 4.1 assists game. Galloway has 407 assists in his Hoosier Career which is the eighth most in program history and chasing Randy Wittman is next on the list with 432 career assists. The Hoosiers cannot afford a lost against Washington If they want to get into the NCAA Tournament. Indiana swept Penn State this season and with just two regular season games left with Oregon the road and Ohio State at home before the Big Ten Tournament it is crunch time for rh Hoosier to keep forward on the road ahead and not have a detour along the way.
Bloomington North Girls Gymnastics Looking for a Sectional Four Peat The Bloomington North Cougars will have their work cut out for them as they look to repeat as Sectional Champions for the fourth year in a row at the Franklin Central Girls Gymnastics Sectional tonight at 6:30 PM on the southeast side of Indianapolis. The Cougars are looking for thier 8th Sectional Title in Program History and their second four peat as the Cougars won four in a row from 1981-84 and looking for the same this year with three in a row from 2022-24. The Cougars have won two Regional Titles in 1981 and 2023. Bloomington South has not won a sectional since 2002 which was the Panthers only title. The Panthers along with Columbus East, Edgewood, Fishers Franklin Central, Martinsville, Noblesville, Pendleton Heights Roncalli and Seymour will be looking to knock off the Cougars of the Throne as Sectional Champions.
The top three teams will advance to the Regional which will be held a week from tonight at Franklin Central starting at the same time along with the top three teams from the Connersville Sectional. The top six place winners in Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor Exercise and the top six place winners in the all-around will advance to the Regional. If a gymnast who receives a score of the Sixth Place Gymnast at the previous state finals, they will also advance to the regional, but the standard is set high in event. The Gymnast would have scored a 9.500 on the Vault, 9.525 on the Bars, 9.425 on the Beam, 9.425 on the Floor Exercise and and a 37.125 in the All-Around.
50 Years of Indiana High School Girls Basketball to be celebrated Saturday The Indiana High School Athletic Association will celebrate the 50th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. To commemorate the historic day, state championship coaches and Indiana Miss Basketballs from the past five decades will be recognized at halftime of the 2A and 3A games, respectively. In addition, participants from the inaugural state championship game in 1976 will be introduced at halftime of the 4A game. That first championship game saw Warsaw defeat Bloomfield, 57-52 and finish a perfect 22-0 season at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Tigers’ Judi Warren would earn the first mental attitude award after the game and later be named Indiana’s first Miss Basketball that spring. The other state finalist teams that played at Hinkle that day were Indianapolis Arsenal Technical and East Chicago Roosevelt, who was led by freshman phenom LaTaunya Pollard. Pollard would go on to become a U.S. Olympian and inductee to the National Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Both Warren and Pollard will be in attendance on Saturday.
In addition to recognizing the legends of the game at halftime, a Fan Fest will be held in between sessions from 3:30 pm to 5 pm in the Entry Pavilion at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and feature interactive games and interviews with the greats. Jaclyn Leininger Scott, 2004 Indiana Miss Basketball from Warsaw, and Jessica Rupright, 2012 Miss Basketball from Norwell, will also join Pollard and Warren to name just a few. This event is free to the public and a terrific way to support the growth of girls’ basketball in our state. An Indiana Fever player(s) is also expected to be in attendance.
Bloomington South and Bloomington North to Compete at the IHSAA Boys Swimming State Finals Monroe County will be well represented at the IHSAA Boys Swimming State Finals at the Indiana University Natatorium on the Campus of Indiana University-Indianapolis this evening starting at 6 PM. The Bloomington Schools will have 6 Indvidual’s competing 11 Events and 5 competing in the Relay events. The top 16 in each swimming event during tonight’s prelims will return for competition tomorrow afternoon at 1 PM with the top eight individuals vying for state championship honors. Those finishing nine through 16 will make up the competitors in the consolation heats.
Bloomington South has 5 Individuals competing in 9 events along with all three relays. The Panthers will have Freshman Peter Kovacs in the 100 Yard Freestyle and the 200 Yard Freestyle, Sophomore Cameron Seidenfaden in the 100 Yard Backstroke, Senior Botond Kun 200 Yard Freestyle and the 500 Yard Freestyle. Senior David Kovacs 100 Yard Backstroke and the 200 Yard Indvidual Medley, Senior Lukas Pagele in the 50 Yard Freestyle and the 100 Yard Butterfly. The Panthers will compete in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay and 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. Bloomington North has 1 individual competing in 2 events and 2 relays with Senior Jay Stewart in the 50 Yard Freestyle and the 100 Yard Butterfly and the Cougars will compete in the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.
Bloomington South won the Sectional as the Panthers scored 494 Points. Bloomington North finished second with 397 Points and Edgewood finished eight with 106 points. Bloomington South won 8 Events and Bloomington North’s Jay Stewart won the 50 Meter Freestyle as the Bloomington Schools took home 9 of the 12 events. Bloomington South wins its 14th Sectional Title in Program History and Second in a row. Bloomington South had six swims that finished second in their respective events that made the state standard to advance to the state finals. Stewart made finished second in the 100-yard butterfly and the Cougars finished second in both relays to advance by meeting the state standard.
Four Girls Basketball State Champions to be Crowned Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Four State Champions will be crowned on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as the IHSAA Celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Girls Basketball State Finals. All four games will be streamed on IHSAAtv.org and the IHSAAtv suite of apps via pay per view for $15 a game or $20 for all four games.
In Class 1A at 10:30 AM it will be 25-4 Lafayette Central Catholic taking on 22-5 Borden. Lafayette Central Catholic is in its 5th State Finals and looking for its fourth state title. The Knights won it all in 2006 and 2015 in Class 1A before moving up to Class 2A and winning it all in 2016. The Knights were state runner up in 2022 in Class 1A. 13th Year Head Coach Craig DeVault guided LCC to the 2015 and 2016 State Titles and State Runner up in 2022 and graduated from the school in 1990. Lafayette Central Catholic is on a 13-game winning streak with their last lost coming on January 4th to Class 2A State Finalist Rensselaer Central 54-39. Seniors Grace Bordnet leads the team with 14.9 points per game. Senior Carley Barrett averages 14.3 points per game and leads the team with 7.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game and Junior Casey Schuessler averages 10.9 points per game.
Broden is in its first State Finals and comes winning 11 in a row and 12 of its last 13 games. Junior Ava Wheeler is the only player in double figures averaging 16.9 points second in assists with 3.4 per game and second in rebounds with 6.6. Junior Emma Hart leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per game while averaging 6.5 points and is third in assists with 3.2 per game. Junior Riley Ranick leads the team with 4.3 assists per game. Borden averages 54.4 points per game for eighth year head Coach Matt Vick who is 105-84 at his alma mater graduating in 2006. The Braves have won 13 Sectional Titles but claimed their first Regional and Semi State titles this season and looking to bring home their first ever girls Basketball State title.
In Class 2A it’s a battle of first-time state finalists as 26-2 Rensselaer Central will take on 27-2 South Knox in matchup of the top two teams in Class 2A. Rensselaer Central has won 7 Sectional Championships as they claimed their first Regional and Semi State Titles this season. The Bombers have won 9 in a row and their only two losses came to McCutcheon both on the road 62-52 on November 23, and 68-51 on January 18. Junior Kamri Rowland leads the Bombers with 15.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Senior Taylor Van Meter averages 13 points, 5.4 rebounds and leads the team with 4.1 assists per game. Sophomore Courtney Mathew averages 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists for a team that averages 57.4 points per game for 9th year Head Coach Wes Radtke who is 145-72 at the school.
South Knox lost both games on December 27, at the Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle both to Class 4A Teams Hamilton Southeastern 67-59 and Homestead 73-70. Since then, the Spartans have reeled off 13 in a row and were 14-0 to start the season. Head Coach Hollie Anson-Eaves is in her 11th year at her alma mater graduating in 2007 and has 176-110 record as the Spartans Head Coach. South Knox has won 7 Sectional titles and claimed their first Regional and Semi State Titles this season. Senior Ella Bobe leads the Spartans with 19.1 points averages 3.1 assists per game. The University of Southern Indiana commit averages 5.1 rebounds per game which is second on the team. Senior Bren Hill who is a 1,000-point scorer averages 16.3 points and 2.9 assists while leading the team with 8.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore Kendal Hill leads the team with 7.4 assists per game while averaging 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds. The Spartans love to push the pace averaging 73 points per game.
In Class 3A at 6 PM it will be 22-6 Norwell taking on Unbeaten Greensburg 27-0. Norwell is in the State Finals for the third time as the Knights made it to the final four during the single class era in 1977 and were State Runner Up in 2024. Head Coach Eric Thornton has 474 wins in 28 seasons and ranks 5th on the all-time wins list among active coaches and 12th overall. Norwell has won 11 in a row and led by Junior Vanessa Rosswurm who averages 22.6 points 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game which leads the team in all three categories. Junior Macie Saalfrank averages 14.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game as the Knights averages 65.6 points per contest.
Greensburg was the State Runner Up in 2018 in Class 3A as the Pirates are looking to complete a perfect season for 11th year Head Coach Jason Simpson who is 207-65 at his alma mater graduating in 1994. The Pirates average 67.1 points per game. Greensburg would become the 18th team in state history and the first in Class 3A. The last undefeated team in Indiana High School Girls Basketball was Bedford North Lawrence in Class 4A going 28-0. Sophomore Claire Larrison leads the team with 16.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Larrison and Sophomore Mary Harmon are tied for second on the team in assists with 3.4 per contest. Senior Mylie Wilkison averages 15.6 points. Senior Leah West averages 15.2 points and Junior Aly Powers who leads the team with 3.8 assists averages 10.1 points per game.
In Class 4A it will be 26-1 Warsaw taking on 18-8 Lawrence North. Warsaw won the first ever Girls Basketball State Championship in 1976 and followed it up with its second State title in 1978. The Tigers were State Runner Up in 1991 in the single class era and 2004 in Class 4A. Warsaw’s only lost came on January 21st at Homestead 67-55. The Tigers have won eight in a row after starting the season 18-0. Warsaw knocked off previously unbeaten Hamilton Southeastern 67-61 in the Frankfort Semi State Championship Game. The Tigers are averaging 72 points per game for 8th year Head Coach Lenny Krebs who is 138-54 at the school and 269-228 in 22 years overall with 14 seasons at Goshen. Junior Joslyn Bricker leads the team with 19.2 points per game along with 5.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Junior Brooke Zartman is averaging 18 points per game. Senior Brooke Winchester averages 12.7 points and leads the team with 10 rebounds per game. Junior Alexis Neely is leading the team with 3.8 assists per game.
Lawrence North is in the State Championship Game for the third time since 2019 The Wildcats won it all in 2020 and were State Runner Up in 2019. Stephen Thomas is 55-24 in his third season as Head Coach. The Wildcats have won 8 in a row and average 57.3 points per game. Junior Ke’Adriah Butler leads the team scoring 13.7 points per game. Senior Kya Hurt is averaging 13 points and leads the team in assists with 3.7 assists per game. Senior Jamaya Thomas is averaging 12.3 points and leads the team with 4.9 rebounds per game.