Donning their Road Red uniforms, Indiana started strong at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, scoring the first 10 points of the game while taking on the 20th ranked Buckeyes of Ohio State. The last regular season Big 10 loss IU experienced was against Ohio St., January 28, 2021 (70-78), at Assembly Hall. But this would be a much different game, indicating important growth within the IU Women’s Basketball program over the past year. Indiana demonstrated tight perimeter defense and offensive patience, breaking OSU’s defensive traps.
The first 6 points of the 10-0 IU run to open the game were scored by Indiana Junior Forward Mackenzie Holmes. Holmes would dominate the paint on both sides of the ball, and have a career game in points. The 30 she scored would also provide a milestone, bringing her over 1,000 total points scored in her career. Holmes has accomplished this feat the second soonest in program history, though make no mistake that her modesty would shine even in this amazing player accomplishment.
“Im a post player, so most of every point I get is off of a pass from the guards,” Holmes said during the post-game conference, while drenched with the water her teammates showered her with in the locker room after the game. “I believe I have the best Guards in the country on my team!”
But not all of her points last night were down low feeds from her Guards. Holmes stepped back behind the arc early in the game to unleash a 3-pointer, a move which had been uncharacteristic for her up until a couple of weeks ago. This is the second game in the past week in which she would display confidence from the perimeter and shoot 50% from downtown.
“I work on [my 3-point shooting] everyday, so I knew it would come eventually,” said Holmes about her new added offensive threat. “. . . it’s a matter of seeing that first one go in.” She added that her Coaches and teammates have confidence that she can hit the distance shot when open.
The evening would look pretty on paper for the Hoosiers, with 86 points coming off of 17 assists and shooting 58% from the field. Indiana would only turn the ball over 12 times, a stark improvement from the 18.5 they have averaged over the previous 4 games. And, they would hold the Buckeyes to 66 points, more than 20 below their national leading average. Indiana found a response to the problem which plagued them last season . . . scoring points against the zone defense.
‘We’re wiser, we’re older, and we knew what to expect,” said Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren. “We were going to see that press and we were also going to see that zone. It’s been well documented that we’ve struggled [against the zone defense] in the past. It’s just a matter of our preparation and making sure our kids were ready in our press attacks; and, they have to execute it. You can only give them the blueprint of what it should look like, but ultimately, they have to go out and execute.”
And execute they did! Holmes scored 30 and added 5 blocks and 5 rebounds. Senior Guard Grace Berger turned it on for 21, shooting 9-13 from the field and 3-3 from the free throw line. Senior Guard Nicole Cardano-Hillary scored 17 points and is officially credited with only 2 steals; however, she spent a good part of the game on her back in a rugby scrum for the ball, diving and getting mixed up with her OSU counterparts, making some incredible plays through her brand of shadow defense. Ali Patberg and Aleksa Gulbe each added 8 points.
Ohio St, was led in scoring by Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Mikesell, who combined for 38 of the Buckeye’s 66 points.
Next up, the Hoosiers (8-2, 2-0 Big Ten) will host Western Michigan on Sunday, December 19th at 1pm.
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