“We are built for overtime games,” said Junior Forward Mackenzie Holmes after Indiana’s first program win over Maryland at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon. “We are built for playing a lot of minutes because we get ourselves in that kind of shape,” Holmes added after dismantling the Terps defensively for the 70-63 overtime win.
It was tied up after 40 minutes of regulation, but Indiana was determined and conditioned to bring this game against conference rival Maryland, to the win column, a feat which has previously eluded them.
“I think the big difference for us this year is that we came in believing we could win,” said Graduate Guard and Team Leader Ali Patberg.
This win has been on the checklist for the Hoosiers as they have elevated the stature of their program to national relevance in recent years. But getting this moral and physical victory over the Big Ten’s perennial champion, Maryland is an important step in advancing the goals for this year’s IU Hoosiers, which include a Big Ten Championship and chance to compete in the NCAA Final Four.
“From the tip, we had a different energy to us, we had a different belief to us,” Patberg added. And that energy translated into 2 team double-doubles (Holmes / Aleksa Gulbe) and an 18-point performance by Patberg, herself. But the veteran player kept it in perspective, mentioning that this is just one win, just one game, and stated that they still have the entire Big Ten schedule ahead of them.
“We have to keep doing what we have been doing because it has been working and paying off . . . but we have to focus on each game plan, one step at a time,” she exclaimed with all of the sincere determination with which her fans have grown to become accustomed. “We’re going to celebrate it tonight, but tomorrow, it’s back to work,” Patberg referencing IU Head Coach Moren’s ‘24-hour rule’ for celebrating victories.
IU Forward Aleksa Gulbe credited “team defense’ with Sunday’s milestone performance, a term Coach Moren defines as “each [player having] a job to do individually, but collectively, at the end of the day we all have to guard the ball; we have to be connected.” Moren went on to say, “This is a smart basketball team . . . they understand the tendencies, and when you’re able to do that with a group, you’re always going to give yourself a chance [to win].”
Indiana is a smart team, and was the better team during the match-up, holding Maryland to 36% from the field, and held the Terps to just 12 second chance opportunities off of the offensive boards; quite a feat against a tall, athletic, and aggressive Maryland team that is known for out-rebounding their opponents.
Indiana (11-2, 3-0) can put this one in the history books and move forward with this important win now behind them. Looking ahead, the Hoosiers take to the road to challenge Wisconsin (3-9, 0-2) on Wednesday evening at 7pm.
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