Local Sports Headlines: November 14, 2022

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11th ranked Indiana University Women’s Basketball dominates UMass Lowell  
The 11th Ranked Indiana Hoosiers Women’s Basketball improved to 2-0 on the season with a dominating performance over the U-Mass Lowell Riverhawks 93-37 Friday night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.  The 56-point margin of victory ties for the fourth largest margin of victory. Indiana is 2-0 all-time against the River Hawks winning both matchups here in Bloomington with the first coming in 2016. The Hoosiers have a big showdown Tonight at 6pm when they face the fifth ranked Tennessee Volunteers in Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville on ESPN2. The Lady Volunteers lost to 14th ranked Ohio State 87-75 in Columbus and bounced back with a home win over UMass 74-65. “We are looking forward to it and I told our staff that it comes at great time for us this early in the season,” IU Head Coach Teri Moren said after the game.

UMass Lowell scored first basket of the game with a Kaylen Banwaressingh layup just 42 seconds into the game. Mackenzie Holmes hits 2 free throws and scores the first seven points of the game scoring inside before she went back to the free throw line where she went 1-2.  The River Hawks had issues stopping the Gorham Maine native all game long as the Hoosiers finished with 60 points in the paint. Sara Scalia hit two free throws as she scored 10 first half points. The River Hawks led 6-5 with 7:14 left in the first quarter. Indiana used a 16-7 run to lead 22-12 after the first quarter. Hoosiers go on a 9-0 to start the second quarter as Scalia drained back-to-back three’s and as the Hoosiers struggled from the outside going 2-13 in the first half. Indiana scored 30 points in the paint and had 13 bench points in the first half as Holmes dominated inside scoring 15 first half points and put the game out of reach outscoring the River Hawks 27-5 in the second quarter taking a commanding 49-17 lead to go into the locker room at the break.

The Hoosiers continued the momentum in the third quarter with Chloe Moore-McNeil draining back-to-back threes and Mackenzie Holmes scoring one more bucket inside to finish with 17 Points on 7-8 shooting from the field along with 3-4 from the free throw line. Holmes played just 17 Minutes, pulled down 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 block shots. With the game in hand the starters were able to be taken out in the third quarter in preparing for the game at Tennessee. Sara Scalia finished with 15 points hitting 3 three pointers along with 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists in 16 minutes of action. Scalia playing 3 seasons at Minnesota she knows what she needed to adjust on defense when she arrived in Bloomington. “Playing against IU for the last three seasons I knew that I needed to get better on the defensive end and Assistant Coach Glenn Box as really helped me on the defensive end” Said After the Game”. Mackenzie Holmes agreed with Scalia that she has embraced the defensive end. “Sara has done a good job of responding to the challenge that the coaches have given her and the high standards that are set on the defensive end” Holmes Said.   Grace Berger scored 6 points in 20 minutes and had 4 rebounds, 3 assists along with a steal.  Moore-McNeil finished with 9 points in 14 minutes along with 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and a block. Yarden Garzon had 4 points, 2 assists, a rebound, a steal and a block in 16 minutes.

The Indiana bench played a majority of the second half with Indiana outscoring the River Hawks 20-7 in the third quarter and 14-3 in the fourth quarter. Seven players off the bench for the Hoosiers played 10 or more minutes with Arielle Wisne able to score at the end of the game with a bucket getting fouled as 12 of the 13 Hoosiers scored in the game and scored 42 bench points. Lilly Meister scored 10 Points, Sydney Parrish scored 9 points and Lexus Bargesser scored 9 points Kaitlin Peterson scored 6 points, Alyssa Geary 4 points along with 4 rebounds, Mona Zaric scored 2 points, and freshman Henna Sandvik did not score but had 2 rebounds and an assist. Indiana pulled down 45 rebounds, 15 assists, 16 steals, 5 blocks, and committed 9 turnovers. Indiana was 52% percent from the field, 5-22 from three-point range and 12-20 for 60% from the free throw line, a stat with which head coach Teri Moren was not pleased. “I am very disappointed with a free throw shooting we are a lot better than that and we do that a lot in practice,” Coach Moren said. 

Indiana University Men’s Soccer falls to Rutgers in Big Ten Tournament Title Game
Indiana men’s soccer was denied its 16th Big Ten Tournament title on Sunday. The Hoosiers (10-4-6, 3-1-4 B1G) fell to No. 2-seed Rutgers (10-4-6, 4-2-2 B1G), 3-1, in the tournament final on Yurcak Field, as the Scarlet Knights claimed their program’s first Big Ten Tournament title. Following the result, Indiana ranks No. 19 in the NCAA RPI as they seek a 36th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance as well as its 47th berth overall in 50 seasons. Should the Hoosiers receive a national seed, it will extend the longest active streak to nine seasons.

In the 4th minute an errant pass led to a transition goal for the Scarlet Knights as sophomore midfielder Matthew Acosta gave Rutgers the early lead. In the 11th minute Senior Nyk Sessock sent a great cross from the right wing that found Sarver free at the back post. Sarver put his head on it but pushed it just wide. 28 minutes into the match Rutgers had a couple of chances to double their lead in the 33rd minute, including a header that was pushed into the crossbar by IU junior goalkeeper JT Harms. In the 33rd minute Redshirt senior Ryan Wittenbrink cut in from the left wing and curled a shot from distance that caught the post and deflected out. In the 38th minute Sophomore midfielder Partick McDonald leveled in the closing minutes of the first half, heading home a corner kick that the wind carried to the back post from the boot of Wittenbrink.

In Second Half as the teams switched sides at the half, Indiana fell victim to the windy conditions. Nine minutes into the second period, Rutgers took the lead directly from a corner as junior Ola Maeland scored an Olimpico with the aid of the wind. 62nd minutes IU had two shots blocked or saved off the line in quick succession as they searched for an equalizer. With 8 minutes left in the match the Hoosiers kept pushing for late leveler, and in the 82nd minute a cross fell in the box to Wittenbrink, who dribbled and blasted a shot that had to be headed off the line by a defender. Two Minutes later Rutgers essentially shut the door with its third goal as freshman forward Ian Abbey scored in transition.

Indiana appeared in its sixth consecutive Big Ten Tournament final. IU fell to 11-3-4 against the Scarlet Knights all-time. Ryan Wittenbrink and Nyk Sessock were both named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. Patrick McDonald scored his first goal of the season and second of his career. Assisting the goal, Wittenbrink has tallied a goal contribution in each of his last five starts with two goals and three assists in that span. He now has eight goals, eight assists and 24 points on the season. The Hoosiers find out who they will play this afternoon NCAA Selection Show will be streamed live at 1pm on NCAA.com

#2 ranked Ohio State routs Indiana Football 56-14
The Number 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes dominated the Indiana Hoosiers 56-14 Saturday afternoon at the Horseshoe in Columbus Ohio. Ohio State is 10-0 and 7-0 in the Big Ten and on a Collison course with Michigan as the Wolverines and Buckeyes are looking to go into their November 26th matchup in Columbus undefeated batting for the Big Ten East division title and college football playoff spot. C.J. Stroud was 17-28 passing for 297 yards and five touchdowns. Marvin Harrison Jr caught 7 passes for 135 yards and 1 touchdown. Running Backs Myian Williams and Dallan Hayden both had over a hundred rushing yards and a touchdown. Williams had 15 carries for 151 yards and Hayden 19 carries for 102 yards as the Buckeyes had 662 yards of offense while the defense held Indiana to 229 yards total offense. Ohio State has won 27 in a row dating back to 1991 and leads the all-time series with the Hoosiers 78-12-5 with the Hoosiers last win this series coming in 1988.

Indiana falls to 3-7 on the season and 1-6 in the Big Ten and the loss officially eliminates the Hoosiers from bowl contention for the second year in a row. Connor Bazelak who missed the Penn State game with an undisclosed injury started the game but did not last long just going 3-5 passing for 12 yards. Dexter Williams who replaced Jack Tuttle last week came in and was 6-19 passing for 107 yards with 2 touchdown passes to A.J. Barner and Donaven McCulley. Williams did not throw an interception showed his mobility as he ran 16 times for 76 yards as the Hoosiers run game had one of its best performances of the season running the ball 40 times for 186 yards. Indiana will go on the road this Saturday to Michigan State for a noon kickoff on the Big Ten Network.

Indiana Fever Win WNBA Draft Lottery
For the first time in franchise history, the Indiana Fever received the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, determined by Friday Night’s WNBA Draft Lottery. The Fever appeared in the WNBA Draft Lottery for the eighth time in the 24-year existence of the franchise. “This is a very strong draft. We will get a great player picking at No. 1,” Interim General Manager Lin Dunn said. The reigning national player of the year, Aliyah Boston from South Carolina, is the presumptive No. 1 overall pick, considered by many to be a potentially franchise-changing figure. The Fever had the best chance of any team (44.2%) to get the No. 1 pick. Lottery odds are based on teams’ cumulative record over the past two regular seasons. The Minnesota Lynx the four-time WNBA champions who missed the playoffs in 2022 for the first time since 2010 earned the No. 2 pick despite only having a 14.5% chance.

The Atlanta Dream will select third overall, followed by the Washington Mystics at No. 4. The rest of the first round will be Chicago, New York, Indiana, Atlanta, Seattle, Connecticut Dallas and Minnesota. The Mystics made the postseason but via a trade obtained the right to swap their first-round pick for Los Angeles’ 2023 first-round pick acquired by the Dream in an earlier trade.

Previous Indiana Fever lottery selections by overall pick are listed below:
#1 – none
#2 – NaLyssa Smith, 2022; Kelsey Mitchell, 2018; Tan White, 2005
#3 – Lauren Cox, 2020; Teaira McCowan, 2019; Tamika Catchings, 2001
#4 – Emily Engstler, 2022; Kysre Gondrezick, 2021

Bloomington South falls to Castle in Football Regional Championship Game
The Castle Knights beat the Bloomington South Panthers 31-14 in the Class 5A Regional Championship game at Castle HS in Newburgh Friday Night. Castle 8-4 on the season wins its 7th regional championship in school history. The Knights won the Class 3A Regional titles in 1981 and 1982 and have won the Class 5A regional title in 1989, 1994, 2015 and 2020. Castle has beaten Bloomington South twice in the last four seasons winning the 28-0 sectional semifinal matchup in 2020 as the Knights beat Bloomington North for the sectional title 35-24. Bloomington South ended Castle’s season in the 2019 Sectional Championship game winning 32-6 and in last year’s sectional Semifinal 16-14. The Panthers end the season at 9-2 while Castle will host 11-1 Friday at 7:30pm for the Semi State Championship.

Monrovia upset Owen Valley 26-21 in Spencer Friday night to win the Class 3A Regional Championship. The Bulldogs are 6-7 and will travel to 12-1 Lawrenceburg Friday at 7:30pm for the Semi State Championship game. This is the first regional title for Monrovia in Class 3A as the Bulldogs have won 5 Sectional, 4 Regional, 2 Semi State and 2 State Titles all in Class 2A. Owen Valley who made the Regional for just the third time in school history finishes the season 12-1 and are 22-3 under second year head coach Rob Gibson with two sectional titles.

Linton dominated Lapel 60-24 to win the Class 2A Regional Championship in Linton Friday night. The Miners 13-0 will travel to 11-3 Evansville Mater Dei at 7:30pm Friday night for Semi State Championship game. This is the first regional title for Linton in Class 2A as the Miners have won 14 Sectionals, 10 Regionals, 2 Semi States and a state title in 2016 all in Class 1A. Linton and Evansville Mater Dei will meet for the fifth straight year in the postseason. Mater Dei has won all four meetings the last four years along with a 1993 Sectional matchup in which Linton is 0-5 all time in the postseason vs Evansville Mater Dei. Lapel ends the season at 7-6 and falls to 0-6 all time in regional championship appearances.

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