Mackenize Holmes named USWBA First Team All American & Grace Berger named Honorable Mention Indiana Senior forward Mackenize Holmes becomes the program’s first United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) First Team All-American while graduate student guard Grace Berger earns a place on the honorable mention team, announced by the organization on Wednesday. The Hoosiers were selected as a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, which begins on Saturday against the winner of the play-in game between Tennessee Tech and Monmouth. Tip time is set for 11:30am at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and will be live on ESPN2.
Holmes has now earned her third All-American honor this season, as she was named The Athletic All-America and Associated Press All-American first team. She was also named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big Ten first team in the annual postseason conference awards and is now a two-time All-Big Ten selection in her career. She has also been named to the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award finalist and the first Hoosier to appear on the national ballot. She is also up for a variety of other national player of the year awards including 2023 Wooden Award national ballot, 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, 2023 Lisa Leslie Award finalist, 2023 Wooden Award and 2023 USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year. The Gorham, Maine native averages a team-high 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and is one of the nation’s most accurate shooters by going 68.8 percent from the floor. She is second in the nation and leading the Big Ten in field goal percentage, fifth in field goals made (271), seventh in points per game (22.3) and eighth in points scored (670). Holmes has led the Hoosiers in scoring on 24 occasions this season. She has scored in double figures in all 30 games, scoring 20 points 17 times and has three 30-point scoring efforts this season. Her nine double-doubles leads her teams as six of her double-doubles have occurred in conference play, which ranks eighth all-time in a single season. She led the league in blocks (56) and blocks per game (1.9) and averages 1.1 steals (33) per game. She set a season-high five blocks against Nebraska and Michigan while recording multiple blocks in 14 games. Holmes is now in the top five in scoring in school history (1,875) and second in all-time blocks (206).
Berger returns as an honorable mention selection from the 2021-22 season as she was also named an Associated Press honorable mention this season. In 22 games, the Louisville, Ky. native is averaging 12.5 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 74.6 percent at the free throw line. She has scored in double figures 16 times including a season-high 26 points in the win over Iowa. A player who does a little bit of everything, Berger has dished out multiple assists in 19 games and averages 1.1 steals per outing while holding a +2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio. She collected three double-doubles this year including two on the road at then No. 11/4 Tennessee and in a win at Ohio State while also having the first point/assist double-double for the program since 2017.
Trayce Jackson-Davis named a consensus USWBA All-American Indiana Senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was added to the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-America First Team, the publication announced on Wednesday. The Center Grove product enters the NCAA Tournament with averages of 20.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.7 blocks, and 0.9 steals per game. His scoring average is on pace to be the highest for a Hoosier since Eric Gordon (20.9 points per game in 2007-08), his rebounding figure is the highest since Steve Downing (15.1 in 1972-73), and his block number would be the most since Dean Garrett (2.7 in 1987-88).
He has been named a Karl Malone Award Finalist, to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Late Season Watch List, the John R. Wooden Men’s National Ballot, and the Naismith Trophy Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist list. TJD was also a unanimous choice for the All-Big Ten First Team by the coaches, media, and Associated Press while also collecting All-Big Ten Defensive Team accolades. He was also named to the All-District teams by both the NABC and United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on Tuesday. The former McDonald’s All-American has claimed All-America First Team honors from all four (The Sporting News, Associated Press, NABC, USWBA) entities used to calculate consensus All-America status.
Jackson-Davis and the Hoosiers will open play in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 Seed in the Midwest Regional against the No. 13 seed Kent State Golden Flashes. Tip is scheduled for 9:55pm on Friday at the MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y. with a national broadcast on TBS.
Mackenize Holmes & Grace Berger named Academic All Americans For the first time since 1989, Indiana women’s basketball has two 2023 College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-Americans in senior forward Mackenize Holmes and graduate student guard Grace Berger. Holmes is on the first team and Berger is a second team selection. This is the first time in school history the program has placed two on the Academic All-America team. This is the fifth and sixth Academic All-American honor in the program’s history, as five of those six selections have played for ninth year head coach Teri Moren.
Holmes holds a 3.62 GPA in human development & family studies at Indiana. This season, Holmes has pulled in a variety of national and conference honors including Associated Press First Team All-America, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big Ten first team. She has also been named to the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award finalist and the first Hoosier to appear on the national ballot. She is also a candidate for a national player of the year awards including 2023 Wooden Award national ballot, 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, 2023 Lisa Leslie Award finalist, 2023 Wooden Award and 2023 USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year. The Gorham, Maine native averages a team-high 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and is one of the nation’s most accurate shooters by going 68.8 percent from the floor. She is second in the nation and leading the Big Ten in field goal percentage, fifth in field goals made (271), seventh in points per game (22.3) and eighth in points scored (670). Holmes has led the Hoosiers in scoring on 24 occasions this season. She has scored in double figures in all 30 games, scoring 20 points 17 times and has three 30-point scoring efforts this season. Her nine double-doubles leads her teams as six of her double-doubles have occurred in conference play, which ranks eighth all-time in a single season. She led the league in blocks (56) and blocks per game (1.9) and averages 1.1 steals (33) per game. She set a season-high five blocks against Nebraska and Michigan while recording multiple blocks in 14 games. Holmes is now in the top five in scoring in school history (1,875) and second in all-time blocks (206).
Berger earns a spot on the second team with a 3.89 GPA in her undergraduate studies in sport marketing & management while holding a 3.94 GPA in her master’s degree work in athletic administration. She previously earned honors from the organization back in 2021 when she was an All-District selection. The Louisville, Ky. native became the program’s first four-time All-Big Ten first team selection in 2022-23 while also being up for national awards including the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award preseason watch list, 2023.Jersey Mikes Naismith Trophy preseason watch list and 2023 Wooden Award preseason Top 50. In 22 games this season, is averaging 12.5 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 74.6 percent at the free throw line. She has scored in double figures 16 times including a season-high 26 points in the win over Iowa. A player who does a little bit of everything, Berger has dished out multiple assists in 19 games and averages 1.1 steals per outing while holding a +2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio. She collected three double-doubles this year including two on the road at then No. 11/4 Tennessee and in a win at Ohio State while also having the first point/assist double-double for the program since 2017.
Indiana University Wrestler Graham Rooks moves up in NCAA Championship Bracket Indiana redshirt senior and 2023 NCAA qualifier Graham Rooks has been moved up a seed line in the NCAA Championships’ 149 lbs. bracket. Rooks was originally the No. 21 seed and is now the No. 20 seed. Former No. 9 seed in the bracket, Jonathan Millner of Appalachian State, withdrew from the tournament due to illness. With Millner out, everyone seeded below him moves up. Rooks’ opening round matchup is now against No. 13 Kellyn March (23-7) of North Dakota State. His second match will be against either No. 4 Caleb Henson (21-3) of Virginia Tech or No. 29 Dylan Chappell (28-10) of Bucknell.
Tennessee Tech & Monmouth meet in NCAA Women’s Basketball Opening Round with the winner to face Indiana A NCAA Tournament battle features two # 16 seeds with the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles squaring off with the Monmouth Hawks Tonight at 9 pm at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall here in Bloomington as the winner will advance to face the top seed Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday at 11:30am. This is the second all-time meeting between Monmouth and Tennessee Tech with Tennessee Tech winning 71-36 December 2, 1988, in Cookeville Tennessee which is where the school is located. Indiana is 1-2 all time vs Tennessee Tech with the Golden Eagles winning matchups in 1974 and 1977. The Hoosiers won in Bloomington December 20, 1998, 89-75. The Hoosiers would face Monmouth for the first time should the Hawks advance.
Tennessee Tech is 22-9 on the season and won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament defeating Little Rock 54-46 at the Ford Center in Evansville Indiana. The Golden Eagles are 3-0 against teams from Indiana with season opening win over Ball State 68-63 and two wins over the University of Southern Indiana who moved up to Division I this season. It’s the first time that they are in the big dance since 2000 and 11th overall appearance with of 3-10. Tennessee Tech is looking for its first NCAA Tournament win since 1990 and comes to town with a 7-game winning streak. Tennessee Tech’s 68.4 points per game this season out-paces the 63.2 points per contest Monmouth gives up. The Golden Eagles are 12-0 when they put up more than 63 points. The Golden Eagles hit 73 percent of their free throws as a team, the fourth-best mark in the OVC. Reghan Grimes makes 2.2 free throws per game to lead Tennessee Tech while connecting on 75 percent of her attempts at the line. Maaliya Owens paces the Tennessee Tech’s scoring effort, averaging 13.1 points per game. Jada Guinn is the team’s top passer, putting up 4.1 assists to go with 10.9 points per game. The Golden Eagles’ leading rebounder is Grimes, who pulls down 5.8 boards per game in addition to averaging 8.8 points. Owens is the top threat for Tennessee Tech from beyond the arc. She paces the team in made threes per game, drilling two three-pointers per contest with a 34 percent shooting percentage from deep. Kim Rosamond is in her seventh season as head coach. She has been an assistant coach at Ole Miss, Middle Tennessee State and Vanderbilt and played at Ole Miss under Hall Of Fame coach Van Chancellor and graduated in 1998.
Monmouth is 18-15 on the season and won the Colonial Athletic Assocation championship with an 80-55 win over Towson. The Hawks are in the big dance for the second time in school history and the first time since 1983. Monmouth comes into town with a 5-game winning streak. The Hawks are 1-1 all time in the NCAA Tournament and head into tonight’s matchup averaging 64.1 points per game, two fewer than the 66.1 Tennessee Tech allows per contest. When they do score more than 66, the Hawks are 12-3 this season. The Hawks hit 69.8 percent of their free throws as a team, the 12th-best mark in the CAA. Lucy Thomas makes 1.9 free throws per game to lead Monmouth while connecting on 64 percent of her attempts at the line. Brianna Tinsley leads Monmouth in points, scoring 12.1 a contest, and assists with 3.6 per game. Ariana Vanderhoop adds 10.2 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Hawks, while Thomas averages 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Tinsley’s 2.2 made three-pointers per contest makes her Monmouth’s most prolific three-point shooter. She hits 34 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. Monmouth located in West Long Branch, New Jersey is coached by Ginny Boggess in her first season at the school.
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