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New Year’s Eve festivities started early this year at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, as the #16 Indiana Hoosiers (11-1 / 2-0) defeated Illinois (6-6 / 0-2) 77-71 in front of an audience of 11,600, the largest this season, and 6th largest in program history.
“[Hoosier Nation] brings us to the finish line with the energy they give us,” said IU Head Coach Teri Moren in appreciation for the huge crowd that came out on Sunday afternoon. “They know when to cheer and they know when we need it the most. We are so grateful that they spent some of their New Year’s Eve with us.”
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From the opening tip, the Hoosiers were challenged with tight man-to-man defense, shutting down their perimeter hopes. But Indiana was successful in getting the ball inside to All-American Forward Mackenzie Holmes, as she battled in the paint to lay in IU’s first 6 points of the game. A trend we would see continue.
The two Big Ten contenders would battle back and forth in the first, but Indiana would take a 7-point advantage at the end of the first ten minutes of play, 17-10.
Indiana played somewhat well in the first half, scoring 53% of their shots, but they struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 1 of 6 attempts; 30 of their 37 points came from the paint. The Hoosiers turned the ball over 7 times, which led to 8 Illini points, helping them to keep it competitive at the midway point.
IU had nice ball movement throughout the match-up, opting to share the ball for an extra pass, typically to a wide-open Hoosier, under the rim. Indiana had 10 first-half assists.
One of the more interesting personnel moves of the game came with 2 minutes remaining in the second quarter, just after Sophomore Guard Yarden Garzon picked up her second foul. IU Head Coach brought in Graduate Guard Sara Scalia to replace Garzon, but then she also sent in Sophomore Forward Lily Meister into the mix to share post duties with Holmes, essentially providing a “Double Big” scenario.
“We prepped for that early on in the season when we thought we might run into teams that would play two 5’s” said Coach Moren. Of course, a ‘5’ is the player notation that would be the Center or more commonly referred to in college basketball as a ‘Big’.
“Although we didn’t have to do it for long . . . I feel really comfortable with both Lily [Meister] and Mac [Holmes] being able to play with their backs to the basket.” .
With 6 minutes to go in the third quarter, the Hall became inaudible, with a sea of red and white on their feet and cheering after a 7-0 IU run, culminated by two fantastic drives to the basket by Senior Guard Chloe Moore-McNeil. But unfortunately for Hoosier Nation, that cushion would be closed off, with Illinois missing the final shot of the quarter, leaving Indiana a 49-47 lead with 10 minutes remaining to play.
The 4th quarter was a nail biter, with the momentum starting to swing toward the Illini, and Illinois found a way to tie the game with 8:06 remaining. For the rest of the game, this would be a tennis match, and action going back and forth with strong play from both solidly playing teams.
Holmes came up big on defense with under 3 minutes to play, recording 2 blocks and instigating a tied up, jump ball. On the subsequent offensive play, Holmes pumped the IU lead back to 4 with a made free-throw shot.
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But Illinois would respond with a made triple. The two teams would then each score a bucket, and Illinois would have the ball with 1:20 to go. The Illini inbounded, missed a shot, and Moore-McNeil would scoop up the rebound, driving to the basket. The ball was swatted away, but Holmes would get the inbounds to give IU the 68-65 lead.
55 second to go, Illinois scored a pair of free-throws. The Hoosiers inbounded after a time out. Moore-McNeil took the pass, dribbled into the lane, dished it out to Garzon, who put up a three-pointer that spun around the rim, bounced up to the backboard, and fell back into the net.
“Coach has been getting on me to be more aggressive, but that kind of pass is something we work on, literally, every single day.” said Moore-McNeil.
That would be the shot that would be the difference maker, with Indiana able to muscle their way from there, with the 77-71 victory.
At the final buzzer, Holmes had amassed 30 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Moore-McNeil contributed 19 points and 3 assists. Garzon put up 12, pulled down 6, assisted twice, and added 2 blocks. Collectively, IU shot 52% from the field, 39% from beyond the arc, had 30 rebounds, 17 assists, and turned the ball over 16 times.
Illinois was led by Senior Guard Makira Cook, with 24 points and 5 assists, while Senior Forward Kendal Bostic scored 18 and pulled down 11 rebounds.
Up next, the Hoosiers host Michigan on Thursday, January 4 at 7pm.