By Nick Jenkinson, Sports Director at SCINN
The #14 Indiana Hoosiers face a tough road test when they travel to the Nebraska Cornhuskers tomorrow afternoon at 2pm with the game televised on the Big Ten Network.
The Hoosiers and Cornhuskers are both 3-0 in Conference Play with Iowa leading the conference with a 4-0 record after a 103-69 at Rutgers on Friday Night. The Hoosiers handled Michigan 80-61 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, while Nebraska won at Wisconsin 69-57 Thursday Night.
Indiana went 15-15 from the field and that was the first time that a team has accomplished that feat in Division 1 Women’s Basketball History since 1999. The Hoosiers were nearly perfect in the first quarter, going 13-13 from the field, 6-6 from three-point range, and 4-6 from the free throw line. The Hoosiers shot 81% from the field in the first half and 6-9 from three-point range for 67%, but Head Coach Teri Moren was not pleased with the free throw shooting at 61%.
Mackenize Holmes scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half. Sara Scalia scored 16 points with 11 of those coming in the first half and Sydney Parrish added 14 points all in the first half. The Hoosiers struggled at times in the second half with two scoring droughts of three and five minutes but their hot start and their holding Michigan to one three-point basket made it too much for Michigan to come back in the second half after 17-point halftime lead. The Hoosiers are 12-1 on the season and the 3-0 Big Ten Start is the fifth time in six seasons the Hoosiers have opened Big Ten Play with 3-0 start. Mackenize Holmes leads the team with 19.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. Sara Scalia is averaging 15.3 points and Yarden Garzon is averaging 12.3 points per game. Chloe Moore-McNeil scores 8.8 points and leads the team with 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Sydney Parrish is averaging 9.1 points per game as the Hoosiers average 80.5 points per game.
The Hoosiers have an 11-game winning streak which is tied for the fifth longest streak in school history and have won their last 12 Home Big Ten Conference Games dating back to 2021-22 season. Moren is in her 12th season with a 212-94 record and overall record of 411-224 in 21 seasons as Head Coach.
Nebraska got 16 points from Freshman Natalie Potts Thursday night at Wisconsin. The 6-2 native of O’Fallon Missouri is averaging 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Potts has scored 10 times in double figures and has two double-doubles against Maryland and Florida Atlantic along with an 11-rebound effort against Alcorn State and leads the team with 0.8 blocks per game. Alexis Markowski had 13 points and 11 rebounds for her third straight double and her ninth this season. The 6-3 Junior from Lincoln Nebraska has scored in double figures every game this season and she will go toe to toe with Mackenize Holmes in the post which has been a classic battle last two years between two of the best post players in the Big Ten.
Markowski leads the team with 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Jaz Shelly is the team’ second leading scorer at 12.5 points per game along with a team leading 5.2 assists per game and 1.5 steals per game. Shelly only scored 5 points against Wisconsin Thursday Night, but she leads the team with 28 three pointers made this season.
Nebraska, who is 11-3 overall, is averaging 78.5 points per game and shooting 45% from the field for 8th year head coach Amy Williams who is 125-102 at Nebraska and 318-211 in 17 seasons overall. Williams coached at NAIA Rogers State in Oklahoma from 2017-12 with a 97-65 record in five seasons with two NAIA Tournament Appearances. Williams led South Dakota to the 2016 WNIT Postseason Championship with a 96-44 record along with a trip to the 2014 NCAA Tournament and 3 WNIT Post Season Tournament Appearances.
Williams played at Nebraska when she was Amy Gusso from 1994-1998. She has taken the Huskers to the 2018 and 2022 NCAA Tournaments and the 2021 and 2023 WNIT Postseason Tournament and has 13 Winning Seasons. The Hoosiers lead the all-time series with Nebraska 11-6 as the Hoosiers won the last meeting in Bloomington 74-62 in 2 overtimes on January 1, 2023.
The Hoosiers lost to the Huskers in Lincoln 72-55 on February 14, 2022. This Series dates back to 1994 as the Hoosiers are 3-4 all time in Lincoln. The Hoosiers won in 2016, 2019 and 2020. Indiana is 9-6 all-time in Big Ten Conference matchups since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011. The Hoosiers have won seven of the last eight meetings dating back to 2018 as Indiana won both non-conference meetings in 1994 and 2010.