#10 Indiana University falls short at #8 Ohio State in Top Ten Women’s Basketball showdown
#8 Ohio State Buckeyes held off the #10 Indiana Hoosiers 74-69 Sunday Afternoon at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio in a top ten matchup that lived up to the billing with 3 ties and 13 lead changes. The Buckeyes are 10-1 in the Big Ten and 19-3 overall and are tied for first place with Iowa in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes are 10-1 after beating Maryland 93-85 on Saturday in College Park. Indiana is 18-3 overall and 9-2 in the Big Ten and will host Michigan State on Thursday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Sara Scalia led the Hoosiers with 25 points along with 14 points and 9 rebounds apiece from Mackenzie Holmes and Yarden Garzon. Chloe Moore-McNeil added 10 points, Lexus Bargesser got the start in place of the injured Sydney Parrish finished with 6 points. Lilly Meister, Lenee Beaumont and Juliana LaMendola did not score off the bench and combined for 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. The Hoosiers finished 25-54 for 46% from the field, 6-16 from three-point range for 37% and 13-18 from the free throw line for 72%. Indiana had 38 rebounds, 13 assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks. The Hoosiers had a season high 23 turnovers and struggled against the press that Ohio State threw at them throughout the game. Parrish missed her fourth game due to a foot injury. Parrish was not on crutches but had a boot on her right foot.
Mackenize Holmes is 65 points away from breaking Tyra Buss all-time scoring mark 2,364 points as Holmes sits at 2,320 points. The Gorham, Maine native is now fifth on the schools’ all-time rebounds list with 932 as she passed Shirley Bryant who had 924 rebounds from 1992-95. Mackenize sits at 235 career blocks which is second all-time behind Quacy Barnes who had 269 from 1995-98. Holmes extends her school record to 954 career field goals made.
Ohio State was led in scoring by Jacy Sheldon with 25 points, Cotie McMahon added 20 points, Taylor Thierry and Rebeka Mikulasikova added 11 point each. Celeste Taylor added 5 points while Indianapolis native Rikki Harris scored the only two points off the bench for either team. Eboni Walker, Emma Shumate and Madison Greene did not score and combined for 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. The Buckeyes finished 27-60 from the field for 45%, 9-21 from three-point range for 43% and 11-16 from the free throw line for 68%. The Buckeyes had 29 rebounds, 16 assists, 10 steals, 4 blocks and committed 13 turnovers.
Mackenize Holmes scored the first 7 points off the game for the Hoosiers as neither team was shooting the ball well form the field, but Ohio State finished the quarter on 8-0 run to lead 18-11 as Indiana went scoreless for the final 2:09 of the first quarter. Indiana had a strong second quarter outscoring Ohio State 26-14 to lead 37-32 going into the locker room. With the game tied 27-27 with 5:49 left in the second quarter the Hoosiers finished the half outscoring the Ohio State 10-5.
In the third quarter Ohio State turned up the pressure and forced Indiana to speed up that led to a lot of turnovers and resulted in the Buckeyes outscoring the Hoosiers 23-10 in the period to lead 55-47 going into the final ten minutes. Indiana outscored Ohio State 22-19 in the final quarter but the Hoosiers could not get over the hump getting within three points with 16 seconds left on three made Sara Scalia free throws to make it 72-69 Taylor Theirry made the first free throw and missed the second with 15 seconds left to make it 73-69. Scalia missed an off balanced three pointer with 10 seconds left as the Hoosiers had to foul and sent Jacy Sheldon to the free throw line. Sheldon missed the first and hit the second with 7 seconds left as Chloe Moore-McNeil missed a three pointer with 2 seconds left and Celeste Taylor grabbed the defensive rebound as Ohio State have won two in a row against the Hoosiers and beat Indiana in Columbus for the first time since 2019 snapping a three-game home losing streak against the Hoosiers. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series 62-26.
Indiana University Men’s Basketball falls flat in a 14-point home loss to Penn State
Without its leading scorer the Penn State Nittany Lions beat the Indiana Hoosiers 85-71 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Saturday afternoon for their first win in Bloomington since 2014. Penn State was without leading scorer Kanaye Clary who was injured in the second half last Saturday Night at Minnesota and averages 18.4 points per game. Penn State is now 2-0 without Clary and two double digit road wins against Rutgers by 15 points Wednesday Night and now Indiana on Saturday Afternoon. Penn State is 11-11 on the season and 5-7 in the Big Ten. Indiana drops to 13-9 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten with a road matchup coming at Ohio State on Tuesday Night. The Hoosiers lead the series 42-16 as Penn State has won three in a row against the Hoosiers dating back to last season.
Penn State was led in scoring with 22 points from Ace Baldwin Jr., Zach Hicks added 19 points, 6-11 Qudus Wahab scored 14 points and pulled down 7 rebounds and D’Marco Dunn added 10 points. The Nittany Lions were finished 31-54 for 57% from the field, 12-22 from three-point range for 54% and 11-16 from the free throw line for 66%, Penn State pulled down 22 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, 7 steals, no blocks and committed just 6 turnovers. Penn State scored 34 points in the paint, 18 bench points and 17 points off turnovers.
Indiana was led with another double-double from Kel’el Ware who finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds for his 9th double-double of the season. In the first half was perfect from the field going 6-6 from the field, 1-1 from three-point range and 4-4 from the free throw line for 17 points and 7 rebounds. Ware finished the game 8-12 from the field, 1-1 from three-point range and 8-8 from the free throw line as head had 8 points and 4 rebounds in the second half. Malik Reneau returned after getting injured in the first three minutes of the Iowa as he scored 16 points and pulled down five rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Mackenize Mgbako added 13 points and Trey Galloway chipped in 12 Points. Xavier Johnson missed the game with an elbow injury he suffered Tuesday night against Iowa. Gabe Cupps started in place of Johnson and played 33 minutes scoring 2 points, 2 rebounds and committed one turnover. The Hoosiers finished 25-52 for 48 % from the field, 5-19 from three-point range for 26% and 16-19 from the free throw line for 84%. The Hoosiers had 28 rebounds, dished out 13 assists, 2 blocks. 2 steals and committed 13 turnovers. The Hoosiers scored 40 points in the paint, 13 points off turnovers and three points off the bench by C.J. Gunn.
Indiana got off to a good start in the first half leading by 11 points with 5:15 left in the first half leading 34-23. Penn State was struggling in the first half as the Nittany Lions got their first 9 points all on three pointers before D’Marco Dunn scored the first two-point basket of the game for Penn State with 12:24 left in the first half. Indiana scored 1:56 into the game on Kel’el Ware basket and hit two free throws to give Indiana a 4-0 lead. Zach Hicks scored the first basket of the game for Penn State 2:59 in as the Nittany Lions hit 6 three pointers in the first half.
In the second half it was all Penn State outscoring the Hoosiers 48-30 and going 16-25 from the field for 64%, 6-10 from three-point range 60% and 10-14 from the free throw line for 71%. Penn State was able to score inside and hit from outside which in the first half there were struggling from inside the arc. The Hoosiers were 9-24 from the field for 37%, 2-10 from three-point range for 20% and 10-12 from the free throw line for 83%. There were a couple times were the Hoosiers had 2–3-minute scoring droughts and once Penn State took the lead 45-43 with 16:50 left in the game Indiana could not bounce back and the lead increased to double digits with 12:05 left in the game. “They dictated everything from the very beginning. Once we fell behind it was tough to get back” Indiana Head Coach Mike Wodoson said after the game. Coach Woodson did not like the way his team played in the second half saying they were flat and Trey Galloway summed it up “They we playing harder than us”. Woodson did not want to what a lot coaches do after a bad loss. “I’m not going to throw my guys under the bus, but they didn’t perform in the second half, they were flat” Woodson said.
Indiana University Swimmer Mariah Denigan qualifies for 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris
Indiana Swimming and Diving Junior Mariah Denigan qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics Saturday with her performance in the 10K open water event at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha Qatar. Denigan finished sixth, well inside her needed placement, in a time of 1:57:31.10. The Walton, Kentucky, native can qualify in a second event on Wednesday when she swims the 5K. The junior is in her third world championships in three years and has improved each year in the 10K from 15th in her 2022 debut to eighth last season and now Saturday’s sixth-place result.
Denigan is joined in Doha by IU swimming and diving associate head coach Cory Chitwood, serving Team USA as head coach of open water swimming at these championships. Chitwood has led IU’s women’s distance program to recent success both Denigan and fellow junior Ching Hwee Gan finished top-10 nationally in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the 2023 NCAA Championships. Gan will also compete at the world championships later this month, representing Singapore in the pool.
Bloomington South dominates Girls Swimming Sectional
The Bloomington South Panthers scored 502 points to win the Girls Swimming Sectional Saturday at East Central HS which is located in St Leon Indiana right off Interstate 74 as you head to Cincinnati, Ohio and just a few miles from the State Line. Coumbus North finished second with 323 points, Bloomington North was third with 314 points and Edgewood finished in 6th place with 153 points in the 14-team field. The Panthers win their 8th title in the last 9 years and 24th overall. Edgewood matched its best point total since 2014 when the Mustangs finished 6th that year with 153 points.
The Panthers took home seven individual titles including all three relays including the 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-freestyle relay. Sophomore Harper Eakin won the 200-yard freestyle along with the 500-yard freestyle, Senior Kate Seidenfaden took home the 200-yard individual medley and Sophomore Anna Asplund won the 100-yard freestyle. Bloomington North Senior Ashley Freel won the 100-yard butterfly along with the 100-yard backstroke as Bloomington schools combined to win 9 of the 12 individual events.
East Central Sophomore Audrey Bumgardner won the 50-yard freestyle, Columbus East Senior Gabriel Meier won the one-meter diving event and Columbus North Sophomore Ainsley Sherlock won the 100-yard Breastroke. The Girls Diving Regionals are Tuesday Night at Jasper High School at 6 pm with the top eight finishers advancing to the State Finals which will be held this Friday and Saturday at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Ten Monroe County Wrestlers advance to the Semi State
Monroe County will have Ten wrestlers represented by all three high schools at this Saturday’s Evansville Semi State which will be held at the Ford Center in downtown Evansville and hosted by Evansville Reitz HS at 10am Bloomington time which is 9am Evansville time. All 11 wrestlers advanced by finishing in the top four of their respective weight classes in the Regional Saturday at Bloomington South. There will be five wrestlers from Bloomington South, three from Bloomington North and two from Edgewood competing in Evansville.
Cael Hickok of Bloomington North beat Noah Benet of Floyd Central to win the regional title at 157 pounds and Evan Roudebush of Bloomington South beat Coy Bender of Terre Haute South to win the regional title at 165 pounds. Bloomington South’s Jaxsen Jean finished second place at 106 pounds, Armin Pratt finished third at 132 pounds, Wyatt Cooksey finished second at 144 pounds and Tristan Hicks finished fourth at 175 pounds. Bloomington North Trae Hopkins finished fourth at 132 pounds and Jermiah Casillas finished fourth at 165 pounds. Edgewood’s John Orman finished second at 120 pounds and Michael Neidigh finished second at 150 pounds and all advance to the Semi State on Saturday.
Bloomington North’s Kanaye Roberts-West-120 Pounds, Edgewood’s Cayleb Sides-126 pounds, Joel Silvernail-144 pounds, Cayleb Stephens-157 pounds, Bloomington South’s Brian Conley-126 pounds, Wayne Harden-138 Pounds, Carson Bohall-150 pounds and Mason Grubb 190 pounds all fell in their first match of the day and did not advance.
Taylor University Athletics brings in 33 All Crossroads League Academic Awards for the Fall Semester
The Academic All-Crossroads League honors from the fall semester were announced by the CL on Friday, with Taylor ranking among the top-half in the league with 33 of the 370 honors from the sports of soccer, cross country and volleyball. The Taylor women’s soccer team led the way for the Trojans with 13 Academic All-CL standouts. The men’s and women’s cross country teams each took six honors, while the volleyball program collected five and men’s soccer picked up three. In order to be eligible for Academic All-CL recognition, a student-athlete must have reached junior status academically with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 at the completion of the semester in which they competed. Individuals must have also been on their team’s roster for the entire season and must be nominated by their institution. The Crossroads League will announce its all-academic awards for the sports of basketball, track and field, cheer, golf, baseball and softball in June, following the conclusion of the spring semester.
Taylor’s 2023-2024 Academic All-Crossroads League Awards Women’s Soccer-Hannah Brackenbury, Emma Carrell, Morgan Fletemeyer, Emma Goebel, Audrey Grimm, Evie Kerr, Ashley Kolman, Rachel Landis, Claire Massey
Caroline Monberg, Sarah Mullins, Chloe Sena and Sydney Thompson. Men’s Cross Country-Zane Callison, Ben Eiffert, Jack Hammond, Zach McKowen, Grayson Rasmus and Matthew Roach. Women’s Cross Country– Lynae Ackley, Audrey Brinkruff, Olivia Jeanette, Elayna Kitt, Ahna Neideck and Noel VanderWall. Volleyball-Chloe Holtz, Chelsea Hurt, Alli Pflugner, Sarah Scott and Jen Springer. Men’s Soccer– Levi Kelly, Sam Spiegel and Levi Yoder.
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