Sara Scalia sets the single season record for three pointers made in #14 IU’s win at Wisconsin
Sara Scalia hit four three pointers to become set the single season record for three pointers made in IU Women’s Basketball history as the Hoosiers beat Wisconsin 68-54 on Wednesday Night at the Kohl Center in Madison. Scalia broke Amanda Cahill’s record of 78 the set in the 2017-18 season. Scalia came into the game tied with Tyra Buss for second place who played from 2014-18 on the list with 75. Scalia hit 3 triples in the first half and broke the record with 35 seconds left in the third quarter. Scalia finished the game with 15 points as the Hoosiers beat the Badgers for the 10 straight time and fifth straight win in Madison since 2017. The Hoosiers lead the all-time series 54-24 and have won 12 of the last 13 meetings against the Badgers since February of 2014.
Mackenize Holmes had 24 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Hoosiers and has 2,389 points for her career after setting the school’s all-time scoring record on Sunday. Holmes has 947 rebounds, 240 blocks along with a school record 983 field goals made and 121 wins in 139 games played. Chloe Moore-McNeil added 12 points. Lexus Bargesser, Lilly Meister and Lenee Beaumont all had 5 points apiece. Juliana LaMendola scored 2 points. Yarden Garzon, Henna Sandvik and Arielle Wisne played but did not score. The Hoosiers finished the game 24-54 from the field for 44%, 10-20 from three-point range for 50% and 10-16 from the free throw for 62%. Indiana pulled down 26 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, 8 steals, 3 blocks and committed 11 turnovers. The Hoosiers are 21-3 on the season and 12-2 in the Big Ten and play at Illinois on Monday afternoon in a President’s Day Matinee at 2pm.
Wisconsin who drops to 11-12 overall and 4-9 in the Big Ten was led by Serah Williams with 18 points and 14 rebounds for her 10th straight double-double and 13th of the season. Ronnie Porter added 11 points and Brooke Schramek added 10 points. The Badgers finished the game 18-42 from the field for 43%, 1-7 from three-point range for 14% and 17-21 from the free throw line for 81%. Wisconsin pulled down 32 rebounds, dished out 7 assists, 2 steals, 6 blocks and committed 19 turnovers.
Wisconsin hung with Indiana to start the game as the Hoosiers lead 20-19 after the first quarter. Indiana outscored the Badgers 21-6 in the second quarter to lead 41-25 at halftime. Wisconsin would not go away outscoring the Hoosiers 14-7 in the third quarter as the cut to the Hoosier lead to 6 45-39 with 3:08 left in the 3rd but Scalia’s record breaking three put the Hoosiers up 48-39 at the end of the third quarter. Indiana outscored Wisconsin 20-15 in the fourth quarter as the Badgers could not get any closer than 11 points. Lilly Meister drained her first career three pointer with 19 seconds left which was her first of the season in her career second attempt after she missed one at Stanford in November.
The Hoosiers are behind Ohio State at 13-1 in the conference standings as the Buckeyes beat Nebraska 80-47 in Columbus Wednesday Night. Iowa is 11-1 hosts Michigan Thursday Night as Caitlin Clark is 8 points away from setting the all-time NCAA Women’s Division 1 Scoring record. The Hoosiers and the Hawkeyes meet up next Thursday Night in Bloomington and Ohio State travels to Iowa on March 3, In the regular season finale. The top three have separated themselves from the rest of the conference in a three-horse race that will come down to the wire.
Indiana University Athletic Department’s 2023 Financial Report shows 5.6 Millon Dollar Surplus
The Indiana athletic department reported a $5.6 million surplus in the 2023 financial report it submitted to the NCAA. The annual report was provided to The Bloomington Herald-Times in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The NCAA requires all Division 1 member schools to submit an audited financial report at the end of the year. “Anytime we finish in the black, it’s extremely positive,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said. “We have got to really work every year, we are close to break even, so that $5.6 million was a real accomplishment for our department.”
That surplus will help the athletic department fund the upkeep of the many athletic facilities on campus. Part of the 2023 funds will go towards replacing the turf in the Mellencamp Pavilion this spring. Last year, the athletic department replaced the turf on one of the outdoor practice fields. “We want to create enough capital to fund those things on a timely basis,” Dolson said. “One of the toughest things to budget for is R&R (renewals and replacements). It’s really hard if you want to put a new roof or put in new turf or resurface the track. All those things are extremely costly and easy to put off in some ways if you can’t fund them, but they are critical.”
Last year, Indiana ranked No. 13 nationally in total revenue ($166.7 million), but that was largely due to a one-time $150 million gift from the IU Foundation that helped the university offset losses from the pandemic. The school transferred $38 million of the foundation’s gift to the athletic department. It was recorded in the 2022 financial report among the $61.2 million in donor contributions the department received. Indiana reported $144.7 million in operating revenues in 2023 including $24.5 million in ticket sales, $19.6 million in donor contributions and $47.8 million from media rights distributions. The media rights distributions were nearly identical to last year’s numbers, but the department’s overall ticket sales were up from 2022 ($21.2 million) and pre-pandemic levels. Indiana men’s basketball ticket sales ($12.2 million) outpaced the football team ($10.3 million) by nearly $2 million. The revenue from program, novelty, parking and concession sales was nearly identical for the programs.
Indiana’s 2023 financial report doesn’t include the buyout for former football coach Tom Allen, or the money owed to his former assistants. The school negotiated Allen’s buyout down to $15.5 million and paid out in two equal installments, but those funds were distributed during the 2024 fiscal year. The FY2023 includes the last six months of 2022 and first six months of 2023. “We have gifts coming in over time,” Dolson said, of those expenses. “We’re taking out a loan for the immediate expenses. What it will show (next year) is higher expenses, but also an influx of a loan that we will be paying off over time with donor funds and operating money we put towards that.” “It should not affect a profit or a loss. It should be a wash in fiscal year 2024.” Much of what Indiana owed to Allen’s coaching staff has been offset by those assistants finding jobs elsewhere. The athletic department has a standard mitigation clause in their assistant coach contracts.
Indiana’s listed $10.4 million in expenses to non-program specific athletic facilities debt service, leases and rental fee is the outstanding loans for recent major completed projects such as Wilkinson Hill, Assembly Hall renovation and the South End Zones. The university pays off the loan as it receives the annual pledges for those projects, according to Dolson. Indiana’s football team accounted for $34.1 million of those expenses and the men’s basketball team had $17 million in expenses. The rest of Indiana’s athletic teams operate at a $34.9 million deficit, with the women’s basketball program bringing in $1.2 million against $7.3 million in expenses and the other sports reporting $5.1 million in revenue with $31.3 million in expenses. Indiana has 24 total teams (13 women’s programs) with 703 student-athletes (499 of them receive scholarship money), according to the report.
Three Indiana University Baseball players on the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch List
Ahead of the start of the 2024 college baseball season on Friday, the Big Ten released its Preseason Players to Watch and Big Ten Preseason Coaches’ Poll, as announced on Wednesday afternoon. Per a selection by head coach Jeff Mercer, sophomore pitcher Connor Foley, sophomore outfielder Devin Taylor and junior catcher Brock Tibbitts received nods as Big Ten Players to Watch. Each team in the conference featured three selected players.
Foley was outstanding for the Hoosiers as a freshman, using his plus fastball to his advantage as an important piece in the backend of the bullpen. The Jasper, Ind. native finished 4-2 on the season with a 3.72 earned run average while striking out 42 batters in 20 appearances. He will have the ability to stay as a high-profile closer or transition to a weekend starter for the Hoosiers in 2024. Foley helps make up a strong contingent of sophomore pitchers that also features Brayden Risedorph and Ethan Phillips.
Taylor, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, helped lead an outstanding offensive attack for IU in 2023. The Cincinnati, Ohio native hit .315 across 55 games while producing 16 home runs and an IU freshman record 59 RBI’s. Ahead of 2024, Taylor has been named a unanimous selection for Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year and was a Preseason Second Team All-American by Perfect Game.
Tibbitts, a mainstay in IU’s lineup since 2022, is as consistent as they come on the field. A .357 hitter in 2023 and a career .314 hitter in college, the 6-foot-4 Ohio native is one of the best all-around talents in the entire conference. He will transition back to his natural position behind the plate but will also rotate into a platoon of players at first base, providing a veteran defensive presence at both positions.
Big Ten coaches also made preseason selections for the top-six finishers in the conference. IU was voted second in the league’s preseason poll behind Iowa, a consensus top-25 pick to begin the year. Maryland, Rutgers, Nebraska and Michigan rounded out the top-six teams. IU will face four of the five fellow members of the Big Ten Preseason Poll in the regular season this year.
Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch List – Indiana
Connor Foley, RHP, So., Jasper, Ind.
Devin Taylor, OF, So., Cincinnati, Ohio
Brock Tibbitts, C, Jr., New Albany, Ohio Big Ten Preseason Poll
1. Iowa
2. Indiana
3. Maryland
4. Rutgers
5. Nebraska
6. Michigan
Former Indiana University Swimming Coach Dennis Dale selected for CSCAA Lifetime Achievement Award
Former Indiana swimming and diving assistant coach Dennis Dale has been named the recipient of the 2024 CSCAA Lifetime Achievement Award, the coaches association announced this week. The award, selected by the CSCAA’s Board of Directors, recognizes individuals whose efforts best exemplify the integrity and ideals of collegiate swimming and who has achieved significant success in the sport while imparting the educational and character-building qualities of the collegiate swimming experience. Dale will be recognized at the 63rd Annual CSCAA College Swimming & Diving Awards on May 6, in Indianapolis. “I credit Dennis Dale for establishing our sprint group culture and success over the last 10 years,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Additionally, he mentored our swimmers on how to win relays at a high level from a tactical standpoint.”
After serving as head coach of the Minnesota swimming and diving program from 1985-2014 and winning six Big Ten Coach of the Year awards in Minneapolis, Dale became the associate head coach at Indiana in 2014 and concluded his coaching career in 2017. Dale was an expert sprint coach and contributed to success of Olympian Blake Pieroni, among others. “I have the utmost respect for Dennis Dale as a coach, and I know that is true amongst the entire swim community,” Pieroni said. “I loved showing up to practices because I knew Dennis would have jokes for us, and he would always give me his extremely candid feedback. “My favorite quote from Dennis is ‘Let’s go out there and have fun … I have the most fun when we’re winning, so let’s win.’ I love Dennis’ passion and knowledge for the sport of swimming, and I can’t think of anyone more qualified for this award.”
11 Indiana University Field Hockey players named to the NFCHA National Academic Squad
The National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) announced its 2023 National Academic Squad honorees across collegiate Field Hockey on Wednesday morning. There were 11 Indiana Field Hockey student-athletes selected for the prestigious honor. This is the third consecutive year where Indiana had 10 or more student-athletes who made the list. To qualify for the achievement, a student-athlete must record a 3.5 or higher GPA through the fall semester of the current academic year. Indiana’s eleven honorees are listed below in alphabetical order by last name. Javi Baeza | Midfielder | Shaker Heights, Ohio. Taylor Etling | Midfielder | Saint Louis, Mo. Kayla Kiwak | Forward | Harding, Pa. Kate Longo | Back | Charlotte, N.C. Arabella Loveridge | Goalkeeper | Auckland, New Zealand. Cecilia Maixner | Back | Ann Arbor, Mich. Anna Mozeleski | Midfield/Forward | Kingston, Pa. Kennedy Reardon | Midfield | Lafayette Hill, Pa. Theresa Ricci | Forward/Midfield | Garnet Valley, Pa. Hannah Riddle | Back/Midfield | Louisville, Ky. Ava Winner | Forward | Lutherville, Md.
Hoosiers Connect forms partnership with Homefield to benefit NIL Opportunities for Indiana University Student Athletes Hoosiers Connect, the Official NIL Collective of IU Athletics, announced a new partnership with Homefield, the leading provider of officially licensed, premium, vintage college sports apparel, as a part of the new Homefield NIL Partnership Program. Through the partnership, Homefield will allocate 10 percent of all sales revenue that is generated through the ‘IN4IN’ promotional code to Hoosiers Connect. Additionally, there will be six enhanced promotional days in which 20 percent of revenue generated through the ‘IN4IN’ promotional code will be allocated to Hoosiers Connect. The funds Hoosiers Connect receives through this partnership will benefit NIL opportunities for IU student-athletes.
Hoosiers Connect is one of five NIL collectives included in the Homefield NIL Partnership Program and the first to launch one of the six enhanced promotional days. Hoosier fans can use the code ‘IN4IN’ today, February 12, to receive 20% off all orders and 20% of all revenue generated with this code will go to Hoosiers Connect. Year-round, use the code ‘IN4IN’ to receive 10% off your first order and to give 10% of all revenue generated with this code to Hoosiers Connect. “Since the summer of 2021, we’ve been evaluating avenues for Homefield to thoughtfully and meaningfully support student-athletes,” said Connor Hitchcock, Homefield co-founder and CEO. “We’re finally able to do so through the Homefield NIL Partnership Program, and we could not be more excited to play a role in athletes monetizing their Name, Image and Likeness.” To learn more about Homefield and to use the code ‘IN4IN’ to benefit NIL opportunities for IU student-athletes, visit homefieldapparel.com.
About Hoosiers Connect- Hoosiers Connect provides fans a way to support NIL opportunities for IU student-athletes through one-time or recurring donations and memberships with exclusive experiences with student-athletes and other perks. Hoosiers Connect also partners with businesses and organizations to partner them with IU student-athletes for marketing and sponsorship purposes.
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