Sara Scalia wins Three-Point Shootout in Phoenix Thursday night
Indiana Senior Guard Sara Scalia hit 19 3-pointers in the final round as she won the 2024 Hanes Women’s 3-Point Championship at Global Credit Union Arena on the campus of Grand Canyon University on Thursday night. In three rounds of the 35th annual event, Scalia hit a combined 56 made 3-pointers including a high of 21 in the opening round. She advanced to the finals with a 17 in the semifinals and took the crown over Missouri’s Hayley Frank by a score of 19-18. She is the second Hoosier in program history to win the competition, as Aulani Sinclair won the event in 2013.
One of the nation’s best 3-point shooters this season, Scalia knocked down an IU single season record 103 triples in her final season with the Cream and Crimson. She ranks fourth in NCAA Division I in three pointers made, fourth in 3-pointers per game (3.22) and 12th in 3-point percentage with a 43 percent clip. The Stillwater, Minn. native was IU’s second leading scorer this season with 16.3 points per game and had three or more triples in 21 times. Scalia scored in double figures in 28 games with 10 games with 20 points or more and a season-high 32 points against Bowling Green. A 2023-24 All-Big Ten first team honoree, Scalia finished her five-year career as a five-time All-Big Ten selection. She was also a Top 10 finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale award for nation’s top shooting guard while also earning WBCA All-Region honors and was the Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 20.
Indiana University Men’s Swimming and Diving Dominate Big Ten Postseason Awards
For the second-straight season, Indiana swimming and diving swept the men’s Big Ten postseason awards as part of its five-award haul, the conference office announced on Thursday. Indiana has captured 10 of the last 12 men’s postseason awards going back to 2022, as the Hoosier men have captured three consecutive Big Ten Championships and top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships. The Hoosiers won the conference championship double, winning both the men’s and women’s titles for the first time since 2019. IU is one of two Big Ten programs to win both championships within the same season. Indiana’s men finished fourth at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, and the women placed seventh, representing the Big Ten’s top national finishers at each competition.
Big Ten Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Ray Looze
Big Ten Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Ray Looze-Indiana head swimming coach Ray Looze is the only Big Ten head coach to win both the men’s and women’s coach of the year award in the same season, completing the feat for a third time this season. He was previously awarded both in back-to-back seasons: 2016 and 2017. Looze is now a 14-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, winning his eighth men’s award and sixth women’s award. He’s won the men’s award each of the last three seasons and seven times in the last nine years. The Indiana women tied their program-record seventh-place national finish for a second-straight season and have placed top 10 in the NCAA team standings at seven of the last eight national meets. Junior swimmers Anna Peplowski and Ching Hwee-Gan combined for three medals. Four relays reached the podium for the first time in program history, and all five scored for the first time since 2004. IU’s men earned their fifth top-five national finish in six years. Fourteen Hoosiers combined for 43 All-America honors, both totals are Indiana’s most since 19 athletes from the 1974 squad totaled 50 honors in a second-place team finish.
Big Ten Men’s Diving Coach of the Year: Drew Johansen- Indiana head diving Drew Johansen repeats as the Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year, his third straight conference coaching award after also winning the women’s honor in 2022. Johansen is now a six-time winner, earning his fourth men’s coach of the year award. Johansen led his squad to a dominant performance at the 2024 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving and Championships and was named the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Men’s Diving Coach the Year earlier this week. Hoosier divers scored 121 points, better than all but 10 combined swimming and diving programs, and 66 points better than the next-best diving program (Ohio State divers totaled 55 points). IU has eclipsed 100 diving points at back-to-back NCAA meets, earning 104 points in 2023. At the NCAA Championships, the trio of juniors Carson Tyler and Quinn Henninger and sophomore Maxwell Weinrich combined for a program-record six medals from the three diving events – two gold, two silver, two bronze – and eight All-America finishes.
Big Ten Men’s Swimmer of the Year: Brendan Burns–Senior Brendan Burns caps his career with his third-straight Big Ten Swimmer of the Year award after perhaps his most challenging NCAA Championships yet. On the third day of the meet, Burns repeated as NCAA Champion in the 100-yard backstroke in 43.86 despite swimming from lane one. Burns is a three-time national champion, also winning the 200-yard butterfly in 2022. On the last day, Burns took on the daunting 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard butterfly double for the first time in his career and reached the podium in each event. Burns reached the podium in all six events he swam, including three relays.
Big Ten Men’s Diver of the Year: Carson Tyler–Junior Carson Tyler secured Indiana’s fifth Big Ten Diver of the Year award in six years after former teammate Andrew Capobianco won four between 2019-2023. Tyler was also named the CSCAA Men’s Diver of the Year and Big Ten Diver of the Championships. Tyler won two NCAA Championships, repeating as platform champion after earning his first-career 3-meter title one day before, which was won by Capobianco last season. Combining the championships and a bronze-medal finish on 1-meter, Tyler totaled 56 points over the week – a total that outscored every other diving program. Tyler won on platform with a score of 515.75, IU’s best-ever mark at an NCAA Championships.
Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia to Play in College All Star Game
Indiana’s Mackenize Holmes and Sara Scalia will participate in the 2024 Women’s College All-Star Game on April 6, joining other seniors from across the country in a nationally televised contest on ESPN2. The game will be held at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State in downtown Cleveland. The Women’s College All-Star Game will provide 20 of the country’s brightest stars one final opportunity to represent their programs and be recognized against the backdrop of the sport’s championship weekend. Intersport, an award-winning Chicago-based agency that first launched a national women’s college basketball all-star event alongside the WBCA 25 years ago, will host the event. Tickets for the Women’s College All-Star Game, which start at just $15, are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting the event’s website at www.womenscollegeallstar.com.
A unanimous All-Big Ten First Team, All-Big Ten Defensive team and USBWA and AP All-American this season, Holmes Maine led Indiana (and second in the Big Ten) in scoring with 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting a league-best 65.0 percent from the floor in 31 games. She scored in double figures in 30 of 32 games including 17 20-point games and two 30-point efforts along with a team-high six double-doubles. Nationally, Holmes ranks third in field goal percentage, 12th in field goals made (260), 24th in points per game and 31st in points (633). She is a finalist for the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award, which honors the nation’s top center and appeared on a variety of national player of the year lists as a candidate including the Wooden Award, Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy and USWBA Ann Meyers Drysdale award. The Gorham, Maine native finished her IU career as the program’s all-time leading scorer and second leading scorer between the men’s and women’s program with 2,518 career points. She also finishes with the program’s best field goal percentage for a career, shooting 64.0 percent from the floor while pulling down 986 rebounds and finishing second in all-time blocks with 256.
One of the nation’s best 3-point shooters this season, Scalia knocked down an IU single season record 103 triples in her final season with the Cream and Crimson. She ranks fourth in NCAA Division I in three pointers made, fourth in 3-pointers per game (3.22) and 12th in 3-point percentage with a 43 percent clip. The Stillwater, Minn. native was IU’s second leading scorer this season with 16.3 points per game and had three or more triples in 21 times. Scalia scored in double figures in 28 games with 10 games with 20 points or more and a season-high 32 points against Bowling Green. A 2023-24 All-Big Ten first team honoree, Scalia finished her five-year career as a five-time All-Big Ten selection. She was also a Top 10 finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale award for nation’s top shooting guard while also earning WBCA All-Region honors and was the Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 20. Holmes will be on Team Lieberman while Scalia is set to play with Team Miller, which will be coached by Naismith Hall of Famers and basketball legends Nancy Lieberman and Cheryl Miller, respectively.
Indiana University Volleyball’s Ramsey Gary named to the 2024 U.S. National Under 21 Team
One of the most prolific young liberos in the country, Indiana freshman Ramsey Gary was selected to the 20-member 2024 US Women’s U21 National Team, as announced by USA Volleyball on Wednesday afternoon. The Pendleton, Ind. native played all 33 contests as a freshman in 2023, wearing the libero jersey for every point of the season. She proceeded to break both the IU freshman and all-time single season digs record, tallying 530 in her debut campaign.
She is one of seven current Big Ten athletes selected to the 20-person training camp. All three liberos invited to the camp are from the conference, including Nebraska’s Laney Choboy and Oliva Mauch. Gary, along with the other 19 members of the Women’s U21 National Team, will attend a nine-day training camp in Anaheim, Calif. this summer (June 14-22). From there, 12 players will be selected to compete at the 2024 U21 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship in Toronto, Canada (June 23-July 1).
The U21 National Team has a long track record of performing well on the world stage and providing young players a boost to join the senior women’s team. Three Big Ten players helped lead the United States to gold at last year’s Women’s U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup. An Under Armour All-American out of high school, Gary lived up to every bit of hype as a freshman in college. She was a unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and earned a nod as a Second Team All-Big Ten selection. She finished second among all freshmen in the NCAA with 530 digs and was an AVCA Northeast All-Region honorable mention selection. Gary is among a collection of key returnees for the Hoosiers in 2024. She forms one of the most dynamic setter-libero combinations in the entire country with setter Camryn Haworth. IU is also aided by the return of its top three pin hitters in Avry Tatum, Candela Alonso-Corcelles and Morgan Geddes.
Indiana University’s Nick Piesen named Big Ten Men’s Golfer of the Week
Indiana freshman Nick Piesen was named the Big Ten Men’s Golfer of the Week for the first time in his career, the league office announced on Wednesday afternoon. Piesen earned the distinction after winning his second-career collegiate tournament at the Don Benbow Butler Spring Invitational in Indianapolis on April 1. He shot a career-low 133 (68-65; -7) to clear the field by two strokes. Piesen strung together 12 total birdies during the 36 holes of golf on Monday with six coming in each round. He also claimed medalist honors at the Cardinal Invitational on Oct. 23, 2023, with a score of 134 (68-66; -6). The Strongsville, Ohio, native has placed top-20 in each of the three individual tournaments he has played this season for the Hoosiers. Piesen and the Hoosiers will be right back in action as hosts of the Hoosier Collegiate from April 6-7 at The Pfau Course.
Indiana State Men’s Basketball falls to Seton Hall in the NIT Championship Game at Hinkle Fieldhouse
Indiana State’s run in the National Invitational Tournament ended Thursday night after losing to Seton Hall 79-77 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Thursday’s result marks the end of the Sycamores’ run to the NIT Final after the team defeated Utah 100-90 earlier this week. The Sycamores also dealt with being left out of the 2024 NCAA Tournament as they cruised to 32 victories throughout the season. Indiana State’s Road to the final included a 101-92 victory over Southern Methodist in the first round, a 76-64 win over Minnesota in the second round and a victory over Cincinnati with a score of 85-81 in the quarterfinals.
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