Overall, the Indiana Women’s Basketball non-conference schedule has few big challenging matchups. Coming into the season ranked 11th, Indiana were expected to find success early in the season with relative ease.
The most anticipated non-conference game for the Hoosiers is against Tennessee. The Lady Vols came to the attention of the women’s college basketball world after completing a Sweet Sixteen run into her No. 4-ranked season.
On Monday night, Indiana was no longer just a fraction of a second on that radar. With a commanding 79-67 victory and leading all but one and a half minutes, the Hoosiers proved why they are a top 15 team at the national level.
“I can’t express how proud I am of this group tonight,” Terry Mollen said after the game. “
Going into the evening, Indiana was ranked 12th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, just one spot behind Tennessee’s 87–75 loss to Ohio State in the season opener. Lady Vols was my favourite, with high rankings and home crowd advantage.
However, once the game started, Indiana took the lead and maintained their tempo and energy for most of the night. All cylinders were firing for the Hoosiers except for the first few minutes of the first quarter.
Indiana scored an 11-0 run in the first quarter and Tennessee stayed within just four points in the fourth quarter to stay comfortable all night. The Hoosiers’ toughness and tenacity surpassed that of the Lady Vols, largely thanks to the leadership of the team’s oldest players.
Mackenzie Holmes and Grace Berger finished with double-doubles of 10 rebounds each and 16 and 13 points respectively. Burger’s double-double was her seventh of her career.
“When it comes to women’s basketball, we don’t have a better rival, not just on our team, but nationally,” Mollen said.
In addition to Holmes and Berger, three Hoosiers – Sarah Scalia, Sidney Parrish and Chloe Moore McNeill – finished in double figures.
“What I saw in the stats sheet was how fair our scoring was,” Holmes said. “We shared the ball. We had a selfish girl on our team. There are a lot of them, which means a lot of people have the potential to score a lot of points.”
Moore McNeill, now in a consistent starting role, continued to show improvement on both ends of the floor. Offensively, she totaled a career-high 15 points in her three 3-pointers leading the team. Her defensive efforts included 3 steals, 2 rebounds and 1 block, all well timed.
Parrish basically played 27 minutes as a starter off the bench. She had four rebounds and five assists, contributing to Indiana’s total of 35 rebounds and 21 assists.
“I thought Sid Parrish came off the bench and really shot us in the arm,” Moren said.
Defense was the deciding factor in Monday’s game. Offensive performances were relatively similar, with Indiana shooting 44% from the field and Tennessee shooting 39%. Both teams made a few rushed shots and misses near the basket, and the Hoosiers only rebounded Lady Volz by two, but other defensive efforts that don’t always show up in the stats helped the Hoosiers succeed. .
“In the end, we knew we would win the game on the defensive end,” Mollen said. “I think the ability to make a lot of hustle plays tonight — something that doesn’t really show up on the stats sheet — is why we won.”
The win takes Indiana to 3-0 for the season, marking the sixth time in the past seven seasons that the Hoosiers have started a season with a three-game winning streak, and the seventh under Mollen.
The Hoosiers will look to extend their unbeaten streak against Bowling Green State on Thursday at Simon Scujot Assembly Hall.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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