No. 6 Indiana Pulls Past Auburn

Friday, November 25

Las Vegas, Nev.

8:45 p.m. ET

Indiana University

6-0,0-0Big Ten

Auburn

3-2,0-0SEC

Indiana

Auburn

11/26/2022 12:40:00 AM | Women's Basketball

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LAS VEGAS – Five players scored in double figures as No. 6 Indiana defeated Auburn, 96-81, in the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday night.

KEY MOMENTS

Indiana (6-0) stretched its lead to as many as six with a take to the rim from junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil with 4:12 to play. Auburn cut the lead down to one on a 3-pointer but senior forward Mackenzie Holmes would have the response under the bucket to push IU back to a 25-22 lead.
The Tigers (3-2) took a brief lead early in the second quarter, but freshman guard Yarden Garzon took over, scoring nine points and grabbing three rebounds in the frame. Indiana would go on to outscore Auburn, 26-16, as it gained a 51-39 lead at the break.
Maintaining a double-digit lead into the third quarter but Auburn would push back, cutting the deficit to as few as five with 14 seconds left to go before the final period. Garzon would extend IU's lead back to eight as she hit one of her four 3-pointers as time expired.
Holmes would turn on the jets in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of her 26 in the final 10 minutes of action and helping pace IU to a 64.3 percent clip to close out its sixth-straight double figure win.

NOTABLE

For the first time in program history, Indiana has recorded three-straight games scoring 90 points or more. The Hoosier have done it twice in a row on five different occasions but secured its first time going three games in a row by scoring 96 against Auburn.
Indiana improved to 6-0 on the season, its second-best start under ninth year head coach Teri Moren. The Hoosiers went 10-0 to begin the 2018-19 season.
IU's 51 first half points are the most points scored in a half this season.
Holmes tied her school record by going perfect from the floor, a 10-for-10 effort. She went 13-for-13 in a game against Eastern Kentucky in 2020. Holmes finished with a team-high 26 points on the evening.
Garzon and Holmes combined for 49 points, helping Indiana to shoot 54.1 percent from the floor. The duo is the first IU pair to score 20 points or more in the same game since Aleksa Gulbe and Grace Berger did it against Iowa on Feb. 19, 2022.
Garzon went 8-for-17 from the floor and hit four 3-pointers for a season-high 21 points while pulling down six boards and adding a team-high six assists.
Parrish set a new IU career-high with 16 points and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Moore-McNeil also contributed to a balanced stat sheet with 15 points and tied a team-high six assists.
Senior guard Sara Scalia also added double figures with 12 points.
Indiana dished out 18 assists with six each from Garzon and Moore-McNeil. Holmes and Parrish added three steals each in the win.
The Hoosiers record its first ever win in the series, which now stands at 2-1 in favor of Auburn.

QUOTABLE
Indiana head coach Teri Moren
"A great win for us tonight after losing Grace (Berger). We had to rally, all of us. I think we were all out of sorts for a minute when your best player, your leader has to leave the floor the way she did. We were all a little bit out of sorts, but we found our groove. I thought that Chloe (Moore-McNeil) handled herself very well at the point. She played a lot of minutes there. I thought that Yarden (Garzon) came in, she was hot in the first, and we allowed her to have some of the ball handling responsibilities in the second half. She had a great line, 21 points, six assists, six rebounds. It was great to see everyone step up. Kaitlin Peterson came off the bench and gave us really good minutes. Sydney Parrish was really good and showed a lot of toughness. Mack (Mackenzie Holmes) was just terrific inside. A lot of good things despite Grace not being out there, but still really happy with the way we battled. We showed terrific composure throughout. It was a very physical game, and you have to have a certain level of moxie and toughness when the game is that physical. I thought our kids showed that in a big kind of way tonight."

UP NEXT
The Hoosiers will face Memphis to close out play at the Las Vegas Invitational on Saturday at 8:45 p.m. ET.

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