Indiana University Athletics
Well Served – Record, Rival and More at Stake for IU
2/10/2024 2:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The record is coming, and Mackenzie Holmes pushes perspective.
The entire Cream and Crimson world knows that Holmes is positioned to surpass Tyra Buss as the greatest scorer in Indiana women's basketball history, and the senior All-American center doesn't care -- for now, at least.
There's rival Purdue to beat on Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, a second straight Big Ten title to win, and a first-ever national championship to achieve.
That's the focus. Anything else doesn't matter.
"It's a blessing to be in this position," Holmes says about her individual opportunity from the media spotlight stage at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, "but our main focus is beating Purdue. I want to beat Purdue. I want to sweep Purdue for my career. I don't want to lose to them at home."
She pauses. Smiles. Considers Sunday's promotions designed to help deliver a sellout, an incredible college basketball atmosphere and, ultimately, a Hoosier victory -- they are the Big Ten's only unbeaten-at-home team, at 12-0.
"Come and get a Teri Moren bobble head," Holmes says.
That would be coach Teri Moren, who has elevated the Hoosier program to consistent national relevance few would have expected, although she did, her coaches did, her players did.
We saw the result in a huge way during Thursday night's comeback 94-91 shootout victory over a strong Michigan State team, and if defense wasn't relevant on that night, who cared?
"Kudos to our players, the toughness they showed in the third and especially the fourth quarters, the big shots they made," Moren says.
Holmes had her share of big shots while scoring 28 points. That gives her 2,348 for her career, 17 away from taking over Buss's program record. Given Holmes' 20.5-point scoring average, and the fact she's scored at least 16 points 18 times this season, it likely will happen Sunday.
Buss, for one, can't wait. She tweeted, "Excited to watch Mackenzie Holmes make history."
Holmes would rather talk about teammates such as senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil, who had the fourth triple double in program history by totaling 10 points, 10 rebounds and eleven assists against Michigan State. The other three were by former standout Grace Berger, now with the WNBA's Indiana Fever.
"She is so solid," Holmes says of Moore-McNeil. "She's our point guard; she's our anchor on defense. She was playing with four fouls for most of that fourth quarter, and did a great job of staying in the game. She knew we needed her down the stretch.
"She deserved (a triple double). I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't her last one."
IU's success under Moren (219 wins in 10 seasons, one Big Ten title, one WNIT championship) is predicated on strong defense, but Michigan State blasted that away with dominant offense, especially with its 32-point first quarter in which it shot 70 percent, including 4-for-5 from three-point range.
The Hoosiers' only chance was to score at a near-program-record rate, even without injured starter Sydney Parrish. They responded with 67.3 percent shooting for the game, highlighted by 10-for12 shootings (2-for-3 on three-pointers) in the decisive fourth quarter to rally from deficits as large as 11 points midway through the third quarter.
Offensive balance was everywhere you looked after Holmes and Moore-McNeil, from Sara Scalia (21 points, five three-pointers) to Yarden Garzon (20 points, four three-pointers) to Lexi Bargesser (10 points) to even reserve Henna Sandvik (a banked-in three-pointer).
Garzon hit a monster crunch-time three-pointer when it mattered most.
Was she nervous?
"No nerves," she says. "Coach was behind me yelling, 'Shoot it!' I'm comfortable with my shot. I was confident."
Holmes has seen it before from the sophomore guard.
"The difficulty of the shots Yarden hits is incredible. We have confidence in her. She knows that."
IU finished with 25 assists and just 10 turnovers, a big turnaround from the turnover-fueled disappointment at Ohio State four days earlier.
"It's their maturity," Moren says. "It speaks to how connected they are, how much they rely on one another -- offensively and defensively.
"They're a smart team. They understand where the ball needs to go. It speaks to the confidence they have in themselves. You have to have kids who are super confident that they can knock down those big shots. In a gut-check moment, you have to have some (guts) to know, I'm going to hit this shot. In big moments, they had (a lot of guts)."
More of that will be needed. The Big Ten is big-three dominated with top-10 teams Iowa and Ohio State tied for first with 11-1 records, and No. 14 IU right behind at 10-2, 19-3 overall.
Every other conference team is three games back or more (Purdue is 3-8 and 10-12), which doesn't mean the competition won't be fierce.
"We'll have more of these types of games," Moren says. "We'll continue to get everybody's best. A lot of games will come down to gut-check moments. We have to keep showing the maturity, keep sharing the ball, keep understanding where the ball needs to go, keep shooting it and taking those big shots with a ton of confidence.
"A game like this will serve us well."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The record is coming, and Mackenzie Holmes pushes perspective.
The entire Cream and Crimson world knows that Holmes is positioned to surpass Tyra Buss as the greatest scorer in Indiana women's basketball history, and the senior All-American center doesn't care -- for now, at least.
There's rival Purdue to beat on Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, a second straight Big Ten title to win, and a first-ever national championship to achieve.
That's the focus. Anything else doesn't matter.
"It's a blessing to be in this position," Holmes says about her individual opportunity from the media spotlight stage at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, "but our main focus is beating Purdue. I want to beat Purdue. I want to sweep Purdue for my career. I don't want to lose to them at home."
She pauses. Smiles. Considers Sunday's promotions designed to help deliver a sellout, an incredible college basketball atmosphere and, ultimately, a Hoosier victory -- they are the Big Ten's only unbeaten-at-home team, at 12-0.
"Come and get a Teri Moren bobble head," Holmes says.
That would be coach Teri Moren, who has elevated the Hoosier program to consistent national relevance few would have expected, although she did, her coaches did, her players did.
We saw the result in a huge way during Thursday night's comeback 94-91 shootout victory over a strong Michigan State team, and if defense wasn't relevant on that night, who cared?
"Kudos to our players, the toughness they showed in the third and especially the fourth quarters, the big shots they made," Moren says.
Holmes had her share of big shots while scoring 28 points. That gives her 2,348 for her career, 17 away from taking over Buss's program record. Given Holmes' 20.5-point scoring average, and the fact she's scored at least 16 points 18 times this season, it likely will happen Sunday.
Buss, for one, can't wait. She tweeted, "Excited to watch Mackenzie Holmes make history."
Holmes would rather talk about teammates such as senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil, who had the fourth triple double in program history by totaling 10 points, 10 rebounds and eleven assists against Michigan State. The other three were by former standout Grace Berger, now with the WNBA's Indiana Fever.
"She is so solid," Holmes says of Moore-McNeil. "She's our point guard; she's our anchor on defense. She was playing with four fouls for most of that fourth quarter, and did a great job of staying in the game. She knew we needed her down the stretch.
"She deserved (a triple double). I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't her last one."
IU's success under Moren (219 wins in 10 seasons, one Big Ten title, one WNIT championship) is predicated on strong defense, but Michigan State blasted that away with dominant offense, especially with its 32-point first quarter in which it shot 70 percent, including 4-for-5 from three-point range.
The Hoosiers' only chance was to score at a near-program-record rate, even without injured starter Sydney Parrish. They responded with 67.3 percent shooting for the game, highlighted by 10-for12 shootings (2-for-3 on three-pointers) in the decisive fourth quarter to rally from deficits as large as 11 points midway through the third quarter.
Offensive balance was everywhere you looked after Holmes and Moore-McNeil, from Sara Scalia (21 points, five three-pointers) to Yarden Garzon (20 points, four three-pointers) to Lexi Bargesser (10 points) to even reserve Henna Sandvik (a banked-in three-pointer).
Garzon hit a monster crunch-time three-pointer when it mattered most.
Was she nervous?
"No nerves," she says. "Coach was behind me yelling, 'Shoot it!' I'm comfortable with my shot. I was confident."
Holmes has seen it before from the sophomore guard.
"The difficulty of the shots Yarden hits is incredible. We have confidence in her. She knows that."
IU finished with 25 assists and just 10 turnovers, a big turnaround from the turnover-fueled disappointment at Ohio State four days earlier.
"It's their maturity," Moren says. "It speaks to how connected they are, how much they rely on one another -- offensively and defensively.
"They're a smart team. They understand where the ball needs to go. It speaks to the confidence they have in themselves. You have to have kids who are super confident that they can knock down those big shots. In a gut-check moment, you have to have some (guts) to know, I'm going to hit this shot. In big moments, they had (a lot of guts)."
More of that will be needed. The Big Ten is big-three dominated with top-10 teams Iowa and Ohio State tied for first with 11-1 records, and No. 14 IU right behind at 10-2, 19-3 overall.
Every other conference team is three games back or more (Purdue is 3-8 and 10-12), which doesn't mean the competition won't be fierce.
"We'll have more of these types of games," Moren says. "We'll continue to get everybody's best. A lot of games will come down to gut-check moments. We have to keep showing the maturity, keep sharing the ball, keep understanding where the ball needs to go, keep shooting it and taking those big shots with a ton of confidence.
"A game like this will serve us well."
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballMonday, August 17
Thursday, August 13
Thursday, August 13
Wednesday, August 12