Hoosiers Comeback Falls Short Against Top Seeded South Carolina

Friday, March 29

Albany, N.Y.

5 P.M. ET

Indiana University

26-6,15-3Big Ten

1-seed South Carolina

35-0,16-0SEC

Indiana

South Carolina

Hoosiers Comeback Falls Short Against Top Seeded South Carolina

3/29/2024 8:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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ALBANY, N.Y. – Indiana nearly erased a 22-point deficit as it outscored top-seeded South Carolina in the second half but came up short in a 79-75 loss in the NCAA regional semifinal at MVP Arena on Friday night.

KEY MOMENTS

After an 10-2 lead early for South Carolina (35-0) in the first, Indiana (26-6) responded with a 7-0 run of its own, which featured a 3-pointer from Garzon and Scalia's baseline floater make it a 10-9 just under the five-minute mark.
Parrish drilled a triple from the right wing to tie the game up at 12-all but another 8-0 run from the Gamecocks pushed the deficit back to eight. Scalia's step back 3-pointer with 2:54 to go was the last field goal of the frame for the Hoosiers as it trailed 26-15.
Indiana got back-to-back field goals from Scalia and a Moore-McNeil triple to come back within single digits. Garzon and Moore-McNeil then combined for two 3's at the 5:57 mark but were limited to just four points in the remainder of the second, facing a 49-32 halftime deficit.
The third quarter would be won by the Hoosiers as Parrish scored eight of her 21 points as she went back-to-back at the 3-point line while attacking the rim with 4:33 on the clock. South Carolina responded with back-to-back buckets, but Indiana wouldn't go quietly as Moore-McNeil's five points pulled to a 65-55 game at the end of the third.
It was Parrish again in the fourth, as she hit a pair of big 3-pointers to make it a two-possession game with 3:58 to go. Senior guard Sara Scalia hit her second triple of the night as Parrish got to the line to keep the game within four, 74-70, with 1:42 remaining.
Holmes' move around the defender with just over a minute to play cut it down to two, but South Carolina's Raven Johnson sank a 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining.

NOTABLE

Parrish led the Hoosiers with 21 points as she hit five 3-pointers. All five starters scored in double figures as Garzon added 16 points and tied a team-high six rebounds.
Holmes capped off her IU career with 12 points, four rebounds, two blocks two assists and a steal. In her five-year career, the Gorham, Maine native scored 2,530 points (1^st), shot 63.9 percent (1^st), grabbed 990 rebounds (4^th) and averaged 17.2 points per game (T3rd).
Scalia added 12 points with five rebounds and two assists. She rounds out her IU career by connecting on a single season 103 triples in 2023-24. For her five-year career that spanned three seasons at Minnesota and two at Indiana, Scalia scored 1,981 points and making 370 career 3-pointers.
Moore-McNeil finished with eight assists and 12 points to go along with six rebounds.
Indiana outscored South Carolina, 43-30, in the second half and shot 55.2 percent in the third and fourth quarters.
Indiana connected on 13 3-pointers on the night, finishing the season with a new single season record of 268 makes from beyond-the-arc. They also set new program records for field goal percentage (50.4), 3-point percentage (39.6), assists (591) and second in points per game (79.5).
The Hoosiers played in their third NCAA regional semifinal in four years, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in 2021, 2022 and 2024.