Indiana women's basketball gets answer it needs after Saturday's loss to Iowa

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana women's basketball needed this.

With Minnesota's only three losses being to No. 9 UConn, No. 2 Iowa, and Maryland, the Hoosiers faced another gritty Big Ten matchup Wednesday against Golden Gophers. IU rebounded from Saturday's loss to Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes by downing Minnesota, 85-62.

Mackenzie Holmes led the Hoosiers with 32 points, followed by Sara Scalia with 22 and Sydney Parrish with 15. 

More:Indiana women's basketball players do some ‘soul searching’ after crushing loss to Iowa

Sara Scalia's revenge game

Cheers filled Assembly Hall any time the Hoosiers found themselves on a roll, but especially each time Sara Scalia knocked down a shot.

Scalia, a Minnesota native, played with the Golden Gophers for three years before transferring to IU. Her efforts helped send Indiana on a 19-4 run before half.

“Minnesota is always going to be home for me, that’s where I grew up and it’s special to me,” Scalia said. “It’s a different feeling being on the other side of the bench but I was just happy to go out there with the team I’m on now.”

Standing ovations were sprinkled throughout the crowd as Scalia checked out of the game in the final minutes. 

Ball movement for IU women

Impeccable ball movement by the Hoosiers made it difficult for Minnesota to defend. Shooting 58.9%, the Hoosiers refrained from forcing any unnecessary shots, an improvement from the 46.8% they shot against Iowa.

“We’re a good basketball team, we weren’t the other night,” Moren said. “But this is a really good basketball team when they’re connected, when they’re playing fast, when they’re sharing the ball, when they’re intentional about their assignments defensively.”

Communication and direction of the offense flowed seamlessly. Players like Yarden Garzon (nine rebounds and four assists) and Chloe Moore-McNeil (four rebounds and five assists) made their mark in rebounds and assists rather than points on the board and chances of an Indiana win would have dwindled significantly. 

Mack attack

Minnesota could not find an answer for the All-American Holmes. That was evident when Holmes stole the ball from Minnesota forward Mallory Heyer and hustled down court to score. Holmes was unafraid to get down and dirty, diving across the floor to fight for Hoosier possession. When she was under the basket, Holmes made her presence known with seven rebounds. 

“Mack obviously had a special night and that was a tough matchup,” Moren said. “That young lady is big and did a great job with Mackenzie as far as not allowing anything easy and so all of Mack’s points just came off of whether she was in the right place, right time and if her teammates found her.”

Up next

Indiana heads to West Lafayette Sunday to take on Purdue at 2 p.m.