Familiar faces, experience carry No. 12 Indiana women’s basketball down stretch at Tennessee

No. 12 Indiana girls’s basketball led from wire-to-wire in its 79-67 win over the No. 11-ranked College of Tennessee, however victory wasn’t assured till the ultimate buzzer on Monday night time. With the Woman Volunteers making use of strain and chipping away on the Hoosiers’ lead, Indiana’s expertise proved essential. 

Indiana led by 16 factors early within the third quarter, however Tennessee reduce its deficit to 4 within the fourth quarter behind an electrical setting that rattled the Hoosiers. Getting ready to gifting away the sport, the Hoosiers’ skilled veterans took over to assist draw back with a monumental victory. The win improved their report to 3-0. 

Indiana’s two most skilled gamers – graduate guard Grace Berger and senior ahead Mackenzie Holmes – had been the leaders of the cost. The duo mixed for 12 of Indiana’s 22 fourth quarter scoring complete and helped the Hoosiers maintain composure within the ruckus ambiance. 

Berger scored 4 factors within the ultimate body and 13 complete, however it was her ball dealing with and management that proved pivotal in crunch time. Head coach Teri Moren acknowledged how significant Berger is to the staff’s success. 

“Grace Berger is our chief and we’re going to play off her toughness,” Moren mentioned. “Grace did an amazing job of constructing certain we had been all good.”  

Whereas Berger performed the position of flooring basic, Holmes supplied the scoring outburst. Holmes led the Hoosiers with 16 factors, doing half of her harm within the fourth quarter through the use of her submit strikes to perfection in opposition to the taller Tennessee defenders. 

“I knew I used to be going to need to work that a lot tougher,” Holmes mentioned. “We simply took benefit of the matchups. My teammates had been discovering me, and I bought some attractiveness.” 

Holmes and Berger each completed with double-doubles, grabbing 10 rebounds every together with their scoring outputs. In a sport the place Moren mentioned rebounding was the important thing, Indiana’s star pair attacked the boards to assist the Hoosiers win the rebounding battle 35-33. 

Along with Holmes and Berger, Indiana’s veteran core stepped as much as present a balanced assault. 5 Hoosier gamers scored in double digits. Senior guard Sara Scalia tied Holmes with a team-high 16 factors, junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil added 15 and junior guard Sydney Parrish put up 13 off the bench. 

Parrish was essentially the most impactful participant within the first half, scoring 10 of her 13 in that span and hustling for 3 offensive rebounds and two steals. Moren has continued to reward Parrish for her position and effectiveness as Indiana’s sixth lady. 

“Syd got here in off the bench and actually gave us an amazing shot within the arm along with her exercise and hustle,” Moren mentioned.  

Scalia had robust performances within the second and fourth quarters whereas Moore-McNeil had an enormous third quarter, together with a clutch 3-pointer to halt Tennessee’s surge of momentum, serving to the Hoosiers retain their lead.  

“I really feel like we’ve all been very skilled,” Moore-McNeil mentioned. “Even on their runs we knew tips on how to maintain our composure and hit them again.” 

Moren expressed her satisfaction within the staff for incomes the top-15 win this early within the season. Nonetheless, she admitted her beforehand held doubts as to how the Hoosiers would mix after including seven new gamers this offseason. 

“I used to be questioning how powerful of a bunch we’ve as a result of we’ve so many new faces,” Moren mentioned.  

Moren referred to the gamers Indiana misplaced from final season – Ali Patberg, Aleksa Gulbe and Nicole Cardano-Hilary – and the way tough changing their toughness can be. 

Nonetheless, Moren acknowledged the expertise the Hoosiers nonetheless have up-and-down the roster and the way dependable it was as the sport tightened. 

“These are some veterans,” Moren mentioned. “We’ve got a bunch that understands the sport. They performed with nice self-discipline.” 

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