Indiana Women's Basketball Beats Wisconsin in Front of Record Regular Season Crowd
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A program regular season record-breaking crowd of 10,422 fans all witnessed the Hoosiers shut down Wisconsin 93-56 on Sunday afternoon.
The largest crowd came for the 2018 WNIT championship, but this season is also sparking major interest as Indiana improves to a 16-1 record surely to reign in even more fans.
Four Hoosiers scored in double figures, not an unusual stat anymore, led by senior forward Mackenzie Holmes with 29 points. Twenty-one of those came in the first half.
"She's very difficult I think for other opposing teams if they don't bring a double and you're single coverage for her," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. "She's kind of slippery."
Holmes' strong offensive game allowed for all bench players to get meaningful minutes including junior forward Kiandra Browne, who recorded her first minutes and bucket of the season after recently coming back from a right thumb injury.
"We feel like this is a team that does have depth," Moren said.
"Now that we're sort of back to full strength, we've got to figure out how we can manage Grace Berger's minutes but also Chloe and even Syd and Yarden, all of them."
Freshman guard Yarden Garzon also had a hot hand tonight making 4-of-5 triples and finishing with 19 points. The Ra’anana, Israel native also tied her season-high rebounds with eight and assists with seven.
"My mom is here," Garzon said. "I've been working a lot on my shooting, so I feel confident in my shot. I'm happy."
Garzon said her younger sister also attended the game Sunday. Due to living halfway across the world, they haven't seen her play since this summer.
"If she can have a game like that at Illinois, I don't know if I'll let her go home," Moren said with a laugh. "You can just tell she lights up, the fact that they're here."
The Hoosiers shot an impressive 54.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line although Moren said she'd like to see better production from some players downtown.
Indiana also dominated the paint thanks to Holmes and earned a total 50 points while its defense limited Wisconsin to 30 paint points.
In the first quarter, Garzon got the Hoosiers going with a midrange jumper as the Badgers followed up with a layup. The very next possession, Garzon hit a corner 3-pointer and then soon after another midrange shot while Holmes made a layup for a seven-point early lead to force a Wisconsin timeout.
After an 11-0 Indiana run, the Badgers clawed back with a three of their own while the Hoosiers missed five consecutive shots. This allowed Wisconsin to creep within six at the end of the frame.
"We got great shots in the first half," Moren said. "They just didn't go down for us. Two things we always tell them to have is a short memory, and keep shooting it."
Wisconsin opened up the second frame with two free throws to close the gap to just four until Holmes forced a foul and sunk both her shots too.
"She's a hard guard," Moren said. "She's so quick with her footwork, her hands are soft. She's just a throwback post player you don't see often. She has a way of still being able to get her shot off, creating some contact, a lot of times finishing those plays."
The Badgers tried to catch up switching off between a four and six-point gap, but Holmes proved to be too strong in the post and kept hitting shots down low.
Indiana slowly built up its lead to nine as Wisconsin entered a two and a half-minute scoring drought complete with three turnovers.
With just over three and a half minutes in the half, Garzon connected on her second three of the game. Senior guard Grace Berger added her signature jumper, which made Wisconsin call a timeout.
At the half, Indiana built up a 47-26 lead and visited the line for 12 free throws making 11 compared to Wisconsin's three made free throws.
Wisconsin got the third quarter started with a layup, but Indiana quickly took control of the half as Garzon hit two consecutive threes just under the seven-minute mark.
Indiana kept up its momentum with a steal forced by junior guard Sydney Parrish who took the ball down the court for a smooth jump shot late in the third frame. With less than one minute to go, Parrish swished a triple for more than a 30-point lead before the final frame.
All Indiana bench players got a chance in the fourth quarter, showing off a lineup Moren has never played before. Indiana held the Badgers to just nine points in the final frame propelling them to a 16-1 record on the season and showing that the bench can be just as deep.
"You can't really mimic a game in practice," Holmes said. "The only way to get experience is by playing, so those minutes are really important for those freshmen to build their confidence and work through mistakes."
Up next, Indiana will head to Illinois to face the Fighting Illini for the second time this season on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
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