Indiana Women's Basketball Easily Hands No. 6 North Carolina First Loss of Season
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana women's basketball improves to an 8-0 record after shutting down No. 6 North Carolina 87-63 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Thursday.
The No. 5-ranked Hoosiers made it look easy even without their star player senior guard Grace Berger who's out with a right knee injury following the Las Vegas Invitational.
"Well, we finished the business," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. "Our men started it last night, and then we felt like we had a responsibility to finish off the Tar Heels tonight, so really proud of our group."
Four Hoosiers reached double-scoring figures led by senior forward Mackenzie Holmes with 25 points and closely followed by junior guard Sydney Parrish with 24.
"The fact that we're asking more of those people off of the bench, and they're stepping up to the occasion is huge for us," Holmes said.
Indiana shot 53.3 percent from the field and performed even better from downtown with a 54.5 percent from beyond the arc.
"On a night where we needed to be really good outside the arc, we were able to do that," Moren said. "That's who they are...I mean they all have the ability to step out and shoot beyond the arc."
The Tar Heels were limited to 35.4 percent from the field even without the defensive pressure from Berger. However, Moren still included the point guard on the court by sporting an official "Grace Berger" crew neck on the sidelines.
Indiana basketball coach Teri Moren shows her support for senior guard Grace Berger who's out with a knee injury.
IU Athletics
"I figured while she was on pause right now, I'd put a little more money in her pocket with NIL, so that's what I told her," Moren said.
North Carolina's junior guard Deja Kelly got the offense rolling with a three-pointer out of the gate followed up by junior guard Kennedy Todd-Williams' three to match it.
Holmes got things rolling for the Hoosiers capitalizing on the and-1 for a three-point play and soon after a spin move around a North Carolina defender for two more.
With less than seven minutes to go, Holmes drew another foul allowing play to stop long enough for freshman guard Henna Sandvik to enter the game. The Finland native hit a big three-pointer to give Indiana a one-point lead upon entering the match.
"I mean Henna played (17) minutes for us tonight, and she was just in Finland last week," Parrish said. "She wasn't even with us in Vegas so it was huge for all of us to step up and make big plays."
Indiana kept drawing fouls as junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil sunk her two freebies at the charity stripe. Parrish then hit a three-pointer as part of a Hoosiers' 13-0 run.
North Carolina followed up with a three of its own to keep the game within a point. Senior guard Sara Scalia then hit a three as part of Indiana's perfect 5-for-5 triples to start allowing Indiana to pull away with less than five minutes to go in the first frame.
To begin the second quarter, Parrish hit an early three to get the Hoosiers' rhythm flowing. This jumpstarted a nice groove for Indiana as the Hoosiers built up an 11-point lead.
"Coming into this year, we knew that three-point shooting was going to be big for us," Parrish said. "I changed my shot this week. I guess it worked for today."
The three-point shot was working for Scalia too. With under three minutes to play in the half, Scalia hit yet another three to start off 3-for-3 from downtown.
After some missed shots on both sides, Moore-McNeil drove in for a layup forcing a foul to make it a three-point play and give the Hoosiers a 49-33 lead at the half.
North Carolina made a fast break layup to open the frame, but Parrish responded with a three to join Moore-McNeil in double scoring figures.
It was a quiet few minutes for both sides as the Hoosiers didn't score a field goal for two and a half minutes. North Carolina finally hit a layup but was still down by 14 points.
Indiana then woke back up off of Holmes' layup shot that drew the foul and made for a complete and-1 play.
To close out the frame, freshman guard Yarden Garzon hit a deep three pointer that got Hoosier Nation up on its feet and gave Indiana a near-20 point lead. Garzon finished the night with nine points and two triples.
"She's a freshman by class, but she doesn't play like a freshman," Moren said. She doesn't act like a freshman. There's a maturity level to her that I don't think I've ever had in a freshman in my — this is my 30th year of coaching."
In the final frame, Scalia hit her fourth three-pointer of the night finishing with 12 points to join three other teammates in the double-digit club.
In a timeout around the eight-and-a-half minute mark, Hoosier men's basketball players Tamar Bates and Xavier Johnson got the crowd dialed up with a tee-shirt toss before the women finished off the Tar Heels.
Up next, Indiana will face its first Big Ten opponent in Illinois on Sunday, Dec. 4 inside the Hall at 2 p.m. ET.
Related stories on Indiana women's basketball
- HOOSIERS TO PLAY UNC IN TOP-10 MATCHUP Two undefeated top-10 teams in North Carolina and Indiana will battle it out inside the Hall for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge crown. Read more about how to watch, who's commanding each team's offense and how the Hoosiers will carry on without one of their best players Grace Berger. CLICK HERE
- GRACE BERGER OUT INDEFINITELY Indiana women's basketball head coach Teri Moren said senior guard Grace Berger is out indefinitely with a right knee injury. Berger is day-to-day and will not play in the UNC game on Thursday. CLICK HERE
- HOLMES & GARZON EARN BIG TEN WEEKLY HONORS Indiana women's basketball forwards Mackenzie Holmes and Yarden Garzon earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors as the first duo to sweep the award since the 2009-10 season. CLICK HERE
