Indiana Women's Basketball Ends Season With Heartbreaker Loss to Miami in NCAA Tournament Second Round
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — One-seed Indiana women's basketball ended its season and NCAA Tournament run with a 70-68 loss to 9-seed Miami in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday night.
"It stings," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. "It hurts. But it should if you're competitors and it means anything to you, the way these kids work. Like I told them, if they didn't have tears and they weren't emotional then I would wonder what all the hard work was for."
Senior forward Mackenzie Holmes returned to the starting lineup after sitting out the first round versus Tennessee Tech with left knee soreness. In her return, she led the team with 22 points while graduate student guard Grace Berger added 17 in her final game as a Hoosier.
Berger entered the matchup ninth on the all-time leading scorers list but ended the game in sixth with 1,841 career points.
"She's helped build this program," Moren said. "Just so grateful that she decided to become an Indiana Hoosier five years ago when she had a lot of different options. She chose us."
The Hoosiers never overcame a poor start Monday as they shot 41 percent from the field compared to the Hurricanes' 47 percent. Miami had the hot hand from beyond the arc as it shot 57 percent from downtown while the Hoosiers couldn't get their triple game going until the second half.
In the first quarter, the Hoosiers trailed 14-4 forcing Indiana to call a timeout. Once the whistle blew, senior guard Sara Scalia drove in for a layup with just above four minutes to play in the first frame. Holmes followed that play up with a steal as the Hall roared with cheer.
The Hurricanes built up a 10-point lead as Scalia was seen wobbling off the court and into the locker room following five minutes on the court. She later returned to the floor.
With just above one minute to play, freshman forward Lilly Meister hit a layup off a crafty Berger assist. In the next possession, freshman guard Yarden Garzon stole the ball and heaved it to Berger for a layup.
Still, the Hoosiers ended the quarter with a 20-12 deficit.
"It was a game of runs, and in that first half we dug ourselves a hole," Holmes said.
In the second frame, Indiana fell into a 14-point deficit until junior guard Sydney Parrish made a layup and was fouled but missed the free-throw shot. Into the second quarter, Indiana was only 7-for-23 from the field .
Berger tried to chip away at the deficit swishing two free throws followed by Scalia's pair. Indiana's defense then came alive as it forced a shot clock violation on the Hurricanes. This sparked a 6-0 Hoosier run capped off by junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil's layup.
Under the three-minute mark, Moore-McNeil hit the Hoosiers' first three of the game to force a Miami timeout to come within five points.
The Hurricanes had the hot hands as they once again built up a 41-29 lead at the half despite stronger Indiana defensive efforts.
"I didn't think we looked like we had any good rhythm, pace, flow to what we were trying to do offensively," Moren said. "They came out and they stuck shots. They stuck shots early and helped build the lead. When you're sticking shots like that, that gives you a lot of confidence."
Indiana started off the third quarter the right kind of way as Berger hit a three off Garzon's assist, and Holmes swished a layup in the low block for just a five-point deficit as Miami called a timeout.
Holmes hit a one-handed layup to bring the Hoosiers' within three points as Miami traveled to turn the ball over.
With one minute and 15 seconds on the clock, Holmes made another one-handed layup to get within two followed by a Hurricanes' triple.
"I think that those guys [Hoosiers] collectively tried to remind each other just to stay level headed, to try to continue to show composure, but also we knew we had to guard," Moren said. "We had to get stops.
"You can't fault the effort of these guys. They gave us every ounce of energy and effort."
Indiana's offense then set up a play for Holmes under the basket as she made her most reliable shot to bring Indiana within just one point as the Hall erupted.
Garzon hit her first three pointer of the game, but Miami kept following up with more shots.
To tie it up at 58, Holmes scored her 20th point of the night off of — you guessed it — another lay in, the first time Indiana tied it up all game.
With less than a minute to go, Garzon came in clutch with a triple to tie it up. With 12 seconds left, Parrish fouled out as Miami got one more chance at the line, swishing both shots. Then Garzon made another clutch triple to tie it up with 6.6 seconds on the clock. She would finish the game breaking the school record for most three-pointers as a freshman with 69 triples.
"I'm grateful to be here and to play for these coaches and with these teammates, but right now, it just hurts," Garzon said despite a 10-point performance on the night.
Miami struck as the clock expired ending the Hoosiers' shot at their first banner and the 2023 season.
"We ran out of time there, unfortunately, and I'm disappointed for our players," Moren said. "I'm disappointed for Grace Berger. In particular Grace Berger because this is the last time that we will see her on our roster."
Related stories on Indiana women's basketball
- LILLY MEISTER NEXT WOMAN UP Hoosier freshman forward Lilly Meister had a job to do when replacing senior forward Mackenzie Holmes, who sat out the first round of the NCAA Tournament due to left knee soreness. Meister's performance in her first career start proved to be what Indiana needed to move onto the second round. CLICK HERE
- HOW TO WATCH INDIANA VS. MIAMI IN SECOND ROUND Here's how to watch Indiana women's basketball face 9-seed Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday night. CLICK HERE
- WHAT BERGER, MEISTER SAID AFTER FIRST ROUND WIN Here's what Indiana women's basketball guard Grace Berger and forward Lilly Meister said following the Hoosiers' 77-47 win over Tennessee Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE
