'She Was the Missing Piece For Us': Sara Scalia of Indiana Women's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Last season, Indiana senior guard Sara Scalia was in a Minnesota jersey and tore up Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with seven three pointers.
Despite her 26-point effort that night, the Stillwater, Minn. native and her former Golden Gophers squad left with an 80-70 loss to an elite Indiana who would find its way to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament one month later.
Scalia has never appeared in an NCAA tournament, just the NIT in the 2021-22 season to cap off the three-point shooter's Minnesota career.
Minnesota guard Sara Scalia (14) goes up for three against Purdue forward Jenelle Grant (22) during the second quarter of a NCAA women's basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.
© Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier, Lafayette Journal & Courier via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Indiana head coach Teri Moren said the Hoosiers had no prior relationship with Scalia ahead of her arrival other than knowing how comfortable she was draining threes in the Hall.
Moren said she suspected Scalia liked the success of Indiana and wanted to see if she could add to it.
"Just felt like we were missing some pieces especially from kids who can shoot it beyond the arc, and she was the missing piece for us," Moren said.
"We recruited her hard as soon as she put her name in the portal, got her here quickly on campus."
Moren said the plus was Scalia was already well-versed in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers didn't have to necessarily convince her of who they were or how they like to play.
Soon, Scalia along with her honors including All-Big Ten Second Team (2021-22) and Big Ten All-Freshman Team (2020) headed to Indiana where her impact has been glorious.
Indiana's Sara Scalia (14) shoots during the second half of the Indiana versus North Carolina women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.
© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
Scalia is one of six Hoosiers averaging in double-scoring figures this season ranking third in line with 11.8 points per game. Already, she's drained 21 three-pointers all over the Big Ten and beyond as the second leading triple shooter on the team behind freshman guard Yarden Garzon.
These threes aren't even close to being in danger of having her foot on the line. She's comfortable from way downtown, and she'll blow up a defense who leaves her open from beyond the arc.
"There's no secret sauce to any of that," Moren said. "It's just work. She's in here after practice. She's in here before practice. This is a kid that loves to be in the gym. She loves to be by herself and get shots up."
Indiana's Sara Scalia (14) drives on Illinois' Kendall Bostic (44) during the second half of the Indiana versus Illinois women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022.
© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
Moren said her deep shots are the ones she puts up in practice, and she's encouraged to go for them so long as they make sense in the flow of the game and it's a good shot at the time.
Perhaps Scalia's athleticism is thanks to her parents Peter and Sheri Scalia who were both collegiate athletes themselves. Peter played basketball at Centenary College of Louisiana out of Shreveport, La. while Sheri was a volleyball player at Minnesota-Duluth.
Scalia's sister Taylor followed in Mom's footsteps and now plays volleyball at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire as a senior defensive specialist.
Scalia of course took after Dad on the court and now ranks 13th in the whole Big Ten with a 31.8 three-point percentage on a team that's shooting 35.6 as the sixth best in the conference.
With room to climb the three-point ladder, maybe Scalia will finally get the chance to drain some triples on a national NCAA tournament stage come 2023.
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