Indiana Women's Basketball Sweeps No. 12 Michigan With Second Regular Season Win
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana women's basketball defeated No. 12 Michigan 68-52 for the second time this year as the Hoosiers earned their ninth win over a ranked opponent this season.
Senior forward Mackenzie Holmes led the charge with 27 points as junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil added 13 points off three triples plus a team-high three steals.
"She continues to be a high-level, elite defender for us, and we're really proud of the job she did," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said.
Even on a slower offensive night for the Hoosiers who shot 43 percent from the floor, the Hoosiers' defense never let the Wolverines get within single digits from the end of the second quarter to the final buzzer.
"Other than the fourth quarter, some of our shooting, we struggled there a little bit hitting point blank layups, but other than that, I thought it was a solid night," Moren said.
In the first quarter, Michigan got on the board first with a jumper. Then, Holmes beat the double team for a layup. It was back and forth for the first few minutes until freshman guard Yarden Garzon hit a jumper for a 1-point lead, and Holmes added two more in the Hoosiers' next possession.
With five and a half minutes to play in the first frame, Holmes drew the foul for the complete and-1 play.
"She's been great handling traps, handling double teams coming at her," Moore-McNeil said.
Moore-McNeil later hustled down the floor and hit a step-back three as part of a 10-0 run to force a Wolverines' timeout.
With under two minutes to go, Holmes tried her luck with a jump shot and swished it for 13 early points. Indiana started to lose its momentum as junior guard Sydney Parrish picked up two fouls and went to the bench while freshman guard Henna Sandvik took her place.
Michigan hit a three to cut its deficit to five by the end of the frame.
In the second quarter, Michigan tried to chip away by cutting its deficit to three points, but Garzon's nothing-but-net triple and senior guard Grace Berger's coast-to-coast layup shut that down.
Moore-McNeil then stole and scored to make it a 10-0 run for the 13-point lead. The Sharon, Tenn. native tallied all three steals in the first half.
"My growth has come from a mental standpoint, being confident in myself," Moore-McNeil said.
Later, Moren did her signature whistle to get the attention of her Hoosiers. Indiana slowed down to set up a play for freshman forward Lilly Meister open under the basket for two, forcing a Michigan timeout.
The Wolverines started resorting to fouls as a technical was called on Michigan. Senior guard Sara Scalia sunk both freebies with under two minutes left in the half to eventually finish with a 42-28 Hoosier lead.
In the third frame, Holmes shot, missed and got her own rebound for the score. Moore-McNeil kept up with her hot hand as she sank two consecutive threes for a 20-point Hoosier lead.
The whistles started blowing as both Garzon and Parrish found themselves in foul trouble with three a piece while Holmes picked up her second.
Indiana entered some offensive trouble as it went 1-for-7 for a stretch, but Michigan was also struggling with a two-and-a-half-minute scoring drought of its own.
Scalia missed a three-pointer, but Meister attacked the offensive glass for two while drawing the foul, which she turned into a three-point play. She didn't stop there. As the clock winded down, Meister stole the ball and passed it off to Scalia, who assisted former track star freshman guard Lexus Bargesser's fast-break layup at the buzzer.
The fourth quarter was slow on both ends as Indiana didn't score for five minutes until Holmes hit a layup off Berger's assist for the and-1, complete three-point play.
Despite not much scoring, Indiana's defense maintained a huge gap between Michigan, and the Hoosier bench came in with just over a minute to go to finish off the Wolverines.
"We knew we had to lock in on defense, and I thought we did a much better job of that, guarding their actions, guarding one on one, getting stops, getting rebounds," Holmes said.
Up next, Indiana will welcome rival Purdue to the Hall on Sunday at 12 p.m. for the second meeting between the in-state foes this season.
"We know in the Big Ten even if a team isn't ranked that they can still be dangerous," Holmes said. "We know we're going to get every team in the Big Ten's best."
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