Indiana Women's Basketball Wraps Up Season With Decorated Resume

It may be over for now, but it's not the end for Indiana women's basketball. The Hoosiers ended their season after their Sweet 16 loss to UConn in the NCAA Tournament but still returned home with a stacked resume amidst plenty of regular season adversity.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Indiana women’s basketball program wraps up another season after falling to UConn in the Sweet 16 on Saturday. Despite the loss, the Hoosiers have a full list of goals they achieved this season even with plenty of adversity.

“We're not new to adversity,” junior forward Mackenzie Holmes said. “It's something we've been facing this whole season. Just all we know is to stay together, and that was going to be the mantra for the whole game no matter what the outcome was going to be.”

Indiana Women's Basketball

Indiana's Ali Patberg (14), Mackenizie Holmes (54), Aleksa Gulbe (10) and Kiandra Browne (23) smiles as they sing the alma mater after winning the Indiana versus Princeton women's NCAA second round game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday, March 21, 2022.

Adversity struck this season when starting forward Holmes went down with a left knee injury just ahead of the Nebraska game in January. She had a successful surgery but wasn’t able to play until mid-February.

Also, three Hoosier games were postponed, and one game was canceled due to COVID-19 complications within other programs and Indiana’s locker room too.

The Hoosiers expressed resiliency making it all the way to the Sweet 16 round in Bridgeport, Conn. even with a shortened schedule.

The Huskies ended Indiana’s season by winning 75-58 in the regional semifinals at Total Mortgage Arena. Indiana knew it would be tough to knock off the No. 2-seed Huskies who have been to the Final Four 13 seasons in a row.

Even though the Hoosiers couldn’t make it to the Elite Eight like last season, the Hoosiers achieved a milestone of making it to the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons.

“We've had a lot of moments where we can check them off,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. “Like historical moments inside of our program, and to be able to get to back-to-back Sweet 16s — this is something that these guys are going to have forever.”

One historical moment was hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history with the highest seed number to date at No. 3 achieved by Indiana’s returning Elite Eight starters.

Ali Patberg and Kiandra Browne

Indiana's bench led by Ali Patberg (14) celebrate during the second half of the Indiana versus Charlotte women's NCAA First Round game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, March 19, 2022.

“That's the one thing that this group I can say they've done for the last two years is that we know what we can count on, and when you know what you can count on, you can do great things,” Moren said.

Indiana completes its 2021-22 season with its seventh consecutive 20 or more win season with a 24-9 record and an 11-5 conference record. Plus, the Hoosiers made it to the Big Ten Tournament championship game for the first time since 2002.

“They (goals) were cemented by the kids like the Ali Patbergs and the Leks (Gulbe) and the Nikki (Cardaño-Hillary) that really believed in the vision but also really have believed in just the work that it takes,” Moren said.

Now it’s time to say goodbye to the three starting seniors plus valuable bench player Grace Waggoner as the UConn matchup would be their final college game.

The entire team has built up a strong bond created by the veterans ranging from emotional leaders like Ali Patberg to funny leaders like Cardaño-Hillary.

Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and Grace Berger

Mar 26, 2022; Bridgeport, CT, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) and Indiana Hoosiers guard Nicole Cardano-Hillary (4) work for the ball during the first half in the Bridgeport regional semifinals of the women's college basketball NCAA Tournament at Webster Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

While the team may never look the same, it’ll still be on the path the four seniors helped build.

“Our chemistry has been off the charts the last two seasons, and a lot of it has to do with not just because they're good basketball players but because they're good kids, and they like each other, and they care about each other,” Moren said.

Patberg said the reason the team was so great is because they played for one another and in most games felt like the smarter team due to their coaches’ preparation. She said they never stopped fighting.

“They've just been a model of consistency for us in terms of showing up, but also being about one another and just wanting each other to have success,” Moren said.

Luckily, Moren won’t completely have to rebuild her team as starters Berger and Holmes have announced they are both coming back to the team to continue making history and hopefully make an even deeper run in the NCAA Tournament next season.

“I know I have a great core group that's going to be returning to us,” Moren said. “Now it's just trying to fit all those pieces together because it will be different a year from now, or I should say a couple months from now when we get back together.”

Moren said the team will turn around and have the same high standards and goals for the next great group. Until next time, Hoosier fans.

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• PHOTO GALLERY: Look at 23 photos from inside Total Mortgage Arena of Indiana's Sweet 16 matchup versus UConn on Saturday. The Huskies finished off the Hoosiers 75-58 to end Indiana's season. CLICK HERE.
• TEARS FLOW FOR ALI PATBERG: Indiana's women's basketball season ended on Saturday with a tough loss to Connecticut, and with it, the brilliant career or Hoosiers guard Ali Patberg finally came to a close. Tears flowed freely, and that's perfectly fine. The last chapter is always hard, and this certainly was a tough day for Patberg, who played great in her final game in an Indiana uniform. CLICK HERE.
• UCONN TOPS INDIANA: Indiana made a second straight run in the NCAA Tournament, but the Hoosiers' women's team couldn't get past Connecticut on Saturday, giving up a big run in the third quarter that was too much to overcome in a 75-58 loss in the Bridgeport regional semifinals. CLICK HERE
• UCONN'S AURIEMMA PRAISES HOOSIERS: Legendary Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said that ''Indiana is smart as hell,'' and considers them a real threat to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE