Mackenzie Holmes of Indiana Women's Basketball: 'We Knew We Had to Get Her the Ball'
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Indiana women's basketball team keeps rising every week. Whether it's the No. 6 Associated Press ranking or head coach Teri Moren becoming the all-time winningest coach after the road win over Illinois, there's a lot to celebrate.
The player perhaps most responsible for contributing to the many successes is senior forward Mackenzie Holmes. On Wednesday night, the Gorham, Maine native scored 30 points and tallied 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season and 18th in her career, which ranks tied for eighth all-time in the program.
Plus, Holmes accomplished a career-high six steals in the 83-72 win over the No. 21 Fighting Illini on the road. Since coming to Indiana, a great game plan for Indiana has been to simply find her in the post.
"We knew we had to get her the ball," Moren said.
Since her freshman season, Moren said Holmes has mostly improved mentally. She's also a very intelligent player with great footwork and hands to match.
"I'd say I'm probably better with my right hand than when I first got here," Holmes said. "I've always naturally gone to my left hand. It's always been something I've been good at. Sometimes I go to the left a little bit too much I think."
No matter what hand she's using, Holmes said her teammates do a great job of finding her down low even if she misses a couple shots. They look for her anyway.
When senior point guard Grace Berger went down with a right knee injury at the Las Vegas Invitational in late November, Holmes was met with a strong double-team in eight games without her right hand woman.
"When it comes to the double-team coming, we've done a really good job on working on it in practice, giving reps for me seeing that double team, making the right read out of it, and I know that my teammates and my coaches have trust that I'll make the right decision when I get the ball inside and the double comes," Holmes said.
At 6-foot-3-inches tall, Holmes usually finds her way around the double team and remains the Hoosiers' leading scorer with 21.7 points per contest. She ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring behind Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, who's averaging 26.7 points per game.
Mackenzie Holmes earns a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double plus a career high six steals in the Hoosiers' 83-72 win over Illinois at State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
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On Wednesday night, Moren said Holmes was clearly in control on the block although Illinois forward Kendall Bostic presented a strong fight too.
"I thought Bostic did a great job," Moren said. "It was a great battle on the block. It's unfortunate she got in foul trouble, but so did Mack, but two great posts really having to battle."
Bostic ended the night with 17 points and three personal fouls while Holmes was towing the line with four fouls herself.
By the score and Holmes' 30 points, one might think it was another cruise to a victory, but the game actually started off rocky. Illinois had a 9-0 run in the first quarter, and Indiana only left the first half with a narrow six-point lead. Then it was all Holmes when the third frame rolled around.
Indiana scored 30 points in the third frame, 14 of which belonged to Holmes who admitted she didn't even know she had that many. Her and the team were just responding to what the defense was giving on ball screen coverages, she said.
With a healthy Berger and Holmes as sound as she is in the post, the Hoosiers are now 17-1 for the best start to the season since the inaugural 1971-72 season.
Holmes herself knows the pain of being injured as she missed eight games with a left knee injury last season. It's almost like the healthy healing and new player pieces have all showed up at the right time for the women to hopefully get their first banner.
There's still plenty of ball to play and Moren doesn't like to get too far ahead of herself, but every win is one step closer to the hardware at the end of the Big Dance with Berger and Holmes leading the way.
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