Sara Scalia's Shooting Slump Snapped After Standout Performance Versus Michigan on the Road
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana women's basketball senior guard Sara Scalia is officially out of her shooting slump.
The Stillwater, Minnesota native and Golden Gopher transfer has always been known for tearing it up beyond the arc. In fact, last season Scalia hit seven threes in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall while wearing a Minnesota jersey.
Fast forward, and the Hoosiers scooped her up putting Scalia into the starting lineup to give the team more depth from three. Then, in late November, senior guard Grace Berger was ruled out indefinitely with a right knee injury she suffered at the Las Vegas Invitational.
Enter junior guard Sydney Parrish. Parrish joined Scalia and company in the starting lineup and put in exceptional minutes. When the time came for Berger's return, Parrish earned the starting spot while Scalia sat the bench. Indiana head coach Teri Moren said Scalia was and is basically still a starter with the talent she has, but Parrish earned the more official start as she's averaging 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes (54) smiles with teammates Mona Zaric (24), Sydney Parrish (33) and Sara Scalia (14) as they sing the alma mater after the Indiana versus Kentucky Wesleyan women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022.
© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
All players have probably experienced a shooting slump at some point in their careers. There's really no reason other than it being a funk. For Scalia, it started at Michigan State in the Hoosiers' first loss of the season where she scored just four points.
Over the next four games, she would total 19 points and then didn't score any in the win on the road versus Illinois. Scalia's natural talent and maturity to water the drought finally kicked in versus No. 13 Michigan, and her teammates weren't surprised.
"I think we all saw a game like this for Sara coming cause we see how she shoots the ball and how she plays in practice and how hard she works outside of practice on her shot," senior forward Mackenzie Holmes said.
Scalia said she didn't change her shot or anything. She just kept getting more reps in practice and tried to build back up her confidence.
"I got open looks," Scalia said. "That's probably the start. Just staying confident in my shot and keep shooting, and yeah (Monday) it paid off."
In the Hoosiers' 92-83 win over No. 13 Michigan, Scalia came off the bench to score 19 points off of three triples and also a perfect pair of free throws. Going through a shooting slump is hard for a player, but the first game out of it is certainly rewarding.
"It's definitely not easy, but the people I'm surrounded by are confident in me and my game, and I think that's what's really helped me is that they trust and believe in the work I put in to be where I'm at today," Scalia said.
Moren said the good news was Scalia was a force defensively, something the stats don't always show, and understands the high premium Indiana puts on the defensive side of the ball.
"In spite of her having a little bit of a shooting drought, she's been able to still impact the game," Moren said. "We've challenged her to find other ways, and she's really done a great job defensively. That's not something she's accustomed to because she (was) asked to score at Minnesota."
Moren didn't restrict her minutes or anything as her hard work always shows up on the court. Instead, Scalia's teammates and Moren believed she could, and she did.
"We've just continued to pour into her and give her good juice and tell her to keep shooting," Moren said.
Scalia is that player who stays late after practice to work on her shot and get extra reps. Moren said her schedule never once faltered.
"I'm really proud of her resilience and her patience, but also she stuck to her routines, stuck to her plan."
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