Indianapolis, IN– Running away in the rubber match.
In their biggest game of the season, the 5th-seeded No. 14 Indiana Women’s Basketball team defeated the 4th-seeded No. 11 Maryland 62-51 in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten Tournament.
Coming off of a win yesterday against Rutgers in the second round, the Hoosiers showed no fatigue, taking the lead 4-2 in the first quarter and never giving it back.
“I'm just so proud of these guys in executing the game plan and sticking to it,” head coach Teri Moren said.
The Hoosiers held Maryland to some of its lowest tallies in their storied Big Ten Tournament history. The Terrapins point total, 51, was the lowest since the 2016 Big Ten Championship game and their 31.4 shooting percentage was the worst since 2015, their inaugural year in the Big Ten. For the first time this season, Maryland didn’t make a single three pointer, going 0-12 from beyond the arc.
Despite getting their second-leading scorer Ashley Owusu back for the first time since February 20th, Maryland failed to get anything going offensively outside of their big guard, who did finish with a game-high 21 points. Angel Reese, their leading scorer, finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. But outside of those two, nobody tallied more than 4 points.
“Our goal going into the game was to be as disruptive as we could, especially with Reese,” Moren said. “We were going to blitz her as much as we could.”
Offensively for the Hoosiers, Mackenzie Holmes led the way with 17 points, a great sign for Hoosier fans as it was by far her best game since her knee surgery. Grace Berger was right behind her with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Maryland didn’t go away easily, as they cut the lead to as slim as two points in the third quarter before Indiana pulled away late in the fourth to win by double digits.
“It seemed like in the third quarter we sputtered a little bit, but we didn't relinquish the lead. Then I thought we just made enough plays and found a way to win,” Moren said.
It was the rubber match between the two teams, who both won on their home floor in the regular season. It certainly felt like another home game for the Hoosiers, as the Gainbridge Fieldhouse was packed with Indiana fans.
This was dubbed as Indiana’s biggest game of the season, and a game that would determine whether or not the Hoosiers would host the NCAA Tournament games or be sweating it out on Selection Sunday to find out where they would play. They still control their own destiny, and can improve their NCAA Tournament seeding with at least another win this weekend.
Next up for the Hoosiers is a date with the top seed, No. 13 Ohio State, a team that the Hoosiers beat by 20 on the road earlier this season. Tip off is at 3:30 PM ET Saturday, March 5th. The game can be heard on WIUX 99.1 FM or HERE with Samantha Condra and William McDermott on the call from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IU ATHLETICS
