After suffering their first loss of the season in an 83-78 loss to Michigan State on Thursday, women’s basketball in Indiana knew they needed to bounce back and start the new year off right.
“It’s not what happens to us, it’s how we respond to what happens to us,” said head coach Teri Mollen.
But against Nebraska in Bloomington on Sunday, Indiana seemed destined for a similar fate to the one it suffered in East Lansing. Nebraska could lead by up to 7 points in the first frame thanks to making 4 of his 3-pointers on his 5 in the 1st quarter, giving Indiana the lead in the 1st quarter at all. I didn’t allow it.
The Hoosiers fought back and responded by tying the game at 25 midway through the second quarter. Cornhusker junior guard Jazz Shelley drove into the hoop for a layup, running into Hoosier senior forward Mackenzie his Holmes.
Holmes quickly threw the ball away to junior guard Chloe Moore McNeill. Chloe her Moore McNeil started sprinting down the floor to find senior guard Sarah her Scalia standing just behind her three points her arc. As the Nebraska defender closed out to defend a shot from deep from Indiana’s highest-volume shooter, Scalia pump faked and drove straight to Nebraska sophomore center Alexis Markowski. did.
Just before Markovski closed the distance and changed his shot, Scalia threw a floater into the air, knocked it off the glass and put it inside, giving the Hoosiers their first lead of the game, 27–25.
The play brought in a crowd of 7,152 and continued to make an impact throughout the game.
“Today is New Year’s Day and it’s a big crowd,” Mollen said. “We needed everything in the rear end that was in the seat. We needed everything.
However, Indiana was unable to stay ahead, and although the two teams traded leads 17 times during the game, neither team led by more than five points into overtime after the second quarter.
With just under two minutes left in regulation, junior guard Sidney Parrish scored a layup to tie the score at 62. Both teams had the chance to hit buckets of go-ahead to take the win, but neither team was able to get a shot across the final possession and the teams went into overtime — the first of the season for the Hoosiers. That is.
After 40 minutes in and out of regulation, five minutes of overtime looked completely different. I took the lead in 1 minute.
Baskett turned out to be the winner of the game as the Hoosiers held up their defense, forcing three turnovers and the Huskers failed to hit six shot attempts. In his five additional minutes, he gave the Hoosiers a 12–0 advantage, and in the 2023 season opener he took a 74–62 overtime victory.
“We’re made for those moments. We’ve always been,” said Holmes, who led the team in 22 points and 10 rebounds. We pride ourselves on being a better conditioned team at times and even in extra time situations.We take a lot of pride in our ability to shift into that extra gear and we’re really proud of that tonight. I thought you did a good job.
With the bounce win, Indiana is now 13-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 10, with only conference games remaining. The team will take a week off before his match-up on the road with Northwestern University, whose next contest will be in Evanston, Illinois on January 8 at 3:00 p.m.
