It wasn’t pretty. But in a Big Ten game, what else can you really expect other than bodies slamming to the floor and questionable officiating? Still, Indiana women’s basketball just keeps winning.
After a swift dismantling of No. 6 University of North Carolina on Thursday, the Hoosiers were welcomed to Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon by a second-consecutive rowdy crowd. In a game that went down to the buzzer — and then another fateful second after a foul review — the fans were treated with an extremely early Christmas gift: an entertaining finish.
For Indiana, the overall performance was flawed, to say the least. The Hoosiers were dominated on the boards, stifled on outside shots and tamed in transition. Senior forward Mackenzie Holmes had a relatively inefficient outing despite 23 points, and the bench added just one bucket.
This isn’t to say that the Illini were the better team. The visitors only had one double-digit scorer and ultimately floundered in the game’s biggest moments. But that one scorer — junior guard Makira Cook — notched over half of their 61 points and came just seconds away from singlehandedly taking down the No. 5 team in the country.
For all intents and purposes, she was cooking. High screens quickly became unnecessary as Cook continually gashed through the heart of the Hoosiers’ defense. She got to her spots with ease and knocked down shots from all over the floor. All game long, there was no answer.
“This was a game that we certainly had to fight, claw (and) scratch just to get to the end,” head coach Teri Moren said after the game. “They all can’t be like the North Carolina nights where everything goes in for us. You just have to kind of get grimy.”
Grimy fully encapsulates how Indiana played. Senior guard Sara Scalia and junior guard Sydney Parrish, arguably the team’s best shooters, were a combined 5-17 from the field and 2-9 from beyond the arc.
Which begs the question: how sustainable is this model of playing without star graduate guard Grace Berger? The Hoosiers will undoubtedly scrape by for wins in the future that replicate Sunday’s, but with nearly every conference game being a dogfight, will grit and toughness alone be enough?
Junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil has slid into Berger’s role seamlessly since her injury against Auburn University in the Las Vegas Invitational. Similarly to the win over the Tar Heels, her presence on both ends of the floor was comfortable despite not producing the gaudiest score line. For an Indiana point guard, that’s the best compliment you can receive.
“There’s still a learning curve to figuring out how to play without Grace,” Moren said. “I think we’ve had to grow up. It’s hard in our system to be the point guard of the Indiana women’s basketball team because we run so much. Once we got back from Vegas it was like a crash course in being the point guard.”
In just a week, the lessons appear to already be paying off for Moore-McNeil. Over time, there’s no reason to believe she can’t lead the team at a high level. Even so, replacing an All-American and surefire future pro requires far from an individual remedy.
On off days like Sunday when shots won’t fall, there need to be alternative methods to win. With six assists from Scalia, tremendous on-ball defense from Parrish and a usual monster stat line for Holmes, the Hoosiers did just enough to survive Cook’s virtuosic performance for the Illini.
But rest assured, things won’t be getting any easier.
“Any time you have a number by your name that’s your opponent’s biggest game,” Moren said. “We better get used to this territory because as I say to them, everyone’s coming after you.”
With a legitimate target on their backs, every game for the Hoosiers will become more taxing. If the current performances are any indication, they should be able to weather the storm in Berger’s absence. They have so far, at least.
