No. 14 Indiana women’s basketball returned to the hardwood Sunday after a week-long break. Although the Hoosiers were without injured senior guard Sydney Parrish for their second consecutive game, they dominated Northwestern 100-59.
The Hoosiers began the contest rattling off 4 consecutive points from the charity stripe — all by graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes. Just 1:20 later, Holmes was back in the scoring column, scoring the first 4 points of what turned into a 12-0 run.
The cream and crimson went on another quick run at the end of the opening frame, scoring 7 points in 64 seconds to take a 27-8 lead after 10 minutes of play.
With the Hoosiers dressing just nine players Sunday — Parrish, redshirt senior forward Arielle Wisne and sophomore forward Sharnecce Currie-Jelks were all ruled out ahead of tipoff — they were susceptible to the dangers of foul trouble.
Sophomore guard Yarden Garzon and freshman guard Julianna LaMendola picked up three and two fouls, respectively, in the first quarter. Just 2:19 into the second quarter, Garzon returned to the court and refrained from picking up another foul while LaMendola remained on the bench for the quarter.
Despite the foul trouble, the Hoosiers still dominated. They went on a 16-4 run in the middle of the second quarter before the Wildcats ended the half on a 6-0 run to cut Indiana’s lead to 50-24 at the break.
With a commanding lead already in hand, Indiana continued to thrash Northwestern in the second half. The Hoosiers outscored the Wildcats 25-6 in the third quarter, going 12-of-18 from the field and limiting the visitors to 25% shooting in the frame.
Despite Northwestern outscoring the Hoosiers by 4 in the final quarter, Indiana still cruised to a 41-point victory.
Holmes turned in her fiftieth career 20-point performance, notching a double-double with 27 points on 9-of-14 from the field alongside 11 rebounds. Just one day ahead of her birthday, freshman guard Lenée Beaumont scored a career-high 11 points in 31 minutes.
Indiana will now hit the road for a 7 p.m. tipoff against Maryland Wednesday in the XFINITY Center in College Park. The contest will stream live on Peacock.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa), columnist Ryan Canfield (@_ryancanfield) and photographer Olivia Bianco (@theoliviabianco) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
