Fifth-year senior guard Sara Scalia entered Wednesday needing four 3-pointers to set No. 14 Indiana women’s basketball’s single season record for the most 3-pointers made.
Scalia drained three 3-pointers in the first half as the Hoosiers entered halftime with a 41-25 lead over Wisconsin. While Scalia was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of action, senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil went 2-of-2 from distance.
Although it seemed like the Hoosiers would be on cruise control in the second half, the Badgers outscored Indiana 14-7 in the third quarter. Despite her team’s struggles, Scalia drained her 79th 3-pointer of the season to break former Hoosier Amanda Cahill’s program record. Not only was it a record-breaking shot, but it gave the Hoosiers a 9-point lead heading into the final quarter.
Indiana went just 3-of-13 from the field in the third frame, but Scalia’s shot proved important in terms of regaining the momentum that the Hoosiers lost in the quarter.
“We kind of had a slow start there in the third quarter and we needed to get something going on offense especially,” Scalia said postgame. “So, to be able to hit that shot in that time of the game was definitely important, and it kind of helped us bring our momentum back to our side to finish it out.”
Scalia’s long ball capped off a third quarter to forget for the Hoosiers — a part of their game they’ve been plagued by in close games this season. Not only were their shots not falling, but the Hoosiers’ defense also plummeted in the frame to allow the Badgers back into the contest.
“There has to be a lesson learned,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. “There’s a great lesson here that we learned after a win. Anytime your shot is not falling, and that happened to us in third quarter, that doesn’t mean our defense can go down the toilet. I thought we lacked a lot of toughness and grittiness just defensively. That’s a bad habit to develop and we’re not going to be that team.”
The Hoosiers bounced back in the fourth quarter, jumping out to a 13-point lead before Moore-McNeil drained a pair of 3-pointers just before the halfway mark of the quarter.
Moore-McNeil finished 4-of-4 on Wednesday, just one game removed from going 5-of-5 from distance against Purdue.
“There’s no doubt that she looked really good,” Moren said. “All four of them looked really good coming out of her hands. What we are seeing right now is a very confident Chloe Moore-McNeil.”
Moore-McNeil's emergence from the perimeter in recent games comes in addition to Scalia continuing to burn opponents from range. When the Hoosiers are on in terms of 3-point shooting, they’re nearly unstoppable.
With Indiana’s matchup against No. 4 Iowa looming Feb. 22, its offense is clicking at the right time — a byproduct of the work that each Hoosier has put in.
“All of our kids have the green light,” Moren said. “The reason they have a green light, and I’ve talked about this forever, is just because of the work they do in practice and outside of practice on their shots. They put in the work and because of it, you see us shooting the way that we are capable of shooting.”
Indiana will return to the hardwood against Illinois at 2 p.m. Feb. 19 inside the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. The Presidents’ Day matchup will be televised on FOX.
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.
