No. 14 Indiana women’s basketball looked to stay focused Tuesday night as it traveled to Evanston, Illinois, to take on Northwestern. The Wildcats kept the game close through the first half, but the Hoosiers pulled away, outscoring them 28-12 in a massive third quarter.
Ultimately, that was enough for Indiana to walk away with an 84-64 win, playing spoiler on Northwestern's senior night.
“I thought we came out in the second half with more purpose,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “We were more intentional about trying to get stops.”
The Hoosiers have sometimes struggled with allowing opponents to have blow-out quarters of their own. In their Feb. 4 loss to No. 2 Ohio State, an 11-turnover third quarter turned a 5-point lead into an 8-point deficit. Indiana was outscored 26-11 in the second quarter of its 86-66 fall to Illinois on Feb. 19. Following that loss, Moren had no answer for her team’s struggles during her postgame press conference.
“I have no idea,” Moren said Feb. 19. “I wish I knew because if I knew what it exactly was, I would be working like crazy to figure it out.”
Wherever the issue lay, the Hoosiers wasted no time in responding by outscoring then-No. 4 Iowa 21-11 in the second frame en route to an 86-69 win Feb. 22. Indiana had similar success Tuesday against Northwestern in a 28-point third quarter where the team shot a combined 10-for-14 from the field and forced seven turnovers.
Graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes headlined the scoring, tallying 12 of her game-high 28 points in the breakout quarter. Holmes scored over 20 points for the fourth straight game, her 18th such performance of the season.
“We need to continue to feed her the ball because she’s so good,” Moren said. “She’s going to require some doubles and at times triple teams. She’s really worked her way to become a great facilitator for us.”
Holmes’ performance was completed in just three-quarters as Moren capitalized on the big lead as an opportunity to garner experience for her younger players. Freshman guards Leneé Beaumont and Julianna LaMendola were among the beneficiaries, garnering valuable game experience in the fourth quarter.
“Beau and Jules, I think they’re the future,” Moren said. “What I love about them is they take advantage no matter what the score looks like. They play with a purpose — they play to get better.”
Indiana’s two leading scorers, Holmes and fifth-year senior guard Sara Scalia are both in the midst of their final year of eligibility. Therefore, the Hoosiers will be looking to their underclassmen to play a much bigger role when the 2023-24 campaign comes to a close.
The Hoosiers (23-4, 14-3 Big Ten) will head back to Bloomington to finish out the regular season against Maryland on Sunday afternoon. In the Jan. 31 matchup between the teams, Indiana rode a 52-point first half to an 87-73 win over the Terrapins in College Park, Maryland. This time around, the Hoosiers will look to secure themselves the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament by closing out the season with a flawless 15-0 record on their home floor.
Sunday’s tip-off is set for 3 p.m. and the matchup will be streaming 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.
