Almost a week after a devastating 32-point loss to now No. 6 Stanford, Indiana returned the favor to Murray State, defeating the Racers 112-79.
Indiana was looking for a rebound after such a hurtful performance in California and they found it on Friday night.
“It's not what happens to us. It's how we respond to what happens to us,” coach Teri Moren said. “It is a bounce back, having that bounce back ability, it's not recovering because that we needed. It was a long week for us. Anytime you lose like that the best remedy is to get back on the court as quickly as you can.”
While IU looked strong on both sides of the ball the offense set the tone for the game. Throughout the entirety of the game Indiana was able to move the ball incredibly well, not forcing any shots and getting great looks in the passing game.
Most often those assists found Mackenzie Holmes under the basket who went 8-for-15 on the night, accounting for her first double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The first quarter was one of the best quarters Indiana has produced all season. Indiana went on a 16-0 tear to give itself an early advantage, out-rebounding the Racers 16-8. Indiana held Murray State to only a 26.3% success rate from the field.
The quality of play, while still dominant, started to deteriorate in the second. Whether it be because of the comfortable cushion of a lead or starting to feel the fatigue from the full-court Indiana was not playing as clean of a game. The Racers improved to shooting 47.1% and on offense Indiana missed some good looks at the basket that could have been converted. The inability to capitalize off some of those good shots was also a problem the Hoosiers faced in California.
Halftime remedied some of those ailments. The Hoosiers had 33 points in the third quarter alone. Drawing the foul on some of those missed layups, Indiana went 12-for-13 on free throws just in the third.
Six of the Indiana players found themselves scoring in the double digits. One of those being Sara Scalia. Tasked with filling the shoes of Grace Berger, Scalia had 22 points on the night, 10 of those in the third quarter alone. While Scalia racked up the points, Moren said she is still looking for the toughness of Berger.
“Grace Berger is not going to walk back through those doors anytime soon. And she had that level of toughness,” Moren said. “You know the level of toughness that we had at moments, but we got to stack up way more moments. When I give them a defensive goal I expect them to get that defensive call when they don't, we're all disappointed.”
Another positive of the night was the ability to handle the press. As something that Indiana has struggled with in the past, the Hoosiers prepared well for the pressure. In a previous game against Arkansas, Murray State utilized the press to cut a 30-point lead down to three.
“We knew that they were going to keep that press on the whole game and we just had to keep writing it the way we were and not panic, which I thought we did a good job of,” Holmes said.
While it was a dominant game, it was not a perfect game. Moren said after the game that she has not been pleased with the defensive performance so far this season.
“To be quite frank, not very happy with how we're performing on the defensive side of the ball,” Moren said. “I think we have to be so much better.”
Before Indiana heads to Florida over the holiday, Indiana hosts Lipscomb in Bloomington on Sunday.
