In the month of March, anything can happen, and in Indiana’s case, the tournament is not taken for granted. Hosting the first round at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers defeated the No. 13 seed Fairfield, 89-56 on Saturday afternoon.
Notably, Indiana’s Sara Scalia answered the call for the Hoosiers in a big way, scoring an astounding 27 points and securing 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. She set the program record for most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game, passing Denise Jackson’s record of 25 set in 1983.
Scalia’s three-point shot yet again made history at Indiana. On Saturday, the senior added to her record of the most three-pointers any IU women’s basketball players have ever made in a season.
“To have a good shooting game…it just brings you more and more confidence,” Scalia said. “It also opens it up for other teammates too when I hit my shots like I did in this game, it definitely was a good start to the tournament.”
This confidence Scalia had in her shot made an impact throughout the entire Fairfield game. In the first half of the tournament matchup, the Stags kept a steady fight against the Hoosiers.
Fairfield’s Janelle Brown alone kept the Stags in a good position, scoring 12 points, five rebounds and an assist in the first half.
At that point, Scalia had nine points alongside her teammate Yarden Garzon who scored 12 points, keeping the Hoosiers up during the first half.
After halftime, the narrative changed completely.
Indiana exploded into the second half, outscoring Fairfield 51-22. Scalia specifically went on a 13-0 run with 4:23 remaining.
“We had to lock in defensively and were off to a little bit of a slow start in the first half at times,” Scalia said. “The biggest thing was we just had to lock in defensively and get out to the shooter and don’t let [Fairfield] knock down threes.
“When Sara gets that look in her eye, you know she’s feeling confident,” Sydney Parrish said.
Confidence in this case would be the key to victory. Scalia knocked down numerous daggers and pushing Indiana’s offensive pace to a new dimension.
The atmosphere of the game immediately ignited after the senior went on her shooting-run. The crowd’s uproar made any sort of offensive production for the Stags nearly impossible.
“Indiana’s atmosphere made it really hard to hear communicate and hear our coach's calls,” said Janelle Brown.
After the fire was lit by the Hoosiers in the third quarter the game was officially in their hands with a 71-52 score.
“When it gets loud at Assembly Hall it helps us go into the games and build our energy up,” said Scalia. “We want to play good especially in front of our home crowd to show them that we deserve to be playing at home in the tournament.”
Numerous players alongside Scalia including Mackenzie Holmes put their heart on their sleeves throughout their gameplay as well which translated to younger players Lenee Beaumont, Lexus Bargesser and Julianna LaMendola’s for offensive success.
Soon after, Scalia exited the court with minutes left to go in the game and the crowd provided a standing ovation chanting “Sara Scalia.”
“In order to achieve the goals that we want to achieve, we got to get the first one and then we move on from there,” said coach Teri Moren.
For Scalia, Saturday’s game was only the beginning of the goals this team wants to achieve in the tournament.
Indiana will now look ahead to Monday for the NCAA Tournament’s second-round game, in hopes of continuing their sharp shooting and playing in confidence.
