Down by four with 2:34 to go in the fourth quarter, a sense of history repeating itself floated around Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall: a great season undermined by an early exit.
Until it didn’t.
Indiana senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil drove with the basketball before she found Sydney Parrish. Parrish then swung the rock to Mackenzie Holmes for a layup to cut the lead to two. That sparked a decisive 10-0 run that chased those fears of an early exit away.
Twenty-one lead changes, fourth-quarter faith and a passionate crowd led No. 4 Indiana women’s basketball to a gritty 75-68 victory over No. 5 Oklahoma to win the Bloomington Subregional and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
“We knew that they were going to pose a challenge for us,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. “Credit to Oklahoma, with that, you know, I thought again you just look at down our stat sheet and you can tell that we got help.”
The win comes a year after Indiana’s second-round loss to Miami in a tight game, which sent the No. 1-seeded Hoosiers home earlier than expected.
The Hoosiers struggled with shooting on Monday, notching 38.5% from the field and 18.8% from 3-point range on the night. However, 38 paint points, nine points off turnovers and zero turnovers in the second half became crucial.
Indiana graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes led the Hoosiers with 29 points and six rebounds against the Sooners.
Senior guard Sydney Parrish had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Senior guard Sara Scalia had 12 points and three rebounds as the Hoosiers finished the season undefeated at home.
Indiana got off to a great start in the paint, scoring 10 points in it with six second-chance points. Parrish and Holmes each had eight points to keep the offense flowing. However, Oklahoma scored 16 points in the paint and got nine points of contribution from the bench to tie the game 19-19 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was low scoring, but Oklahoma edged Indiana 11-10 to take a 39-38 halftime lead going into the locker room. Parrish led the Hoosiers at half with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Oklahoma senior forward Skylar Vann led her team with 10 points.
“They like to play fast and they did that tonight and I think it caused some issues for us sometimes,” Holmes said. “Once we took control of the pace of the game, we got the looks we wanted, got the shots we wanted, I think that's when the momentum started to shift.”
Like the second quarter, the Hoosiers did everything they could to keep pace with the Sooners in the third. The Sooners became hot with long twos and 3-pointers to take their largest lead of the night with seven. However, the Hoosiers battled in the paint to keep the deficit small, trailing 48-46 going into the final frame.
The fourth quarter became a statement for the Hoosiers: come back and ice the game. A Scalia transition layup got Assembly Hall rocking early on in the quarter.
A late 10-0 run led by Holmes — who scored 12 fourth-quarter points — sparked life in the Hoosiers and shifted the momentum of the game before a pair of free throws from Scalia iced the game.
“We came up short a year ago and felt awful about that,” Moren said, “...But, just really happy for these guys and really happy to be moving on.”
No. 4 Indiana will play in the Sweet 16 against No. 1 South Carolina at 5 p.m. on Friday at MVP Arena in Albany, New York.
