Huge Green Brigade news prior to the Indiana Hoosiers women’s basketball match.
In the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, Indiana women’s basketball led Michigan by 14 points at the break, but the team faltered in the second half. Laila Phelia scored 30 points to lead the contest. Sara Scalia possessed fourteen. The late-game appearance by Mackenzie Holmes was insufficient.
AT 12:31 A.M. EST ON MATTHEW BYRNEMAR 9, 2024
The third seed In the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night, Indiana women’s basketball had a 17-point lead. However, Michigan, ranked sixth, came charging back to defeat the Hoosiers, 69-56.
Indiana has failed in Minneapolis in the tournament in back-to-back seasons. In March of last year, the top-ranked Hoosiers let up a 24-point lead against Ohio State in the second half.
The Hoosiers were predicted to start as the fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament as of Friday morning. They might now miss out on hosting rights for the first two rounds if they finish outside of the top four.
Nothing about Friday’s first half suggested that things would become worse. Indiana scored more points in the second quarter than Michigan had in the opening twenty minutes of play. Michigan went without a 3-pointer while Indiana made five.
During their January meeting in Bloomington, Indiana made history by being the only Division I team to make its first fifteen shots of the game. Both sides started the game on Friday at 9 for 32.
However, Indiana’s surrounding guards returned to routine when sophomore Lilly Meister, who hurt her ankle last Sunday, checked in for the first time with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Mackenzie Holmes, the regular starter, was sidelined until the fourth quarter due to an injury as well.
Indiana was ahead by 14 points at the break. With 11 points and three triples, Sara Scalia took the lead. Laila Phelia of Michigan, an All-Big Ten First Team member, led the Wolverines with 10 points. However, Phelia’s teammates stayed out of it. Together, Lauren Hansen and Jordan Hobbs shot 3-for-11.
The Hoosiers ran into a third-quarter scoring slump, just like they have many times this season. Scalia finished the quarter with zero points. Michigan scored two runs in a row. Sydney Parrish of Indiana hobbled off the floor and was sidelined for four minutes during a 12-0 run.
Following the game, Indiana head coach Teri Moren remarked, “There were a couple of moments where they came down and I kind of looked over like, I’m not sure what that was and why we felt like we had to do it — and we were winning.” We have experienced those situations previously, where we have established and maintained a lead. But we weren’t tonight. That is mostly related to Michigan. Like I mentioned earlier, I had the impression that we kind of got lost there in pivotal points tonight.
Parrish’s three-pointer saved Indiana when she came back. However, Parrish made two more mistakes after that. After committing just four in the first half, the Hoosiers committed seven turnovers in the third quarter.
For Michigan, Phelia was on fire in the closing minutes, finishing with 30 points, 20 of which came in the second half. Together, Hobbs and Hansen drained six 3-pointers. Moren entered the game with 6:32 remaining, with Indiana behind 52–48. Holmes failed to score in the final seconds of the game after shooting 0 for 2 from the field. In the fourth quarter, Michigan defeated Indiana 29–13.
“We intended to stay until Sunday,” Moren stated. “We were aware that she would be available. We did not want to be her role models. We hoped to utilize her more tomorrow. However, Holmes gave me a look and stated, “I’m prepared to enter to see if I can be of assistance.” Given her current state of health, she could have played tonight with ease. We exerted every effort to keep her waiting.
All Indiana can do at this point is return to Bloomington, gather their thoughts, and bide their time to find out when and where they will play on March 22 or 23 in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round.
