With two minutes remaining, sophomore forward Mackenzie Holmes made yet another winning play in crunch time of a close game.
Off a missed IU free throw, the 6-foot-3 forward stepped around Iowa’s bigs, corralled the rebound and finished with a layup. Instead of getting lost between Iowa’s bigs, she used her wits to find an opening and convert at a valuable time.
“I saw the left lane was wide open so I just went for it and luckily I made it,” Holmes said.
The bucket extended the Hoosiers’ lead to 8 points en route to a 89-80 victory over the Hawkeyes on Wednesday afternoon. The win seals a season sweep over Iowa for the first time since 1994.
The sequence was a microcosm of the focus and effort the Hoosiers’ bigs had all game. IU outrebounded Iowa 38-21, including 20 rebounds between Holmes and her frontcourt counterpart junior Aleksa Gulbe.
“We don’t go a practice without doing some sort of rebounding drill,” Holmes said. “It’s nice to see it carry over into the game.”
IU has outrebounded its opponent in 13 out of 20 games this season, affirming the constant repetition in practice.
When the Hoosiers struggle, it’s often because they are unable to convert offensive rebounds into points. Today, they were extremely efficient in that regard with 21 second chance points compared to Iowa’s 10.
Every time a shot leaves an IU player’s fingertips, head coach Teri Moren wants both the forwards and guards to wisely but aggressively crash the glass.
“You can’t relax,” Moren said. “We always want them to be on 10 as we say around here and play with a sense of urgency.”
Holmes was equally effective in the halfcourt offense as she was on the boards. She finished with an efficient 22 points, only missing two shot attempts.
Like most opponents that play the Hoosiers, the Hawkeyes flashed various zones throughout the 40 minutes.
Although the offense stalled at first with harmless exterior passing, they quickly found success on the block. Whether it was a post move by Holmes or Gulbe or a kick out for a 3-pointer, the offense found a rhythm when it mattered most.
“We have a good flow in our offense that we can work inside-out,” Holmes said.
For that style to work effectively, the guards entering the ball inside are just as valuable as the forwards. In stretches when IU’s offense is slow, the opposing defense exceeds at eliminating clean entries. Recently, both Holmes and the team have succeeded as a result of great entries.
The Hoosiers have also utilized their experience to make the right pass at the right time.
Wednesday, Moren was imploring her team to feed it inside, but Iowa’s forward was fronting Holmes. Instead of forcing a pass from the top of the key, IU swung it to the corner for a better angle. Holmes sealed her defender off the baseline, took a power dribble and went up strong for a layup.
“Those three guards that we have out there are really high-level guards,” Moren said. “They are great facilitators for one another and for [Holmes and Gulbe].”
The victory locks in the Hoosiers at the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament next week. They still have a chance to share the regular season title if they beat Purdue on Saturday and No. 8 Maryland loses at No. 12 Michigan Thursday night.
“There’s going to be challenges ahead of us,” Moren said. “We have to continue to show up and embrace those challenges because it’s not going to get easier.”
