Indiana women’s basketball defeated Fairfield University 91-58 behind 19 points from senior guard Grace Berger. She turned in a bounce-back performance on Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Berger had struggled offensively in recent games before tying a season-high in points against the Stags. Coming into the game, she was shooting 37.3% and the only 3-pointers she had made this season were half-court heaves at the end of the quarter.
Berger shot 7-of-10 Thursday, including 1-2 from 3-point range and 4-4 from the free-throw line. Berger made another would-be 3-pointer, but her foot was on the line and the basket was ruled a 2-pointer.
Women's basketball: [No. 10 Indiana women’s basketball routs Fairfield University 91-58, moves to 7-2]
Berger said it was good to finally see some of her shots fall and she hopes to carry the confident shooting into future games.
“I’ve gone through a lot of shooting slumps in my time playing basketball so I think just continuing to trust my work, stay confident and know what’s got me to this point will eventually pay off,” Berger said. “So it’s nice to be able to see them go in and hopefully I can continue to do that and win some more games.”
All 19 of Berger’s points came in the first three quarters. She sat out the fourth quarter as Indiana emptied its bench to close out the blow-out win.
Head coach Teri Moren said she felt Berger was due for a better game. Moren still had faith in her guard because Berger was playing with confidence and taking good shots; they just weren’t falling.
“You don’t panic when a kid like that goes through a stretch where she can’t find her shot because you know eventually she’s going to find it,” Moren said.
Berger said there were no issues with the mechanics of her shot over the past few games, she just needed to build her confidence.
Women's basketball: [COLUMN: Indiana women’s basketball stuck to its brand in 91-58 win over Fairfield]
“I think all of the shots that I've been taking in those games are the shots that I wanted to get and they all felt good, honestly,” Berger said. “So I even surprised myself that I didn't make very many of them.”
Berger said she has worked hard on dialing in her shot over the last few days, both in practice and on her own. She said the extra work she put in helped her build momentum going into the game against Fairfield.
Berger and Indiana play at 7 p.m. Sunday when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a ranked matchup against No. 20 Ohio State.
