In 49 states, it’s just miniature hounds manically zooming around a gym. In Indiana’s Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, it’s a halftime battle between the finest tuned and most athletically gifted corgis Bloomington has to offer.
Eugene, the corgi media darling who stole first place in the preliminary round, while stealing the hearts of thousands of Hoosier fans, looked like a shoo-in to take the crown, or bone — I’m not quite sure what the prize was. But when the three pooches were set free in the grand finale, it was Leo, the feisty and zealous underdog, who shocked the arena after claiming a victory in the inaugural contest.
No. 6 Indiana women’s basketball channeled its inner Leo in Thursday night’s main event, a bout with the No. 9 Maryland. The Hoosiers claimed their second top ten win of the season after knocking off the Terrapins 68-61.
While her 11 points didn’t leap off the page, freshman guard Yarden Garzon showed that she has a clutch gene. Her late fourth quarter 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, and extend the lead to eight, was a signature play for the first year phenom.
“She’s about as cool as they come in those moments in spite of the fact that she’s a freshman,” head coach Teri Moren said about Garzon postgame. “She’s never too high, she’s never too low. She was pretty sick in our last game (against Northwestern), and you wouldn’t have known it. She’s going to continue to blossom in this program.”
The crowd, bubbling in anticipation of a dagger, utterly exploded. While the gritty, grimy wins are standard for Moren, the increased emphasis on tempo and quick ball movement have catapulted a respectable Indiana team to the upper echelon of collegiate hoops.
Prior to an overtime victory last January, Indiana couldn’t hang with Maryland. In fact, the Hoosiers were 0-11 against them before that game. Thursday night, while signaling of course a tremendous home victory, may also have represented the beginning of a pendulum shift in the Big Ten.
As I’ve harped on all season, Moren’s group is vastly different than teams she’s had in years past. The faster play style on the offensive end has certainly been beneficial, but it’s been defense, a Moren staple, that continues to shine.
A willingness to engage on that end — fill passing lanes and box out with a purpose — was perhaps never more evident all season than against Maryland. Junior guards Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish are representative of a new Moren guard: an amalgam of offensive firepower and courageous defensive play.
Parrish led the way with 18 points on 3-7 shooting from beyond the arc and received a well-deserved ovation after fouling out. Both guards, I might add, were forced to exit the game in the second half due to hard collisions.
With the crowd’s energy uplifting the Hoosiers after every bucket or defensive stop, it was the duo of graduate guard Grace Berger and senior forward Mackenzie Holmes who iced things for good. In her first home game back after being sidelined with a knee injury, Berger trotted out to the floor to fans that were maybe as excited to see her as she was to see them.
“One of (Maryland’s) players said, ‘Dang your fans are legit. They actually know what’s going on.’ I was like yeah, I know,” Holmes said. “The (fans) feed us energy constantly throughout the game. It makes it really hard to be an opposing team.”
Her patented midrange jumper placed the exclamation point on Indiana’s late fourth-quarter 7-0 run. Berger’s contributions went far beyond the scoresheet. Her cool presence and steady handle on the ball, added in with a subconscious connection with Holmes, was a renewed X-factor for the Hoosiers.
With 19 turnovers and a 57% night from the line, Indiana defeated a top-10 team. What’s clear, as well, is that they’re having an abundance of fun out on the court.
“It’s just the character of our team. We like to play ball and we like to win,” Holmes said.
With Illinois, Michigan and Ohio State on the horizon, Indiana has a lot of work left to do. But something is clear, and at the risk of an extremely corny joke, it’s true: the Hoosiers have that dog in them, or that Leo the corgi in them.
