No. 14 Indiana women’s basketball was back in action Sunday for its fourth Big Ten game, taking on Nebraska (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) in Lincoln. The Hoosiers entered the game seeking their 12th consecutive victory.
The Hoosiers overcame a possible trap game, pulling out a 91-69 victory inside Pinnacle Bank Area.
Coming into this season, the Hoosiers’ offense was known to be the strength of the team. But the question was, who the points would come from? Would it be more than 20 points every night from graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes and a couple others with 15 or less? But as the season has gone on, the Hoosiers have had three individual 30-point performances in a row between Holmes, fifth-year senior guard Sara Scalia and sophomore guard Yarden Garzon. Plenty of players have had 20-point performances, showing that every player in the Cream and Crimson can get a slice of the pie.
The Sydney Parrish show rolls on
Coming off a huge win against Michigan on Thursday — a game where the Hoosiers made their first 15 shots — Indiana looked to do more of the same on the offensive end against the Cornhuskers. And that they did.
In back-to-back first quarters, senior guard Sydney Parrish combined for 24 points and seven-for-seven from three-point range. Parrish finished Sunday with 20 points, including seven 3-pointers.
Parrish had a slow start to the season offensively but remained vocal about being effective on the defensive end. Now, Parrish’s offensive game has come back to life.
“I don’t know if anything has really change, just the confidence that coach and my team has in my shot and being able to keep shooting, because they have so much confidence in me that it will eventually go down.” Parrish said postgame.
If the Fishers native can keep her hot streak up, the Hoosiers will be right where they want to be come March.
Other starters keep their foot on the gas
Despite Parrish and her dominance from 3-point range, she wasn’t even the leading scorer Sunday. Holmes continues to be relied upon for 20-point performances, scoring 22 points.
Holmes’ performance was surged by the absence of Cornhuskers’ junior forward Alexis Markowski, who was benched for much of the second half due to foul trouble.
“We cannot go many possessions without her (Holmes) touching the ball.” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame.
In addition to Holmes’ 22 points and Parrish’s 20, the Hoosiers had two more double-digit performances from senior guards Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sara Scalia who had 16 and 19, respectively. The two also combined for seven 3-pointers in the contest.
Stellar ball-movement from Indiana continues
Indiana racked up 22 assists against Nebraska, three above their 19.8 average. Indiana’s ball movement was extremely effective Sunday when the ball went into the post and then passed out to a Hoosier on the wing for an open 3-pointer. On Sunday, most of those looks went down as the Hoosiers shot 14-for-23 from distance.
“One of the things I think this group in particular does a great job of, is finding each other,” Moren said. “And finding each other when somebody has the hot hand.”
Overall, the performance Sunday was an all-around great team win for the Hoosiers with their biggest road test coming against No. 4 Iowa on Jan. 13, in Iowa City, Iowa. The Top-25 matchup will be televised on FOX at 8 p.m.
Before that, the Hoosiers will be back in action at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall against Penn State. The contest will be streamed live on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa), columnist Ryan Canfield (@_ryancanfield) and photographer Olivia Bianco (@theoliviabianco) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
