Over the past five seasons, Indiana fans grew accustomed to Mackenzie Holmes being automatic in the paint. She almost always finished off her post touches with a bucket.
Neither senior forward Karoline Striplin nor junior forward Lilly Meister are Holmes, but each has shown that they can help fill in the gap left by Holmes’ departure.
Meister and Striplin shined in Indiana’s 82-60 victory over Brown University on Monday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Striplin, transfer from the University of Tennessee, recorded 17 points and five rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench for the Hoosiers win. Meister had 13 points and six rebounds.
The Hoosiers were met with uncertainty this offseason with Holmes’ departure. She is Indiana’s program leader in scoring (2,530) and field goals (1,043). To help replace a player of Holmes’ stature, Striplin was brought in as a piece to help bridge the gap along with Meister.
“You’ve seen it the last two games, in our exhibition game and then today, they both played amazing, and they’ve shown what they can be to this program,” graduate student guard Sydney Parrish said postgame. “The stats show themselves the past two games that we have some really good post players, and they can stretch the floor as well with their 3-point shots and hitting those jumpers.”
Meister learned from Holmes the past two seasons as her teammate.
“Lilly has been in this program now for three seasons and she’s had to play Mackenzie Holmes every single day in practice,” Parrish said. “I don’t think there’s any way to get much better than that.”
Not only was Meister able to practice against Holmes in her previous two seasons, but Holmes returned to Indiana as a graduate assistant. As a graduate assistant, Holmes has helped Meister and Striplin in practice, guiding them as not only a former player in their position, but arguably the best player in program history.
In the Hoosiers’ lone exhibition game against Maryville University on Oct 30, Meister scored 19 points and was 81.8% from the field. One the other hand, Striplin was 2 for 7 against the Saints in her first competition with the Hoosiers, but head coach Teri Moren knew the exhibition was not a true reflection of Striplin’s abilities on the court.
“Her 2 for 7 tonight is not indicative of the ways Karoline Striplin has been practicing for us,” head coach Teri Moren said after the exhibition. “She has really, really been good.”
Striplin bounced back from the exhibition game as one of the Hoosiers’ leading scorers on Monday, only behind Parrish, who scored 20 points against the Bears.
“Strip came in, didn’t play great in our exhibition game, but played really well tonight,” Moren said. “So that was good to see offensively.”
An increase in production from both Meister and Striplin will play a role in filling the gap left by Holmes. At Tennessee, Striplin averaged 7.2 points and 3.1 rebounds for the Lady Volunteers last season and averaged 14.4 minutes per game. Meister, who played under Holmes, averaged 3.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 10.2 minutes per game.
While the duo has shown flashes in the exhibition game and the season opener, they will be tested against bigger, more skilled post players further in the season when Indiana plays quality non-conference opponents and eventually begins Big Ten play.
The Hoosiers are back in action against Harvard University at 7 p.m. Thursday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
