This past Monday, Indiana had its best offensive performance of the season, defeating Evansville 109-56. Tonight, the Hoosiers succeeded that outing with their best defensive performance, taking down Bowling Green 84-35 in their final non-conference game of the year.
In the first quarter, Indiana held the Falcons to just six points, their best defensive quarter this season. But they weren’t finished, IU limited Bowling Green to just six points once again in the third quarter.
“Really proud of the way we guarded, we looked like a tough gritty team tonight”, said head coach Teri Moren, “We’ve seen moments, but I want more consistency looking like that defensively, especially with Big Ten play starting.”
Less than two minutes into the game, Bowling Green lost their leading scorer, and preseason All-MAC selection, Lexi Flemming, due to a knee injury.
Without their offensive leader the Falcons struggled to find open looks all night long, shooting 23% from the floor and going 0-11 from downtown as a team.
Indiana was able to create havoc defensively in every way, tallying seven steals, five blocks, and holding the Falcons to just two fast break points on the night.
While the Bowling Green offense was at a standstill, the Hoosiers erupted.
Sara Scalia led the charge for Indiana, racking up a career-high 32 points, going 8/11 from beyond the arc.
“The big thing was just getting going early on in the game, my first few went down and it felt good from there,” said Scalia.
As a team, Indiana hit a season-high barrage of 14 three-pointers at an efficient 54%. Showcasing once again, that the Hoosiers can dominate offensively both inside and out.
In the past three games, Indiana has had a different leading scorer in each contest. Mackenzie Holmes, Yarden Garzon, and Scalia have all scored 25 or more in each respective outing.
“The people I’m on the court with, any of them can give you 20 on any given night, whether it’s Yarden, whether it’s Mac, whether it’s Sara,” said Chole Moore-McNeil.
While all eyes were focused on Scalia’s dominant night on both ends of the floor, coach Moren expressed how she wanted to see more out of her All-American.
“Mac is overthinking just a little too much right now, and we’ve got to get her to relax,” said Moren, “It’s just been since we’ve been back, I’ve felt like she’s been sped up a little bit.
The 16th-ranked Hoosiers now enter conference play at 10-1 and with an eight game win streak. Aside from Indiana’s sole blemish, a 96-64 loss against Stanford, Indiana has yet to allow an opponent to shoot over 41%. Teri Moren and the Hoosiers will look to continue their recent success into their next game against Illinois on December 31st.
