BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WDRB) — For five seasons fans of the Indiana University women’s basketball program have roared in appreciation of the remarkable things Grace Berger has achieved for the Hoosiers.
A product of Sacred Heart High School in Louisville, Berger is a certain IU Hall of Famer for her unflappable, precise-at-everything performances.
Passing. Shooting. Ball-handling. Defending. Leading. There are no gaps in Berger’s game. She’s earned the love while scoring more than 1,600 points with her poised persistence.
But Thursday night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, as the sixth-ranked Hoosiers defeated No. 9 Maryland, 68-61, there were extra-strength ovations for Berger.
Standing ovation for former Sacred Heart star Grace Berger is her first start at Assembly Hall after suffering a leg injury in November. pic.twitter.com/DeGwcVAY4l
— rickbozich (@rickbozich) January 12, 2023
The crowd of nearly 6,000 knew it was Berger’s first home game since her season and college career nearly ended on Nov. 25 after an Auburn player dove into her right knee on a questionable court in a hotel ballroom in Las Vegas.
No wonder they roared when Berger was the final IU player introduced and then roared even louder after she contributed 11 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals as IU won for the 15th time in 16 games.
“Her confidence radiates through the whole team,” IU forward Sydney Parrish said.
What the crowd did not know was that Berger excelled hours after she lost one of her biggest fans — her maternal grandfather, Bob Smith, who died Thursday afternoon in New Albany, Indiana. He was the one who could always comfort Grace when she was a fussy baby.
Berger’s Mom, Mary Charlotte, said one of the final joys of her father’s life was watching Grace play on television against Northwestern last Sunday. That was her first game back after Berger missed eight games with the injury to her right leg. Bob Smith, who was 94, will be buried Monday in an IU casket -- with a Grace Berger sweatshirt in his arms.
“He was a huge fan,” Grace Berger said. “He either watched or listened to every game.
“Until the end he was supporting me and I know he’s supporting me now. I’ll definitely keep that in my heart while I’m out there competing. He was like my favorite guy ever.”
Twice, Berger has been a first-team all Big Ten player. She’s played in more winning games than any player in IU history, taking the Hoosiers to the Elite Eight in 2021 and the 2022 Sweet Sixteen.
Berger could have jumped to the WNBA after last season but she came back for a fifth season to drive the Hoosiers toward a Big Ten title and the program’s first trip to the NCAA Final Four. You could find her name in the preseason all-American conversations and across the IU record book.
Mary Charlotte Berger said her daughter chose to play at Indiana to make a difference in building a program -- and she has. Not only are the Hoosiers a Top 10 team, they're averaging close to 5,000 fans per home game, nearly double the average before Berger arrived from Sacred Heart.
“Grace Berger epitomizes everything you want in a student athlete,” IU athletic director Scott Dolson said. “She’s done so many things for our program."
🥶🥶🥶@grace_berger34 | #IUWBB pic.twitter.com/jx8nc0kGP6
— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) January 13, 2023
And then Berger fell to the court in Las Vegas while making her trademark spin move into the top of the lane. She saved the ball and kept her dribble, until the diving Auburn player’s right shoulder slammed into her leg.
Her Mom and Dad, Todd, were at the game. They have seen their daughter get knocked down many times. They had never seen her hit like that.
“It makes you appreciate every game even more because you never know when it could be taken away,” said Todd Berger.
“As a mother, I’ll never forget the look on her face,” Mary Charlotte Berger said.
It was a look that suggested a torn knee ligament. Perhaps the end of her season.
Berger missed the final 3 1/2 quarters of the Auburn game as well as another game the Hoosiers played against Memphis in Las Vegas. A final examination of her injury came after the team returned to Bloomington.
The ligament was sprained, not torn. A bone bruise would also have to heal.
“I knew what it was and with the doctors we had, I knew I’d be back,” Berger said. “I just didn’t know when or what percentage I would be.”
The early forecast was late January, perhaps early February. Berger played her first game January 8.
“When they told me dates that I could do certain things, I’d try to beat those dates,” she said. “Just try to do as much as I could.”
At least two weeks before Berger was supposed to be playing, she gave Indiana coach Teri Moren and her teammates 35 determined minutes Thursday night against one of the best teams in the Big Ten.
She had four assists in the first quarter. Her first basket came on a difficult left-handed layup four minutes in the second quarter.
On defense, Berger took the job of defending Diamond Miller, Maryland’s all-American. Miller is 6 feet 3 inches tall. Berger is 6 feet and playing with a black protective elastic sleeve on her right knee.
She defended Miller well, forcing her into five turnovers and missing 8 of 13 shots.
At winning time, Berger reminded everybody in the raucous building that she makes Indiana an elite team. The Hoosiers gave up a 10-point lead. The game was tied at 50 with less than six minutes to play.
Not for long.
First Berger found Yarden Garzon in the right corner for a three-pointer in the final seconds of the shot clock. Then she knifed into the lane and dumped the ball to Parrish for a layup.
Then she dribbled away from her defender, stopped in the lane and scored from 12 feet. It was a textbook shot that tells you why Berger's friend, IU center Mackenzie Holmes, calls Berger "the mid-range Queen."
Back at home with the midrange queen👑 pic.twitter.com/yw7osMp7eE
— Mackenzie Holmes (@kenzieholmes_) January 13, 2023
The Hoosiers outscored Maryland 7-0 in 62 seconds — and Berger was a confident force on all three plays.
“Grace makes everybody better,” Moren said. “We all feel good when the ball is in her hands.”
On Thursday night everybody felt good merely seeing Grace Berger back in the Indiana lineup. Berger recognized that the ovations were louder than usual.
“It meant a lot,” she said. “It was something I was looking forward to, being back in front of the fans and in Assembly Hall because there’s really nothing like it.”
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