BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WDRB) — This is the Indiana University basketball team that has not divided the Hoosiers’ fan base.
The one that decided injuries are something you overcome, not offer as an excuse.
The one that appreciates the fans who stuff Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall without telling them to chill.
The one that has an all-American post player but does not stubbornly cling to the outdated notion that winning college basketball is best played inside-outside.
But most of all this Indiana basketball team, the IU women, extended the program’s streak of winning at least one NCAA Tournament game to four consecutive seasons on Saturday afternoon.
The Hoosiers dispatched Fairfield, 89-56, entertaining 12,753 fans, including folks in the balcony. It hasn’t been that long since you could have moved that comma one slot to the left while counting IU’s following.
“My mindset going into each and every game is that I don’t want this to be my last game in this jersey,” said MacKenzie Holmes, IU’s all-time leading scorer. “That’s important to me.”
Mission accomplished.
Sara Scalia scored 27 points and three other Hoosiers, including Holmes, had 13 as IU improved to 25-5, earning a second-round game here Monday against either Oklahoma or Florida Gulf Coast.
Make a note of this: With the Kentucky men, the Louisville women as well as the Western Kentucky and Morehead State men all losing their tournament openers, the Hoosiers are the last team still competing in the Division I NCAA Tournament from the Kentuckiana area.
“They’re an incredible team,” said Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. “They’re not only an incredible team offensively but they do it defensively and have a sixth man in the crowd.”
For 369 days Moren’s team was told what it failed to do last season. The Hoosiers failed to take advantage of homecourt advantage as well the presence a program leader and Sacred Heart product Grace Berger while getting upset by Miami in the second round.
That Hoosiers team was not full healthy. Holmes, an all-American last season, played on bad knee. Berger missed nearly six weeks with a knee injury, too
This Indiana team started the season ranked ninth in the AP preseason poll. They lost by 32 points to Stanford in the second game of the season. They lost by 27 to Caitlin Clark at Iowa. They blew a 17-point lead and lost to Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament two weeks ago.
It got worse. Both Holmes and her back-up, Lily Meister, were limited in that game with injuries, Holmes to her knee and Meister to her ankle.
Considering the upsets that have percolated in this tournament, a bit of uneasiness washed over the Hoosiers during the two weeks they had off after the Michigan loss.
Moren could not have scripted a better, more valuable afternoon in the tournament opener.
The Hoosiers were tested early as Fairfield came out determined to make threes. The visitors made enough that they surged into a 5-point lead midway through the second quarter.
The Stags looked like the team that won 31 of their 32 games and had the player of the year as well as the freshman of the year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
“Me and Mack (Holmes) were talking about it that in this game, being down in the first half was good for us,” IU forward Sydney Parrish said.
“We got to prepare for the rest of the tournament and what’s to come for us. Just knowing that in the tournament there are going to be times that we’re going to be down and we have to battle and get back from those droughts.”
Indiana never lost its concentration. The Hoosiers didn’t overreact or rush. They just did what they have done for most of last four seasons — share the ball, balancing their attack between the post and the perimeter.
IU moved ahead by 4 at halftime and stretched their advantage to 15 after three quarters. Moren employed all 11 players in the fourth quarter when the Hoosiers outscored the visitors 25-7.
IU also outscored the visitors 40-18 in the paint while making 10 of 26 shots from distance, showing the inside/outside balance that typically means good things in March.
Only one player, Scalia, played more than 31 minutes — and she tormented the Stags by scoring 27 points, making half of her 10 shots from distance.
“Any time she shoots it, we believe it’s going on,” Moren said. “That’s how much confidence we have in her.”
Holmes and Meister, IU’s post players, both played. Holmes wore a knee brace. Her shooting touch was not as certain as it usually is. But she scored 13 points and collected six rebounds while only fouling once in 27 minutes. There should not be any questions about her availability Monday.
“The big thing about Mack was she’s here and she played,” Moren said. “She looks really healthy.”
And Indiana looks like a team that is not ready to begin its off season yet.
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