BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - With a trip to Albany on the line, the 4-seeded Indiana Hoosiers looked to finish off a perfect season at home on Monday night against the 5-seeded Oklahoma Sooners.
In front of a packed Assembly Hall crowd, the Hoosiers fought back against the Sooners on Monday evening, winning 75-68.
Here's how the Hoosiers remained perfect at home and booked their trip to the Sweet Sixteen.
First half marred by poor offense for both sides
Monday night, two of the most high octane and explosive offenses in the country met inside of Assembly Hall. So naturally, the first half was characterized by strong, physical defense and inefficient offense.
Indiana struggled to find much success on the offensive floor outside of Sydney Parrish in the first half. The Fishers, Indiana native posted a game-high 12 points on 4-6 shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes of play. Parrish went 2-3 from deep in the first half.
Outside of Parrish, the rest of the Hoosiers combined for 17 points on 7-28 shooting from the floor. The rest of Indiana went just 1-6 from 3-point range.
The most efficient player in the country from a field goal percentage perspective, Mackenzie Holmes, made four of her 11 shot attempts in the first half of play.
Similarly, Oklahoma shot just 36.8% from the floor in the first and went just 2-11 (18.2%) from downtown.
Skylar Vann led the way for Oklahoma in half number one, but even the Sooners' leading scorer shot 5-12 (42%) from the field.
Part of the offensive struggles in the first half for both sides can be attributed the defense that both teams played. The first two quarters were physical, each team recorded six blocks.
Neither team turned it over much, Oklahoma did so five times, while Indiana turned the ball over four times, but everything each offense did in the half court looked difficult. Everything had to be earned, nothing was given in the first half on the offensive end of the floor.
Scalia, Garzon struggle to find rhythm until late
Fresh off a 27 point performance in Indiana's first round win over Fairfield, senior Sara Scalia struggled to get it going on Monday throughout most of the game against Oklahoma.
Scalia failed to convert on her first three field goal attempts of the night. It took until the 1:14 mark of the second quarter of player for the Hoosiers' second-leading scorer to find the bottom of the net.
Much of Scalia's struggles through the first three quarters can be accredited to the way Oklahoma defended her. The Stillwater, Minnesota native was clearly at the top of the Sooners' defensive gameplan.
Around every off-ball or on-ball screen, Scalia saw multiple defenders all evening long. Every play that Indiana tried to draw up for Scalia, Oklahoma had an answer.
Pretty much as soon as she stepped within 30 feet of the basket, the Sooners had somebody in Scalia's face, denying her the ball or at the very least shadowing her.
In the fourth quarter, Scalia finally found a sliver of success. She hit her lone field goal attempt in the final frame and was instrumental in the Hoosiers closing out the win at the free throw line.
Sophomore forward Yarden Garzon struggled on the offensive end as well for most of the game against Oklahoma. Garzon finished the night with just 7 points on 2-10 shooting from the field and 0-2 shooting from distance.
Four of those points and both of her makes from the field came in the final 10 minutes of the game.
While Scalia and Garzon had their struggles on Monday night, when the Hoosiers needed them most, they came through.
Holmes dominates the fourth quarter, wills Hoosiers to victory
Heading into the fourth and final quarter of play in Bloomington, Oklahoma held a narrow two point advantage. With 10 minutes separating either the Hoosiers or the Sooners from a trip to Albany and the Sweet Sixteen, the games lone All-American took over.
In the first half, Holmes wasn't her usual efficient self. She tallied nine points throughout the first two quarters, but did it on 4-11 shooting from the floor.
In the third quarter, she was better. Indiana's All-American recorded eight third quarter points on a more efficient 3-6 shooting.
When it came down to winning time, that's where Holmes looked like the best and most dominant player on the court. At times in the fourth quarter, it looked too easy for the Hoosiers' all-time leading scorer.
Holmes was able to get to her left hand at will down on the low block, as her teammates fed her in the post possession after possession. The graduate student missed just one shot in the final frame, going 5-6 from the floor and 2-2 at the free throw line.
Roughly 48 hours after Sara Scalia broke Indiana's single-game points record in an NCAA Tournament game, Holmes topped her teammate.
She finished the night with a game-high 29 points.
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