BLOOMINGTON, IN -- Indiana got a huge win at home over the 4th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes 86-69. Here's how it all went down Thursday night in Assembly Hall.
Scalia and Holmes dominate offensively
In a game where anybody would have expected a big offensive game from Clark, it was Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia who stole the show scoring the ball.
Holmes recently became the all-time leading scorer for Indiana women's basketball, and Thursday night she continued pouring it on. Not only did the Indiana center score 24 points, tying Clark for second most in the game, but she did so in a very efficient fashion.
Scalia has been on a heater as of late, cementing herself as one of the best true point guards in the conference, if not the country. She has specifically excelled in creating space, and putting her quick release to work from deep.
The Indiana sniper hit a couple threes early, to which Iowa keyed in on defensively, in an attempt to get the ball out of her hands. Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, Scalia is more than capable when driving to the basket.
When forcing her into the paint wasn't working, Iowa made a last ditch effort to try and make Scalia earn her points at the line. Well, she is shooting nearly 88% from the line on the season, and hit all eight of her shots from the charity stripe tonight.
She finished with 25 to lead all scorers. When two of your players combine for just under 50 points, it's usually a recipe for success.
Indiana perimeter defense forces poor night from deep
Clark became the nation's all-time leading score with a shot from the logo against Michigan. Tonight, the Hoosiers were determined to make sure Iowa did not score in bunches.
Teams that win generally score a lot of points, but the Iowa offense has been on another level this season. This is due primarily to their ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc at a high rate.
Moren set up her defense to chase shooters off the perimeter and funnel them towards Mackenzie Holmes. Holmes has been a fairly stout interior defender this season, which led to a high rate of missed inside shots for Iowa in the first half.
On the other end, Indiana was knocking down their shots, and built an 11 point lead through the first 20 minutes.
As a result, Clark and her teammates were forced to settled for contested looks from beyond the arc as they tried to fight their way back into the game. With Moren's system working to perfection, Indiana kept Iowa to just 17.9% from deep.
Clark and her teammate Kate Martin have shot the ball very well this year, and they combined to shoot 3-22 from three point range.
What's next?
Indiana will next travel to Northwestern to battle the Wildcats on Tuesday.
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