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Mackenzie Holmes couldn't help but smile.
Up 37-29 early in the third quarter, Teri Moren's No. 6 Indiana women's basketball team was looking to put away a top-10 conference foe in the No. 9 Maryland Terrapins, a team Indiana has grown extremely familiar with near the top of the Big Ten standings. With their leading ball-handler Grace Berger back on the floor, the Hoosiers' guard threw the ball up ahead to a streaking Holmes, who had beat the Terrapin defense down the floor.
The pass was errant, missing the intended mark and careening off the backboard. However, Holmes found herself in the right spot at the right time and gathered the pass and put it up for two points. Running back down the court, Holmes' smile was ear-to-ear and plastered on the video board inside a raucous Assembly Hall, who cheered on in approval.
"In that moment, it kinda put a little perspective into like, 'It's just a game, and to have fun,'" Holmes said Thursday night after the victory over the Terrapins. "I think it just speaks to the character of this team. We just like to play ball and we like to win."
A team that likes to win does whatever it takes to accomplish that task. Now sitting at 15-1 on the season and 5-1 in conference play -- tops in the Big Ten -- Indiana keeps finding ways to overcome what the opponent throws at them.
Maryland gave Indiana just about all they could handle. A physical game from the outset, the Terrapins had clawed their way back into the game after trailing by multiple possessions for large stretches of the second half ultimately knot the score at 50-all with just over six minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
It was then when Indiana found another gear, a knockout punch of sorts, one that determined the Hoosiers would not be on the wrong side of the final score as the clock hit zeroes. A clutch three from the corner from freshman phenom Yarden Garzon, a layup from Oregon transfer Sydney Parrish, and a pull-up jumper from Grace Berger gave Indiana a quick 7-0 run.
Out of a Maryland timeout, Holmes added two more to the total, and the nine point lead allowed the Hoosiers to never look back. The toughness, poise, and composure Indiana showed down the stretch had sealed another statement victory over a quality opponent, and have established that they're a group that's here to stay.
"I think that's what you're most proud of," Moren said following the 68-61 victory. "Our job as a staff this to keep instilling good belief and good juice to them and just reminding them that they're built for these moments.
"Make no mistake, this team that is wearing the Hoosiers across their chest, they have some moxie about them, but they do it in the right way. They're high character kids that are competitors and are all about each other. I'm really proud of their toughness."
Toughness does more than just define this Indiana women's basketball team. It helps push them over the line, grinding out wins after stretches of play where they face adversity. They've dealt with their fair share of injuries. They deal with consistently horrible officiating. They don't let teams come into Assembly Hall and beat them, even when given the opponent's best shot. In nearly every single situation this season, the Hoosiers have found a way to overcome what's thrown at them.
"I think we're a team that doesn't have any quit in us," Holmes said. "We're gonna fight until the last buzzer and I think that was evident tonight. They made their run, but we just kept our foot on the pedal. We dug our heels in on the defensive end, and we just kept fighting, and I just think this is a big win for us."
The win comes as the Hoosiers' third ranked victory this season and their second over a top-10 opponent. Indiana faces a quick turnaround before No. 24 Illinois comes to town on Sunday afternoon, but with a team that's as bought in as Teri Moren's is, it's hard to imagine a scenario where the Hoosiers don't get up to defend home court and keep playing the fantastic basketball they've done all season up to this point.
"We're a program that is never gonna get too high over wins and we're never gonna get too low over losses," Moren said. "This is a hungry group."
They play with endless effort. They're in your face on defense. They'll work their tails off to find the correct offensive set and beat you into submission with it. That's what good teams do, and that's what Indiana is.
For this group of women, the sky is the limit.
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