Three Takeaways From IUWBB's 77-44 Win Over Lipscomb

The Indiana Women's Basketball Team Improved to 3-1 With A Blowout Victory Over Lipscomb On Sunday

IU Warms Up At Assembly Hall Prior To Their Game Sunday Against Lipscomb

Much Improved Defense

The defensive end had surprisingly been a struggle for Indiana the last couple of games.

Following major defensive breakdowns where IU gave up 96 to Stanford and 79 to Murray State, this side of the ball was much smoother. While it was far from perfect, the 44 points allowed to Lipscomb on Sunday was a far cry from the previous two performances.

IU Coach Teri Moren said she is a harsh grader and gave the team a “C” after beating the Racers on Friday. However, she was happier with the effort today and improved her squad’s grade to a “Solid B” even though she made sure to say it was not a “B+”.

IU Has So Many Scoring Options

While Mackenzie Holmes is IU’s best player and an All-American for a reason, the team does not lack players who can put the ball in the basket. On a day when many of the Hoosier’s top-scoring options struggled, Holmes and Sara Scalia picked up the slack on their own.

Normal contributors Lexus Bargesser, Yarden Garzon, Chloe Moore-McNeil, and Sydney Parrish all struggled to put points on the board. However, Scalia led the team with 24 points and Holmes was right behind with 23. Those two alone outscored the Bison by three points and provided a potent inside-outside combo all afternoon.

While it will be important to have one or two more players hit double-figures going forward, overall IU is a well-oiled machine on offense with Holmes anchoring the post and being surrounded by multiple teammates who can hit from long-range.

Moren said that she knows it is vital to have so many options to put the ball in the basket.

“It’s important,” Moren said. “I love that our assists are where they are. Next game it could be Yarden’s game, it could be Syd’s game, it could be Chloe’s game, and so forth.”

Are The Hoosiers Ready For The Grueling Competition This Coming Week?

While easily taking care of inferior teams is no given (see men’s basketball and their first three contests against mid-major opposition), it is something the vast majority of Power-Five teams can do. The Hoosiers have been no exception so far with three victories of at least 30 points against that level of competition.

Now the question becomes if Indiana can beat a highly ranked Tennessee squad in front of the whole nation on Thanksgiving night (6 pm on FOX). The Hoosiers failed miserably to stay close against Stanford a week ago Sunday and now play a similar level of competition again. The one advantage is this time they will be playing at a neutral site in Florida as part of a holiday tournament rather than in the opposing team’s gym.

The Hoosiers easily topped the Vols last year in Knoxville. However, this is a better UT team and IU is still trying to figure out how to play at its best without Grace Berger. While this contest is a pure toss-up, it is Indiana’s last chance at a signature victory before Big Ten play as the team’s remaining non-conference competition is once again all on the mid-major level.

The biggest challenge of these will be the game after when Indiana takes on the perennial Ivy League power Princeton in the Sunshine State on Saturday. The Hoosiers barely edged the Tigers in 2022 at home in the NCAA Tournament and now will face them in an unfamiliar setting. While Abby Meyers is long gone and now in the WNBA, Kaitlyn Chen remains after giving IU fits in their previous meeting.

Either way, these upcoming two opponents will be the Hoosiers’ toughest challenge until a New Years Eve showdown at home with Illinois. The question is has the Cream and Crimson learned anything from the heavy defeat at Stanford to have better results this coming week? We are about to find this out in a few days.

Our Doing The Work crew of

Jeff Marlow

and

Kathy Amos

will host a postgame show immediately following the Tennessee game.