Three Takeaways From IUWBB's 89-56 Win Vs. Fairfield In The First Round Of The NCAA Tournament
After Slow Start, Hoosiers Roll Over Stags To Advance To Round Of 32 Monday Night
Senior Day Speech On The Video Board From Mackenzie Holmes After IU’s win over Maryland To Close Big Ten Play
Hoosiers Overcome Toughest First-Round Test Since 2019
Indiana has been a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament for four straight seasons now. As a result, they have had a relatively easy draw into the second round during this time. The wins have been 63-32 over VCU, 85-51 against Charlotte, and 77-47 over Tennessee Tech.
While Saturday’s 89-56 victory over Fairfield was in the same range, how it got there was not. The Stags came in at 31-1 and were extremely competitive for the first 20 minutes. Their high-powered offense gave IU trouble and early struggles shooting kept it nip and tuck.
However, what the Hoosiers have that Fairfield did not have was size and they took full advantage of it inside to keep the score close as other things did not go well. This allowed IU to take a 38-34 lead into the locker room.
Once the shots started falling in the third quarter and Sara Scalia went off, Indiana pulled away. Also, the Stags got tired legs and started missing their own attempts. Scalia cooked all afternoon with 27 points and five three-pointers as IU came on from long range as a whole to finish 10-26. The Stags meanwhile after being lights out there early, were just 11-33.
Scalia said she was trying to help her team take control of the contest.
“Honestly we needed a run like that,” Scalia said. “I felt like it was kind of going back and forth for a lot of the first half and we came out hot in the third quarter.”
Fairfield Is Probably Better Than A 13 Seed But Weak Schedule Forced Committee’s Hand
Fairfield came in at 31-1 with 29 straight wins. However, during this streak they faced no one in the first two quads of the NET. The only NCAA Tournament team they saw was 12-seed Vanderbilt and suffered their only loss and had strength of schedule of 185.
On the women’s side, with the top 16 teams hosting, an upset for a 13-seed and below is nearly impossible. Starting on the 12 line the games are neutral and the lesser squad winning is far more likely.
Take the other game in Bloomington between 5-seed Oklahoma and 12-seed Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles and Stags have a similar profile from nearly identical conferences in terms of quality. What FGCU did have that Fairfield did not, was playing a brutal non-conference schedule that included a thrilling quad-one win over North Carolina. As a result, the Eagles were far more competitive in their game despite bowing out in a thriller against the Sooners in a true 50-50 contest on an unfamiliar court.
Stags head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said beefing up their opponents going forward is vital for getting away from playing the hosts and having a better chance of winning in March going forward.
“I think that for us, we know in scheduling, in strength of schedule it gets harder and harder,” Thibault-Dudonis said. “It is what it is and you don't exactly know what the teams you schedule with will be a year later but we know our nonconference has to continue to get harder to get us in the 11 and 12 seeds.”
IU Will Look For Third Sweet 16 Appearance In Four Seasons
On Monday, Indiana will look to advance to the second weekend of the tournament once again as they did in 2021 and 2022. Last year the Cream and Crimson were upset by Miami in the round of 32 as a very banged-up Mackenzie Holmes struggled. While Holmes is not 100%, she is much closer to it, making a victory more likely.
In the Teri Moren era, IU is 3-5 vs. power-five opponents and 6-0 vs. mid-majors in March Madness. This will present a major test when Indiana plays an even Oklahoma squad with a shot to advance. This will also be the highest-seeded team the Hoosiers have faced in the second round since 2019.
Jeff Marlow and Kathy Amos’ Doing The Work show can be seen here: