Three Takeaways From No. 12/14 IUWBB's 71-54 Win Vs. Maryland On Senior Day

Hoosiers Finish The Regular Season 24-4 With The Big Ten Tourney On The Horizon

Senior Day Speech On The Video Board From Mackenzie Holmes At Assembly Hall After IU’s 71-54 Win

Hoosiers Punch Maryland Early And Never Let Up

Indiana was ready from the get-go. The Hoosiers led 16-2 before five minutes had elapsed forcing a Maryland timeout. While the Terps did make several runs, the contest was never in danger. Once IU went ahead 27-16 before the midway point of the second quarter, the lead never got below double digits again and the Cream and Crimson cruised to the victory.

Until early 2022, Indiana had never beaten Maryland in the history of their program. Since then, the Hoosiers have won five of six versus the Terps including today. With Maryland often being the standard bearer since joining the Big Ten a decade ago, this is another example of how much the IU program has risen over the last several seasons.

Noteworthy Attendance Mark Hit

As this rise has occurred, the stands have gotten more full by the season at Assembly Hall. Of the 13 times in program history that a crowd has exceeded 10,000, 11 have come in the last two years.

Today’s attendance was 12,402 which was the eighth largest ever. As a result, the team averaged 10,038 fans overall per contest for the 2023-2024 season which should have them finishing in the top-five nationally. In 2019-2020 this same number was barely over 4,000 and just over a decade ago it was around 2,000.

IU coach Teri Moren’s building of the program over the last 10 years has been a steep ascent on the court. This has followed an upward trajectory in the stands as well hitting marks that were previously unthinkable. Of the 57 crowds that have exceeded 5,000 fans, all but nine of them have been on Moren’s watch since the 2018 WNIT Championship year.

Injuries Overshadow Win To Some Extent

The elephant in the room was injuries to IU’s post players. As her decorated career is coming to an end, All-American Mackenzie Holmes tweaked her left knee in the third quarter and did not return. Then her backup Lily Meister suffered what appeared to be a more serious ailment to her ankle in the fourth quarter.

After the postgame speeches, Holmes appeared to be in good spirits and moving normally but no official word was given on the severity. Meister on the other hand had her shoe off and was limping slightly.

While Indiana can survive without Meister, the loss of Holmes for any length of time would dampen a legitimate run at both a Big Ten Tournament championship and Final Four. She has been hobbled the last two March’s and a third consecutive one at less than 100% could cause an earlier end to the season than expected.

The more immediate issue though is the Big Ten Tournament where the Hoosiers will play as the three seed next Friday at 9 pm Eastern time. IU likely needs to win that game to hold onto their hosting spot in the top 16 for March Madness (the committee had them at 14 during Thursday’s official reveal). However, if Holmes looks hobbled or is unavailable, the NCAA might penalize Indiana when it comes to seeding. If she looks relatively healthy, a victory in the first game should be sufficient enough to reward the Hoosiers with games in Assembly Hall. However, if this is not the case, the Cream and Crimson may need a second victory on Saturday (very likely against Iowa) to prove to the committee they are still worthy of one of those coveted top four seeds.

Moren said she has no say over this aspect of her team’s March fate.

“I’m not on the committee,” Moren said. “Those things are out of your control. The only thing you can do is control the things that we can control. If they have us here, great for Hoosier Nation. If they tell us we need to go on the road we’ll do that.”

The postgame show with Jeff Marlow and Kathy Amos can be seen here: