No. 20 Hoosiers Close Out 2020 With Win Over Illinois

Thursday, December 31

Bloomington, Ind.

1 PM ET

Indiana University

5-2,3-0Big Ten

Illinois

2-3,0-2Big Ten

Illinois

Indiana

No. 20 Hoosiers Close Out 2020 With Win Over Illinois

12/31/2020 3:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Coach Moren Postgame Players Postgame Photo Gallery

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – No. 20 Indiana improved to 3-0 in the Big Ten for the third straight year with a 79-56 win over Illinois on Thursday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers were led with four players in double figures including sophomore forward Mackenzie Holmes with 18 points and 15 points from junior guard Grace Berger.

KEY MOMENTS

Indiana (5-2, 3-0 B1G) opened the game with a quick 8-1 run led by a couple of 3-pointers from senior guard Ali Patberg and Berger. Another 9-0 run IU run at the end of the quarter extended the lead into double-digits, 16-3. Patberg led the Hoosiers with seven points in the first.
The Hoosiers' defense held Illinois to just 33 percent from the field and forced a total of nine turnovers.
After a couple of runs in the first frame, Illinois tried to fight back, but the Hoosiers kept on running with another 13-3 run to extend their lead by 22 at the half, 42-20. Once again, Indiana's defense would hold Illinois to just 4-18 from the field in the frame.
Holmes scored 10 of her 18 points as she helped close out the second quarter on a 57.1 percent clip. The Hoosiers would lead as much as 22 going into the second half.
At the 2:27 mark, redshirt junior Nicole Cardaño-Hillary hit her third 3-pointer of the night off a steal and fast break opportunity to put the Hoosiers up, 36-17. Cardaño-Hillary finished the night with a new season-high 14 points.
IU used a 7-0 run to extend their lead and force an Illinois timeout with 6:15 left to play in the third. Illinois wouldn't come any closer than 20 as Indiana continued to distance themselves, 58-31.
With eight minutes left to play in the fourth, back-to-back jumpers by Berger puts IU up by 30, 65-35. Indiana would lead as many as 30 with 5:51 left to play in the fourth.

NOTABLE

The Hoosiers open Big Ten play 3-0 for the third consecutive season.
Indiana held an opponent under 60 points for the fifth times in seven games. The Hoosiers are 5-0 this season when they hold an opponent under 60 points.
IU extends its win streak over the Fighting Illini to 11 games, dating back to 2014.
Indiana had four players score in double figures led by Mackenzie Holmes with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. Holmes added three blocks and now has 23 blocked shots through seven games this season.
Cardaño-Hillary came off the bench and scored a career-high 14 points. She connected on three 3-pointers.
Berger added 15 points and five assists and Patberg contributed 11 points and four assists.
The Hoosiers outscored Illinois 42-28 in points in the paint and 18-6 on fastbreak points.
Indiana got 27 points from their players off the bench.

QUOTABLE
Indiana head coach Teri Moren
"It is exciting to be back on the floor after a longer break than normal. It is good to get back on the floor with these guys and start to ramp up here for what feels like it is going to be a normal Big Ten schedule. I thought today we had some really good moments but there was a little frustration. We were doing really good things offensively but then we would go down the floor and do something silly defensively. It just seemed we could not put long enough stretches together where we were really good offensively and defensively. That was a little bit frustrating but again I think we were trying to work some kinks out after having some time off and getting back on the floor. I am excited about the 19 assists we had today on 29 made field goals. I cannot reiterate enough how important that is to our basketball team and how much better I think we are when we share the ball. 16 turnovers are too may. We played a lot of guys today and I thought there were moments where we took chances when we did not need to. We were trying to, as well we call it, be cute at times and we did not need to press, we just needed to run offense and be sound on the offensive end. 15 of 20 from the free throw line, that needs to be 75 percent or higher, shooting 48 percent from the field is good, and our three-point shot was better today. I thought Nicole Cordaño-Hilary gave us some good minutes and it was nice to see the ball finally go in for her. Overall, I feel good about finishing up this 2020 season with a win."

UP NEXT
No. 20 Indiana will travel to College Park, Md. for a top-25 showdown as they face No. 14 Maryland on Monday night. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN2 with tipoff set for 7 p.m. ET.

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