No. 8/7 Hoosiers Blow Past Kentucky, 88-67

Sunday, November 14

Bloomington, Ind.

5 P.M. ET

Indiana University

2-0,0-0Big Ten

#13/13 Kentucky

2-1,0-0SEC

Kentucky

Indiana

11/14/2021 7:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery Highlights IUWBB Coach Moren Postgame vs. Kentucky IUWBB Players Postgame vs. Kentucky Photo Gallery

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A career-night from junior forward Mackenzie Holmes led No. 8/7 IU past No. 13/13 Kentucky on Sunday evening, 88-67, inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

KEY MOMENTS

Junior forward Mackenzie Holmes scored 11 points in the first 5:30 of the first quarter, helping IU get out to an 11-6 advantage heading into the first media timeout.
Holmes beat the first quarter buzzer with a left-handed hook shot inside the restricted area to give IU a 20-14 lead.
After Kentucky went on a 5-0 run early in the second period, senior guard Grace Berger completed an and-one basket to put IU up 25-19.
Kentucky tied the affair at 25-all after a pullup jumper to cap a 6-0 run at the 5:51 mark in the second quarter.
After graduate student guard Ali Patberg missed a three-point shot, Berger grabbed the offensive board and put it back up for a bucket. She followed that up by hitting a mid-range floater to put IU back up six points late in the second quarter.
Berger banked in a three-point shot from just inside the midcourt line to beat the halftime buzzer and give IU a 38-32 lead at the break.
After Kentucky closed the IU lead to one, Patberg drove into the lane and finished with command on an and-one opportunity to push the lead back to four.
Patberg hit a floater in the lane to put IU up 55-46 and force the Wildcats into a timeout.
Patberg and Kentucky's Jazmine Massengill were hit with double technical fouls late in the third quarter.
Senior forward Aleksa Gulbe hit a basket from the free-throw line to push IU up 72-56 midway through the fourth quarter.
IU took its largest lead of the game with 1:02 in the fourth quarter at 88-66 (22).

NOTABLE

The Hoosiers margin of victory (21 points) was their second most in the series against Kentucky. The most coming in the first ever meeting between the two teams, when Indiana won 87-58 on 12/6/74.
The Hoosiers 88 points are their most ever against a Top-15 team.
Indiana head coach Teri Moren secured her 150th win at IU.
Mackenzie Holmes scored a career-high 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Holmes scored the Hoosiers first 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field and had 13 first quarter points on 6-for-6 shooting.
Holmes scored seven of 11 IU points as part of an 11-0 first quarter run to put Indiana up 15-6.
Grace Berger scored 19 points and added nine rebounds and four assists.
Berger scored the last nine IU points of the half to put the Hoosiers up 38-32 at halftime, including a bank shot just before the halftime buzzer. Berger tallied 12 points in the first half.
After Kentucky narrowed the Indiana lead to 48-46 at the 5:44 mark of the third quarter, the Hoosiers used a 7-0 to go up nine at 55-46. Indiana led 65-53 at the end of the third quarter.
Nicole Cardaño-Hillary scored 12 points in the second half and added six rebounds and seven assists.
Ali Patberg scored 16 points on 6-for-10 from the field and added five assists.
The Hoosiers shot over 50 percent for the second straight game. Against Kentucky they went 32-for-59 (54.2 percent) from the field.
Indiana shot 18-for-21 (85.7 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Hoosiers shot over 50 percent from beyond the 3-point arc as they connected on 6-for-11 (54.5 percent).
Indiana outscored Kentucky 50-35 in the second half.

QUOTABLE
Indiana head coach Teri Moren
"It was so great to have our fans back in the building tonight. We anticipated a great crowd. Anytime you have two Top 20 teams that are playing one another this early in the season, it makes for some really good women's basketball, and so really appreciate our fans, Hoosier Nation, showed up in a big way. We needed their energy throughout, our guys play off of their energy, so that was really great to see. But, I thought there were some really good things that happened inside of this game. We had some missteps as well, we wanted to handle their pressure a little bit better, and when I say a little bit better, we had a few turnovers inside the press, but I wanted to see us flow a little bit better offensively and I didn't think that happened as well as we would've liked to have it. But I think it's early and we will continue to get better on that side of the ball. I thought defensively, we did some really good things, Rhyne Howard is a really great player, and she puts a lot of pressure on you, not just guarding her individually, it's like y'all have to guard her and she's a willing passer, so as crazy as she is at scoring the ball, she's also a great facilitator, and so she puts a lot of pressure on you. I think our defense will continue to get better and improve, but this is a great win for us tonight at home in front of our home crowd against a really good Kentucky team."

UP NEXT
IU hosts Norfolk State on Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with a tipoff time of 7 p.m. ET.

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