Finally healthy IU women’s basketball takes down Northwestern

Indiana welcomed back All-Big Ten wing Grace Berger and cruised to a road win.

Senior forward Mackenzie Holmes posted her third-straight double-double as No. 6/7 IU took down Northwestern, 72-50, on Sunday afternoon in Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Holmes posted a team-high 24 points and 13 rebounds on 10-of-14 shooting, while Berger returned for the first time since Nov. 25 after dealing with a knee injury. She scored 16 points, pushing her career total to 1,609, which is 10th all-time in school history. She also had five assists and two steals in 27 minutes.

The Hoosiers overcame a miserable 3-of-22 shooting effort from 3-point range with stifling defense. IU held Northwestern to just 35.8 from the field and forced 19 turnovers.

“Road wins are never easy. On a day like today where we did not shoot the ball extremely well from behind the arc which is uncharacteristic of our team, we still made enough plays and found ways to win,” head coach Teri Moren said.

“It certainly helped that Mackenzie Holmes was so good today. I thought Mackenzie was really good to get us going. It was a great blessing to have Grace Berger back and back in the lineup. She just makes everyone else around her better.”

“Our defense I thought held us and did what it needed to do. It was keeping Northwestern at bay.”

Indiana outscored the Wildcats 20-12 in both the first and second quarters and was never really threatened after the break.

The Hoosiers (14-1, 4-1) went 19-for-21 at the line on the afternoon including a 6-for-7 effort by Berger.

Veteran Kiandra Browne also returned from injury for IU and played two minutes.

Holmes eclipsed 1,500 career points in the win, the 15th player in school history to record over 1,500 points and now has 1,522 career points, 14th all-time in school history.