BLOOMINGTON — Coming off a long break between games, Indiana women’s basketball showed very little rust.
The 16th-ranked Hoosiers played their first game in nine days on Monday against Evansville, and IU asserted its dominance very quickly. Indiana opened up a 20-point lead early in the second quarter, and it rolled to a 109-56 win at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Indiana (9-1) put up one of its top offensive performances in program history, with its fifth-most points in a single game. Additionally, IU set a program record by shooting 71.7 percent as a team, which is also the highest mark in a single game by any Division I team this season.
“I think it was just getting a lot of high-percentage shots,” graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes said after the game. “We knew that we could get downhill on this team, attack the rim. I thought we did a great job of that, not settling. Obviously, we are a great 3-point shooting team. But not settling for threes all the time and trying to get to the rim, draw contact, draw fouls, and get some high-percentage shots.”
The Hoosiers were already up by 23 points at halftime, but they turned it up a notch offensively in the third quarter. IU dropped 34 points on the Purple Aces (2-8) out of the locker room, turning the game from a lopsided Hoosier win into one of their largest margins of victory this season. IU scored a blistering 1.493 points per possession, as Evansville just couldn’t keep up defensively.
Holmes recorded her third double-double of the season Monday, with 22 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. She scored just seven points in the first half, all on free throws — she finished 10 for 13 at the foul line. But Holmes was unstoppable in the second half, shooting 6 for 7 from the field.
Sophomore forward Yarden Garzon led IU with a career-high 30 points on an efficient 12-for-14 line. The Purple Aces never really had an answer for the Israeli native, whether beyond the 3-point line (3 for 4), in the paint, or in transition.
“It feels great. But I didn’t really think about it — like during the game, I didn’t know how many points I had,” Garzon said. “I just tried to play and be aggressive.”
Senior guard Sydney Parrish and fifth-year guard Sara Scalia also scored in double-figures, with 12 points each. Scalia shot 3 for 5 from 3-point range, while Parrish went 2 for 4.
IU coach Teri Moren got plenty of minutes for her reserves in this game, and freshman guard Lenée Beaumont capitalized once again with nine points. Freshman forward Jules LaMendola played some of her best minutes of the season, with six points, five rebounds, two assists, and three blocks. Sophomore forward Lilly Meister also performed well off the bench, putting up eight points and seven rebounds.
“(LaMendola) was super active, I thought she came in with a great amount of energy. I was happy to see Jules be productive. And then Beau is just — I think what we see in front of us is a kid that has a bright future here,” Moren said. “I think that nights like these, when they can get really good experience, is really good for them. … I think both of those guys have a real chance of helping us when Big Ten (play) starts.”
The Hoosiers are back at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Friday to take on Bowling Green.
