IU women’s basketball gets a shot at revenge in Friday Big Ten Tournament opener

Indiana will have a chance to avenge one of its two losses this season on Friday in Minneapolis.

Michigan State defeated Nebraska to set up a rematch between IU and the Spartans in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament at the Target Center.

MSU knocked off the Hoosiers 83-78 on Dec. 29 during the stretch when veteran guard Grace Berger was out with a knee injury.

Top seed Indiana (26-2) will face 9-seed Michigan State (16-13) at 12:30 p.m. Friday on the Big Ten Network.

Michigan State has won five of its last six including a 67-64 victory over Nebraska in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday. All-Big Ten honorable mention Kamaria McDaniels leads the way with 13.7 points per game while sophomore guard/forward Matilda Ekh adds 12.3 points per outing.

PRE-GAME NOTES (from IU Athletics)

In 28 years competing in the postseason tournament, the Hoosiers are 22-29 overall and ninth year head coach Teri Moren holds a record of 7-9. The Hoosiers have won one tournament championship in 2002 and are coming off its second championship game appearance in 2022. Indiana holds 1-2 record against the Spartans in tournament action and last met in the 2021 tournament in Indianapolis where the No. 2 Hoosiers fell to the No. 7 Spartans, 69-61.
Head coach Teri Moren was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year while senior forward Mackenzie Holmes was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as six Hoosiers pulled in All-Big Ten awards. Moren becomes the first coach in program history to repeat as the Big Ten Coach of the Year, an honor she also picked up in 2016. Holmes becomes the first player in program history to win the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award. Holmes (unanimous) and graduate student guard Grace Berger were first team selections while junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil earned second team honors from the media and honorable mention from the coaches and joined Holmes on the All-Defensive team. Junior guard Sydney Parrish earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors while freshman guard Yarden Garzon joined her on the All-Big Ten honorable mention team and was on the five-member All-Freshman team. Senior guard Sara Scalia was given the nod on the honorable mention team by the media. Moore-McNeil was the team’s sportsmanship award honoree.
Four players are averaging double figures for the Hoosiers, behind 22.5 points from Holmes. Berger and Parrish each add 12.4 points per game while Garzon adds 11.3 points per game.
Indiana and Michigan State played just once this season in late December. The Hoosiers suffered their first loss of the season in East Lansing on Dec. 29, 83-78. Senior forward Mackenzie Holmes dropped a then career-high 32 points and 12 rebounds. While the Hoosiers shot 58.5 percent, they were forced into a season-high 21 turnovers in the loss.

UP NEXT

The winner of Friday’s game advances to the Big Ten Tournament semifinal on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

MOREN PRE-TOURNAMENT Q&A

Moren met with the media on Friday prior to learning who they would face.