BLOOMINGTON — With the pressure as high and the lights as bright as they’ve been all season, Indiana kept its cool.
Well, mostly.
The Hoosiers played with as much passion as they’ve shown all season in Thursday’s 86-69 win over Iowa, but channeled it into largely positive energy. Mackenzie Holmes played with her typical fire, knowing that gets her teammates going. It had that impact on Sara Scalia, who came up with a barrage of clutch plays. And it was the typically stone-faced fifth-year — of all people — whose emotions overflowed.
After driving by Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall for a layup with 1:03 remaining to cap off her 25-point gem, Scalia stared down Marshall as they went back up the floor past the IU bench. And the officials hit Scalia with her first-ever technical foul — she never received a tech in high school or even earlier, her father, Peter, told The Daily Hoosier in a text.
There’s, perhaps, no better representation of the emotion bubbling inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday than Scalia getting a tech. The building was absolutely rocking all night, and the energy swept up everyone in attendance — from the sellout crowd, to even IU’s notoriously even-keeled shooter.
“I’m honestly just having fun. That’s really it,” Scalia said after the game. “I love playing with my teammates. I love playing with this coaching staff. We all put in the work, and nights like tonight really show all the work that we’ve put in behind the scenes.”
The Hawkeyes have seen atmospheres like Thursday’s all season when they’ve played on the road. Fans flock from across the country to catch a glimpse of the Caitlin Clark phenomenon, and the matchups invigorate opposing fan bases to be at their best. And it led to a scene in Bloomington unlike any in recent memory ahead of the game.
Even several hours before the doors opened — and IU let fans enter earlier than normal Thursday — long lines formed to secure general admission seats. Crowds surrounded the arena, extending down to 17th street on the south side and back towards Bart Kaufman Field on the north side.
And Assembly Hall was rocking from the moment fans flooded inside two hours before tipoff.
Clark heard some cheers and louder boos when she took the court to warm up around 90 minutes before tipoff, and she smirked. She’s used to those sorts of reactions. There’s not much she hasn’t seen from road crowds this year.
The Hoosiers are a veteran-laden team that’s played NCAA Tournament games on their home floor. The big crowds weren’t new for them, either.
But this amount of pressure isn’t exactly common for IU. Caitlinmania was responsible for part of that, as was the constant refrain that Indiana hadn’t beaten a top-15 team. But IU’s loss at Illinois is what really turned up the pressure. This was always a huge game for the Hoosiers, but Monday’s defeat turned this into a game they badly needed to maintain hopes of a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosting the first two rounds.
And the Hoosiers didn’t flinch in the spotlight. They played with confidence, seized their opportunity to take control of the game, and didn’t fragment when Iowa made its push.
“You could just see it brewing in the last two days of practice. Tuesday was really good. And (Wednesday) wasn’t bad either. You could just tell there was a different feel in terms of their focus, how they came in, and probably a little bit more stoic and serious,” IU head coach Teri Moren said. “If you’re around these guys long enough, you understand the kind of character that they have and their ability to bounce back.”
The raucous atmosphere persisted throughout the entire game. The crowd fed off Indiana’s players, and IU fed off the crowd. Holmes tied a season-high with four blocks, and she made each one feel like a tone-setter. When the graduate student rejected Hannah Stuelke for her first block of the game, she stared down the Iowa sophomore.
The crowd loved it, and matched that energy. IU hit big shot after big shot in critical moments of the game — mostly through Holmes, Scalia, Sydney Parrish, and Yarden Garzon — and Assembly Hall erupted every time. The fans got just as loud for Hawkeye miscues, of which there were plenty — Clark has rarely, if ever, been as visibly frustrated this season as she was Thursday.
Indiana’s rivalry with Iowa has become one of the most heated in the Big Ten and across all of women’s college basketball over the last few years, and nights like this show why.
“That’s exactly how it should be. That’s exactly what women’s basketball should be. It should be heated, it should be that way. It’s because people care so much and people are so passionate about winning,” Clark said. “That’s what makes it so fun.”
The only time the tone really changed in the building was when the officials established a larger presence in the game in the fourth. Play became much more stop-and-start because of a parade of whistles and soft-contact foul calls. IU players and coaches grew increasingly frustrated, and the crowd responded in turn.
Those moments threatened to provide the Hawkeyes a doorway back into the game. But the Hoosiers didn’t let that happen.
“We knew they were going to go on runs. We know it’s an emotional game. Things are going to happen throughout the game. People are going to say things, do things,” Holmes said. “But at the end of the day, it’s all about the five of us on the floor, staying together throughout the tough moments, knowing what we need to do.”
These sorts of environments are a byproduct of Indiana women’s basketball’s success over the last several seasons. Assembly Hall sees a few nights like these every season, whether it’s for the men’s team or the women’s team. Match up Thursday’s big-game atmosphere against any other this hallowed arena has seen in recent years, and it would compare favorably.
On this night, when Bloomington was buzzing over a women’s basketball game for hours before a ball was dribbled, the level of play matched the hype. IU and Iowa played 40 minutes of extremely high-level basketball. And it resulted in a sorely-needed signature win that could propel the Hoosiers to hosting March Madness for a third straight year.
All those factors combined to create one of the more memorable nights in program history. And it brought out the best in Indiana — even if it was uncharacteristic.
“Coach said it before the game, just really embrace the moment, we had an incredible crowd tonight, Hoosier Nation showed up for us in a big way, and I was just embracing it,” Holmes said. “I know my attitude and energy, I know my teammates feed off of that. So when I’m able to just be myself out there, which is an emotional basketball player, I think my teammates feed off of it.”
And then Holmes looked to her left on the podium at Scalia and started laughing.
“And even if it leads to a technical, I’m kind of OK with that.”
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