The Indiana Women's basketball team is heading to the second round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament after defeating the 8-seed Utah Utes in the first round. The Hoosiers were able to hold off a Utah comeback in the second half to win the game 76-68, making them 18-1 this season when they scored 70+ points.
Indiana guard Yarden Garzon continued to be elite for the Hoosiers, leading the team with 17 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. However, Garzen had some players nipping at her heels as three other starters scored double-digits as well, and Lilly Meister scored 11 off the bench, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
Chloe Moor-McNeil, however, might have been the most valuable player for the Hoosiers today with 12 points, eight assists, and four rebounds, leading the Hoosiers in assists for the day. Indiana moved the ball around at an elite level with 19 assists compared to Utah's 15.
After a bit of a slow first half where Indiana wasn't able to get the shots they wanted and went into the break tied 31-31 with the Utes, the Hoosiers broke out in the second half with 27 points to give them as much as a 13-point lead over Utah.
This is the seventh straight time that Indiana has made it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, however, this is the first time since 2019 that the Hoosiers had to go on the road for their first-round matchup.
Hoosiers will face quite a different matchup in the second round when they will face the winner of South Carolina and Tennessee Tech. Most people believe that South Carolina will prevail in that matchup as the 1-seed. However, this is March, so crazier things have happened.
If South Carolina were to win that game, it would be a rematch from last year's Sweet 16 matchup, where the Gamecocks beat the Hoosiers 79-75 in a hard-fought close game where Indiana almost took out last year's eventual NCAA Champion.