#14 Indiana Women's Basketball looks to take advantage of Assembly Hall against #18 Oklahoma

Teri Moren has been here before. Jennie Baranczyk has been here before. Both coaches have stood at the door of the Sweet 16 in the past and had that door shut in their faces. Indiana had the home court last season and lost to Miami, mostly due to Mackenzie Holmes not being healthy.

The Sooners have won their first-round games the last two years under Baranczyk but have lost in the second round both years. The late, great wrestling announcer Gorilla Monsoon would call this "The irresistible force versus the immovable object."

How they got here

Behind a 27-point performance and smothering defense, the Hoosiers dominated the Fairfield Stags 89-56. Scalia hit 5-10 from three-point range. The Hoosiers used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to pull away from the Stags, who hung around most of the first half.

The Oklahoma Sooners won a back-and-forth affair 73-70 against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Skylar Vann led the Sooners with 24 points. The Eagles jumped out to a ten-point lead after the first quarter, but the Sooners got back into the game and won it late in the fourth quarter.

More Indiana Basketball:

Keys for an Indiana Win:

Oklahoma won the regular season title and made it to the quarters of the Big 12 Tournament. The Sooners are by no means a slouch. This is what Indiana needs to do to win Monday night:

1. Size Matters:

The Sooners have only two players listed above six feet tall. Starting point guard Neveah Tot is listed at 5-foot-2. The Sooners want to run and gun offensively. Though Indiana uses a four-guard lineup, swing player Yarden Garzon is 6-foot-3, and fellow guard Syndey Parrish is 6-foot-2.

The Hoosiers need to take advantage of their size and force the Sooners to expend effort defensively, guarding Indiana's superior size in the half court.

2. More from Mackenzie:

All-American Mackenzie Holmes looked healthy in 27 minutes against Fairfield, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds. With Oklahoma's lack of size, Coach Moren and the Hoosiers need to get the basketball to Holmes in the post. Even if the Sooners decide to high-low Holmes when she gets the ball, that leaves Sara Scalia and Sydney Parrish open on the perimeter.

That is going to force the Sooners to pick their poison.

3. Room Filling Energy:

Assembly Hall was rocking and rolling against Fairfield, and it should be no different against Oklahoma on Monday night. Some of the players talked about having difficulty hearing coaches and teammates because of the Assembly Hall faithful.

The Sooners are road tested, playing a Big 12 schedule, however, there is no place in that conference quite like Bloomington, Indiana.