Indiana Women's Basketball concluded its non-conference schedule with a resounding 84-35 win against the Bowling Green Eagles at Assembly Hall last night. Guard Sara Scalia scored a career-high 32 points, hitting eight three-pointers in the win. Defensively, the Hoosiers held the Eagles to under ten points in the first and third quarters, respectively.
Defensively, the Hoosiers held Bowling Green to 23 percent shooting and 0-11 from the three-point line. It was a great way to end the non-conference as they prepare for Big Ten play and Illinois on New Year's Eve.
Indiana Basketball Needs to Clean Up a Few Things
As the Hoosiers get into the Big Ten, there are a few things that they need to improve if they want to repeat as champions and make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. First, they need a consistent second option. Scalia had a career night against Bowling Green but averaged under ten points in her last five games.
Yarden Garzon, who had a career-high against Evansville, had just nine points against Bowling Green and 11 against Rutgers. Indiana needs both Scalia and Garzon to be more consistent offensively. The offense cannot be "Mackenzie or Bust" in conference play. Also, they'll need the inside-outside game to be effective when teams play zone or double Mackenzie Holmes in the post.
Indiana's lack of production off the bench is also cause for concern. If one of the starters gets hurt, especially Chole Moore-McNeil, they don't have anyone off the bench to handle the ball, defend the perimeter, or set up the offense.
They routed Bowling Green and got just 19 bench points. You'd expect more since the game wasn't close. The Hoosiers will need someone to provide a spark off the bench in conference play for at least one or two games. Who is going to step up and be that spark?