Hoosier Women's Basketball Returns to Non-Conference Play Beating Fairfield by More Than 30 Points

It's a rematch from 1984. The Hoosiers lost to the Fairfield Stags back then, but they came out swinging and claimed a 91-58 victory on Thursday. Plenty of fouls were present on both sides of the court, but Coach Moren and her No. 10-ranked team continued to dominate and improved to 7-2.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Fairfield Stags and Indiana Hoosiers haven't played each other for 37 years until Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Indiana may have lost in 1984, but made up for that in a big way by crushing the Stags 91-58 in an aggressive battle with plenty of fouls to go around.

"It's a great win," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. "I thought we did a lot of great things offensively. I thought we were really really good defensively, and the only category that I'm disappointed with is the fact that we continue to turn the ball over."

The Hoosiers totaled 19 turnovers, an unacceptable statistic in Moren's eyes. Faults aside, Indiana shot 61% from the field and snagged 44 rebounds to Farifield's 19.

Mackenzie Holmes led the Hoosiers once again with 23 points closely followed by Aleksa Gulbe's 21 and Grace Berger's 19.

Berger has been in a shooting pickle lately, but the senior guard along with her teammates and coach are always certain the next shot is going in.

"I've been playing basketball a long time and gone through a lot of shooting slumps, Berger said. "I just continue to trust my work and know what's gotten me to this point. It's nice to finally see them go in."

Indiana crushed Fairfield in the first quarter and left no crumbs. Other than sophomore Kiandra Browne leaving the quarter after being bonked in the face, it was a near-flawless first quarter of the game led by Aleksa Gulbe who put up nine points.

The Hoosiers capitalized on a 20-0 run over seven minutes leaving the Stags with only eight points after missing 10 shots in a row.

The key word for the second quarter was "foul." In an attempt to level the playing field, the Stags were forced to foul and elbowed Ali Patberg across the face during the process. Indiana challenged the refs who didn't call the offensive foul. 

"It's always important to get a feel on how the game's being called and adjust your play offensively, but I think especially defensively," Berger said.

About five minutes later, the Hoosiers won the challenge, but there would be plenty more challenges presented to Indiana. Fairfield totaled nine fouls to Indiana's two in the second quarter. 

Excessive fouling worked for a bit when the Hoosiers went 3:30 mins. without a field goal, but that drought cleared up. Hoosiers led at the half with a comfortable 51-27.

The narrative took a sharp turn when Indiana struggled with 11 fouls compared to Fairfield's 5. The scoreboard in Indiana's favor 71-38 might suggest an easy game, but the constant whistle blows and delays made for a frustrating quarter.

"I was frustrated with us because I thought we were being too overzealous, which we didn't need to be," Moren said. "That's silly. We didn't have to do that. We were in complete control of the game, and that's when you lock your heels on the floor and just be sound."

The fourth quarter was much calmer on both sides. Each team had less fouls, and Indiana's bench came in to relieve the starters.

"We're doing what we do," Moren said. We're running in transition. We found Mac (Holmes) early, and I just thought we played with good pace tonight."

Up next, the Hoosiers resume Big Ten play Sunday, Dec. 12 on the road at Ohio State.

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• INDIANA RESUMES NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: The newly ranked-No. 10 Indiana will get back to non-conference play by welcoming the Fairfield Stags to Bloomington. The two teams haven't played each other since 1984. CLICK HERE.
• INDIANA CLAIMS SEASON FIRST BIG TEN WIN: The Hoosiers came out strong showing the Big Ten who's boss as they defeated Penn State 70-40. Indiana went on a 21-0 run and put the Nittany Lions in plenty of scoring droughts while the Hoosiers were comfortable in their oasis. CLICK HERE
• HOOSIERS START BIG TEN PLAY WITH PENN STATE: Indiana has only two losses this season falling to last year's reigning NCAA champion, Stanford, and last year's top seed, N.C. State. Head coach Teri Moren believes these tough matchups will prepare her team for Big Ten play, a challenging conference. Indiana will face Penn State at home to get the Big Ten show started. CLICK HERE.