Hoosiers Now

Mackenzie Holmes Puts Up 30 and Joins the 1,000-Point Club Amidst Indiana Women's Basketball Defeating Ohio State

Junior forward Mackenzie Holmes didn't even know she hit the 1,000-point club in Indiana's second conference win, 86-66, over the Ohio State Buckeyes on the road. Instead, she focused on scoring 30 points and credited her teammates for being the best passers with selfless attitudes.

Haley Jordan

Simply put, junior forward Mackenzie Holmes is on fire.

In Indiana's win over No. 20-ranked Ohio State, Holmes set a career-high 30 points and is the 30th member to join the 1,000-point club as the No. 10-ranked Hoosiers cruised to a 86-66 win over the Big Ten's highest scoring offense.

Holmes went 13-for-19 from the floor and tied a career-high 13 field goals made in Indiana's largest win over the Buckeyes in program history.

"I'm a post player, so most of every point I get is off of a pass from a guard, so I believe I have the best guards in the country on my team, and they're always looking for me, and they're just great teammates and selfless," Holmes said.

"At the end of the day, I just want to win, and that's what's most important to me."

Holmes didn't know going into the game that she needed 21 points to hit the milestone. However, her dad told her she was close, Holmes said. Indiana head coach Teri Moren didn't know either.

It's clear the team is collectively more focused on each individual win, but Moren still acknowledges milestones and said how thrilled she is for Holmes.

"Mack will go down in history as being one of our hardest workers," Moren said.

To open the game, Indiana had a 10-0 run with the first six points by Holmes. The Buckeyes closed the gap and brought the score to 19-15 Indiana after scoring with less than five minutes to go in the first quarter.

The second quarter was more of the same. The Hoosiers held the Buckeyes without a bucket for the final two minutes of the half, an accomplishment in itself when facing the conference's highest scoring offense.

"We know they're all capable shooting one through five," Holmes said.

She credits playing great ball screen defense, being sound, having great gap and having great help as the key successes of the game.

"We played really, I thought stingy on that side of the ball (defense) as we always do," Moren said. "We would have liked to have rebounded a little bit better throughout the course of the game, but that's Indiana women's basketball right there, just locking our heels into the floor and really guarding and making the opposing team have to really work."

Moren also credits the lack of turnovers as a key to success in the Big Ten and a way to get and maintain the lead. In the last game versus Fairfield, Indiana totaled 19 turnovers, a number Moren said she was not pleased with as 11 is always the goal limit.

On Sunday, the Hoosiers sliced that turnover rate to 12. Holmes said the team has been actively working on protecting the basketball in practice, because they knew it was a problem in the past few games.

The Hoosiers held its largest lead of the game in the third quarter and outscored the Buckeyes 24-17. The Buckeyes tried to get back in the game, but their 36.4% shooting on the night compared to Indiana's 58.1% wasn't enough to get a win.

Moren has said from the beginning the tough schedule is intentional, and it has prepared the crew for competitive Big Ten play. 

"I definitely think our team is the best team in the Big Ten right now," Holmes said. "Nothing in the Big Ten is going to come easy. We know that upsets happen, and every night is going to be a grinder, and we're going to have to work hard and take every opponent the same way and treat them like the best team in the country."

Holmes remains confident yet not naive to the fact there are still challenges to come. Moren said her team still has plenty of room to grow, but she has confidence in her Hoosiers and believes they are one of the best in the conference.

Up next, the Hoosiers host Western Michigan on Sunday, Dec. 19 for the beginning of a three-game home series.

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

  • INDIANA PREPS FOR SECOND BIG TEN GAME OF THE SEASON VERSUS OSU: The No. 10-ranked Hoosiers are coming off a dominant win versus Fairfield due in part to a fantastic shooting performance. The No. 20-ranked Buckeyes also have plenty of success shooting and is the Big Ten's highest scoring offense. Indiana hits the road to face another ranked opponent in Ohio State on Sunday in Columbus. CLICK HERE.
  • HOOSIERS BEAT 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. CLICK HERE.
  • 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
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Haley Jordan
HALEY JORDAN

Haley Jordan is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation video director, staff writer, host and reporter for Hoosiers Now, Fastball and Fastbreak sites. She is a graduate from Indiana University with degrees in Sports Broadcast Journalism and Spanish.

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