Indiana Women's Basketball Will Face Michigan on the Road Following a 15-Day Break

The Hoosiers are back after more than a two week break and are hitting the road to Ann Arbor for a top ten matchup and battle for the best in the Big Ten. The Michigan Wolverines are 9-1 in conference and are ranked No. 7 behind the No. 6-ranked Hoosiers.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Hoosiers are back and healthy as can be after a 15-day break due to COVID-19 protocol. They will hit the road to Ann Arbor to face the No. 7-ranked Michigan Wolverines at Crisler Center at 7 p.m. ET.

The last time the Hoosiers saw the court was on the road at Purdue following their 73-68 win over their rival Boilermakers. That following Monday, Indiana head coach Teri Moren said the team started showing COVID-19 symptoms.

"It was like a tidal wave, and it took a lot of us out, mostly our players," Moren said.

Therefore, the Michigan State and Iowa games were postponed because not enough Indiana players were healthy.

"This affected basically our entire team," Moren said. "There's probably about four of us that haven't had symptoms and have not been positive with this virus, and three out of those four are staff members."

Moren said her squad was ready to go following its five-day quarantine and negative tests, but then the Illinois organization was forced to postpone its matchup with Indiana after COVID-19 cases within its organization.

Three postponed games and more than two weeks later, Indiana is excited to get back on the floor, Moren said. 

During the long break after recovering from the virus, Moren said the team did mostly half court workouts to keep its stamina. The practices emulated summer workouts.

"We've been back together for some time now, at least a good week of togetherness," Moren said.

Moren said she's never experienced a break as long as this in her 30 years of coaching. Last season, the Hoosiers were lucky not to experience any positive COVID-19 cases and only had short pauses due to other programs' cases, but nothing like this.

The one player whose status remains unknown is junior forward Mackenzie Holmes who has been nursing a knee injury since before the Purdue game. 

"Mack had a very successful knee procedure, and right now she's doing phenomenal in her rehab," Moren said.

Holmes' status beyond this information is unknown, but the Hoosiers will charge into the top ten matchup on Monday eager to play basketball again.

Michigan is on a six-game winning streak and has only lost one conference game to Nebraska earlier this season. The team is led by senior forward Naz Hillmon who's averaging 20.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

The Wolverines are averaging 73.6 points per game and shoot 46 percent from the floor. The Hoosiers hold teams to the league's best 57.8 points per game and have not allowed an opponent to score more than 70 points this season.

Indiana has plenty streaks of its own winning its ninth consecutive game of the season and winning the past 15 Big Ten games dating back to Jan. 4 2020. Its 12-game road win streak is the second longest in the nation and also dates back to Jan. 2020.

The streaks are certainly impressive, but they are of no concern to Indiana whose focus is defeating Michigan where the winner will hold the top spot in the Big Ten conference.

Moren said this game will not determine who could win the Big Ten championship because there is too much basketball left.

"It's a big game on paper perhaps for Michigan and for Indiana and for fans of Big Ten women's basketball, but I think it's way too premature for us to be thinking about who can win the Big Ten," she said.

If the season were to end today, Indiana would be looking at a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament according to the national selection committee. 

But the season isn't over, and the Hoosiers have more work to do.

"We hope to get our legs back, our rhythm back quick," Moren said. "Hopefully with our experience, that'll happen for us."

How to watch Indiana at Michigan

• Who: Indiana Hoosiers (14-2, 6-0 Big Ten) vs. Michigan Wolverines (18-2, 9-1 Big Ten)
• When: 7 p.m. ET, Monday, Jan. 31
• Where: Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• TV: ESPN2
• Radio: WHCC 105.1 FM

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• HOOSIERS VS. FIGHTING ILLINI POSTPONED: This is the fifth game of the season affected by COVID-19 for the Hoosiers. If everyone stays healthy, Indiana will resume conference play on Jan. 31 to take on Michigan. CLICK HERE. 
• INDIANA REMAINS NO. 6 IN THE AP POLL: The Indiana Hoosiers haven't played for more than a week due to positive COVID-19 cases within the program, so they will stay put at No. 6 in the Associated Press Poll for the fourth week in a row. CLICK HERE.
• KIANDRA BROWNE IS THE NEXT WOMAN UP: Indiana Women's Basketball junior forward Mackenzie Holmes underwent a successful knee operation on Thursday, Jan. 20. Her recovery time and status haven't been updated, but until her return, the likely player to take her place is sophomore forward Kiandra Browne. CLICK HERE.