Hoosiers Women's Basketball to Play Iowa in a Quick Turnaround For Last Home Game of the Season

It's the last home game of the regular season for the Hoosiers who will take on Iowa, last year's Big Ten Championship runner-up. The Hawkeyes have a weapon in sophomore guard Caitlin Clark who leads the country in five statistical categories.

IU Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana has had quite the exciting week before heading into its last six days of regular season play. The No. 5-ranked Hoosiers will face the No. 22-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in a rescheduled matchup on Saturday at 4 p.m. for its last home game of the season. Also, it's Senior Day.

"We know it's a tall task," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. "It's going to be great to be at home again Saturday. Quick turnaround, fly to Iowa, come home, fly to D.C. Finish up the conference play."

Moren is fresh off being named to the Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year 2022 Late Season Watch List on Wednesday. 

One day later, starting junior forward Mackenzie Holmes returned to the lineup for Indiana's 69-58 win over Northwestern where Moren got her 100th win inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. 

She is only the second coach in program history to reach that milestone, and she got to do it alongside her completed team with Holmes's return.

"She's getting back in there," graduate student guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary said. "You can't blame her for being a tad bit rusty. Next game, she's got it."

Holmes shook off the rust after eight games away still managing six points, six rebounds and playing for 24 minutes.

"She's worked extremely hard in terms of her rehab doing everything every single day," Moren said. "Not overdoing it, but she sure wanted to at times."

Senior forward Aleksa Gulbe was the one to blow the roof off though recording her third double-double this season with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

"She's so versatile," Moren said. "She can play with her back to the basket. She can face up. She's what we call a finesse forward."

The Hoosiers will need to take all that energy in time for Saturday's game versus the Hawkeyes who lead the series 51-21. At the Hall, the Hawkeyes have dropped five straight games to Indiana.

Last season, the Hawkeyes advanced to the Big Ten tournament championship game losing by 20 points to Maryland and also advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen where they were defeated by UConn.

As a freshman last season, guard Caitlin Clark earned first team All-America status and was named the national Co-Freshman of the Year and the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

This season, Clark is averaging 27.2 points per game and 8.1 rebounds as the team's leader in both categories. She leads the country in total assists with 185, total points with 626, an average eight assists per game, points per game and finally with five triple-doubles. 

The Hawkeyes lead the country in field goal percentage (49.4 percent) and free throw percentage (84.8 percent) and rank third in scoring offense with 84 percent, a full 13 percent higher than the Hoosiers.

Indiana has four players averaging in double scoring figures with Holmes at the forefront tallying 17.1 points per game.

This will be a tough mini series against the Hawkeyes starting Saturday and ending in Iowa City on Monday, but the Hoosiers are hyped and believe their coaches will pave the way for them.

"We're ready," Cardaño-Hillary said. "When we step out on that court, it's just full throttle. There's no stopping us at this point."

How to watch Iowa at Indiana

• Who: Iowa Hawkeyes (16-7, 10-4 Big Ten) vs. Indiana Hoosiers (19-4, 11-2 Big Ten)
• When: 4 p.m. ET, Saturday, Feb. 19
• Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Ind.
• TV: BTN+
• Radio: WHCC 105.1 FM

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• HOOSIERS DEFEAT NORTHWESTERN: The Indiana crowd roared as junior forward Mackenzie Holmes made her return after eight games off nursing a knee injury. But it was senior forward Aleksa Gulbe who finished with a double-double to lead Indiana to a win over Northwestern while both fans and teams supported Breast Cancer Awareness Night. CLICK HERE. 
• TERI MOREN NAMED TO WERNER LADDER NAISMITH WOMEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST: Moren is just one of 15 coaches to receive this watch list honor. In her eighth season at the helm, Moren has taken her team to new heights with the team's first Elite Eight appearance last season and its best Big Ten conference start this season. CLICK HERE.
• HOOSIERS TO FACE NORTHWESTERN: With only nine days and four games left on the regular season schedule, the Hoosiers are preparing for a quick turnaround game versus Northwestern on Thursday. The Wildcats are fresh off of an upset over then ranked-No. 4 Michigan. CLICK HERE.