Indiana, Stanford Set For Top-15 Matchup With All-American Forwards

No. 9 Indiana beat Eastern Illinois Thursday night in the team's season opener, and will next travel to No. 15 Stanford for a marquee matchup Sunday on ESPN. Based on the front court production for both sides in their openers, it could feature a battle in the paint.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In Indiana women’s basketball’s 96-43 season-opening victory on Thursday, the Hoosiers scored 62 points in the paint, with 18 via All-American senior Mackenzie Holmes. On Sunday, the No. 9 Hoosiers will play at No. 15 Stanford, which will likely display a similar inside focus.

Stanford scored 87 points in the team’s season opener Wednesday night, despite preseason All-American forward Cameron Brink shooting 2-for-9 from the floor. To pick up the slack, 6-foot-3 forward Kiki Iriafen posted the game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman backup forward Nunu Agara had 18 points, and both shot 11-for-12 total at the free throw line.

“I think you don't change who we are,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said Thursday. “We got to really get out, try to get out in transition. You got to take advantage of being able to shoot the ball outside the arc and hope that you're having a good shooting night. We still obviously have a tremendous amount of confidence in Mackenzie.”

Moren believes the outcome of the road test won't be solely determined by the All-American duel between Holmes and Brink. Rather, it will ride on the other four matchups on the court. In the preseason, Moren said that 6-foot-3 sophomore Yarden Garzon, the team's sharpshooter last season, would patrol in the post more this season to replenish Grace Berger's midrange.

Garzon recorded 15 points Thursday night, attempting 9-of-10 shots from inside the arc. Perhaps that's because Garzon wasn't confined to the perimeter, as the Hoosiers regularly willed their way into the paint.

But within Indiana’s veteran starting lineup, which consists Chloe Moore-McNeil, Sara Scalia, Sydney Parrish, Garzon, and Holmes, the latter post pair will likely be tasked to guard Stanford’s front court of Brink and Iriafen. Indiana will be in excellent shape if Garzon and Holmes supply double-digit performances once more on Sunday.

The scheduling of this top-25 matchup for Indiana is slightly premature compared to last year, but not by much. Last season, the Hoosiers traveled to No. 11 Tennessee in their fourth game and won by 12 points, one of their program-record 28 victories. Top-25 tests this soon mean less time to clean up errors, but these types of games aren’t foreign to an Indiana team that returns starters in bulk.

“We did this a year ago when we went into Tennessee,” Moren recollected. “You gotta make sure you go in with a great, tremendous amount of confidence. That's how we played down there. I think our kids are looking at this as a great challenge. Their experience will help us.”

Indiana’s game with Stanford tips off at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday and will broadcast on ESPN.

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