Indiana Women's Basketball Win Over Purdue Was Personal for Hoosier Native Sydney Parrish

Fishers, Ind. native and junior guard Sydney Parrish is the only Indiana women's basketball player from Indiana, so what better person to be the leading scorer in the victory against Purdue than the guard in her first Boilermaker rival game?

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It was a great weekend to be an Indiana basketball fan as both the men and women shut down rival Purdue at two different locations. Perhaps the most demanding presence on the women's side was Fishers, Ind. native Sydney Parrish.

The junior guard has only been on the team less than a year as she transferred from Oregon this season, but she's the only Indiana native on the team. Fishers is just a short hour, 13-minute drive by car to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and an hour, 15-minute drive to Mackey Arena.

Even though she hadn't been a part of the rivalry before like her fellow veteran Hoosiers, she still grew up smack in the middle of it.

Sunday, Parrish along with senior forward Mackenzie Holmes led the Hoosiers to a 69-46 victory over Purdue at Mackey with 15 points a piece. Parrish especially made a difference on the line going 5-for-6 and also hit two big three-pointers.

Indiana Hoosiers guard Sydney Parrish (33) scores a shot during the NCAA women's basketball game against the Purdue Boilermakers, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The Indiana Hoosiers won 69-46 :: © Noe Padilla/Journal & Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

"I was really excited to be a part of the rivalry this year," Parrish said. "I think it's a little more personal this year just because I am the only Indiana kid on this team, so I had to kind of step up and be that person on our team to show who the best team in Indiana is."

Indiana head coach Teri Moren said Parrish did a great job evolving into Indiana basketball culture. When she arrived, she knew guard Grace Berger was the team's leader and Holmes was one of the best players. Guard Chloe Moore-McNeil had also built up a nice resume by then.

Parrish originally didn't start for the Hoosiers as senior transfer guard Sara Scalia got the nod for the first half of the season. After Berger went out with her right knee injury in late November, Moore-McNeil slid over to play point guard while Parrish moved into the lineup and hasn't left since.

"The thing that I've been most impressed with Syd is any time you come into a new program, a new culture, I think you kind of half to find your way," Moren said. "I think what Syd managed to do was kind of find her way."

Moren said Parrish is a very social and vocal player in the best kind of way. While respecting her teammates who've paved the way for Indiana women's basketball, Parrish adapted to leading from the side as Moren said. 

"She's a passionate basketball player that's from Indiana," Moren said. "She's brought so much. Obviously we recruited Syd, and we watched her grow up and recruited her very hard."

Parrish now ranks second on the team with 13 points per game and also contributes a second-best 5.9 rebounds, both categories behind Holmes.

Indiana and beyond knows Parrish as she totals 116,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 200,000 followers on TikTok. Whether she's influencing the social media platforms or her team, Parrish has the voice of a leader ready to take on the remainder of a successful Hoosier season and start to her Indiana career.

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