Hoosiers Now

Mackenzie Holmes Returns, Helps Indiana Shut Down 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.

Haley Jordan

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — No. 5 Indiana had a great night times three. Junior forward Mackenzie Holmes is back, and the Hoosiers shut down the Northwestern Wildcats 69-58 all while supporting Breast Cancer Awareness. 

"That's three very great things," graduate student guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary said. "Walking out with those survivors, I don't know who doesn't get emotional with that. The win is spectacular. We're very excited."

Holmes got to be a part of it after eight games and four weeks and one day out nursing a left knee injury. She certainly had to shake off some rust but still managed six points and six rebounds.

"When she had her surgery, they told us it would be anywhere from four to six weeks," Indiana coach Teri Moren said. "We just needed Mack to be comfortable and 100 percent sure that she was right from her mindset and she felt like she could go in and do something for us."

Moren said she looked like she hadn't played in a month, but she is such a great player that all of it will come back.

Senior forward Aleksa Gulbe blew the roof off tallying her third double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds in this game of redemption for the Hoosiers who dropped a game to Nebraska earlier this week.

"What happened when we played against Nebraska, it's done," Gulbe said. "It's over."

In the first quarter, sophomore forward Kiandra Browne switched off with Holmes who paced herself on an exercise bike on the sideline for her first re-start of the season.

Indiana made four shots in a row to get an early 11-9 lead. Holmes entered the game again and drew the foul, shaking off more rust by hitting a pair of free throws.

Off of a defensive rebound, Indiana graduate student guard Ali Patberg took it all the way and hit a buzzer beater jumper to give Indiana an 18-13 advantage before the second period.

At the start of the second quarter, Cardaño-Hillary hit back-to-back three pointers to get things cooking for the Hoosiers. Soon after, Browne made two layups going a perfect 3-for-3 in the first half.

The perfect shots would end quickly as Indiana committed three turnovers in two minutes resulting in almost a five-minute shooting slump. Indiana would finish with 11 turnovers in the first half.

"Coach definitely let us know," Gulbe said about the turnovers.  

"I would also say with Burton being such a great defensive player and she anticipates a lot of things, we kind of had to adjust to that," Cardaño-Hillary said.

Northwestern caught up but entered a slump of its own going two and a half minutes with no offensive action.

The Hoosiers held onto the lead 32-28 at the half.

To kick off the third quarter, Gulbe grabbed the first bucket giving Indiana a six-point lead.

"During the prep days, we were focused on playing the zone and they found my spot in the middle of the paint around the Big Ten, and my teammates found me, and we see the results," Gulbe said.

The Hoosiers mirrored the second quarter and entered another offensive rut going 0-for-4 over two minutes before Cardaño-Hillary washed up the drought with a jumper.

Wildcats graduate student guard Lauryn Satterwhite hit a three-pointer followed by senior guard Veronica Burton's shot to tie it up at 42. Burton went in for the layup to get the Wildcats' first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

"Our plan was we didn't want to allow her (Burton) to control the game defensively by us giving her the ball," Moren said. "She's obviously the head of the snake."

Moren added she thought both sophomore guard Chloe Moore-McNeil and Cardaño-Hillary did a great job guarding Burton.

Gulbe then drew the foul but not before she could knock down a three to make it a four-point play to take over the lead again. Berger and Gulbe grabbed one more a piece as part of an 8-0 run before the buzzer sounded.

"She (Gulbe) has really been so good for us offensively," Moren said. "We think she's one of the best stretch forward defenders in our league. That big three she hit in front of our bench that turned into a 4-point play was a huge momentum switch for us."

With more than six to go, Cardaño-Hillary drove to the basket and kicked it out to Berger who cashed in on the and-1 inching the Hoosiers closer and closer to a more comfortable lead.

An 8-0 run forced Northwestern to foul putting Satterwhite and senior forward Courtney Shaw in foul trouble. Cardaño-Hillary also teetered the line with four fouls, but it didn't matter as the Hoosiers closed out another win in the Hall.

"The one stat that pops off the page for us is they (Northwestern) only got to the free throw line five times," Moren said.

Indiana capitalized on 17 made free throws out of 19 trips to the line all while the Wildcats only hit two.

Up next, Indiana will face the Iowa Hawkeyes for its last home game of the season on Saturday.

"We're going to have to control our own destiny as we go down the stretch here," Moren said. "We're going to get back on the floor here in less than 48 hours and see what's in the tank."

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

  • 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.
  • INDIANA LOSES TO NEBRASKA: Indiana's shooting slumped as they went 2-for-23 on three-pointers in their 72-55 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Although Indiana head coach Teri Moren said she's disappointed, she will always bet on her players to regroup before the next one. 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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