Best Indiana Women’s Basketball Players Of The 2020s So Far: No. 7 Sara Scalia

Sara Scalia’s Indiana career arc is an exercise in why both coaches and fans should exercise some patience with players.

Scalia came to Indiana in 2022 after she spent three seasons as a starter with Minnesota. She averaged 14.5 points for the Golden Gophers, and she was expected to add a 3-point threat to the Indiana backcourt and consistently hit free throws.

All of those things came to pass, but not right away.

Scalia started the first 14 games of the 2022-23 season, but got off to a slow start. While Indiana was 13-1, Scalia averaged 10.7 points, 3.6 assists and made only 31.6% from 3-point range.

At that point, Sydney Parrish replaced Scalia in the Indiana starting lineup. Scalia continued to try to find her way. In the first eight games after she went to the bench, she averaged 6.1 points and made only 25.9% from the field both overall and from 3-point range.

However, Scalia began to perk up when she made 3 of 4 from 3-point range to score 14 points in a win at Purdue on Feb. 5. Eight days later, Scalia dropped 24 points and was 6 of 8 from 3-point range in an 83-59 victory at Ohio State.

The good performances were starting to out-number the poor ones. In the Big Ten Tournament, Scalia averaged 17.5 points and was 8 of 14 from 3-point range in two games. Scalia struggled in the NCAA Tournament as Indiana bowed out of the 2023 NCAA Tournament early, but she gave herself a launching point for the 2023-24 season.

Scalia was far more consistent from 3-point range. The Minnesota native had 14 games where she shot 50% or better from 3-point range. She had only two games where she failed to make a 3-pointer in a game after she was shut out 10 times in 2023 from long range.

With her shooting calibrated where she and Indiana wanted, Scalia was often Indiana’s most dominant player on the court. She had 11 games where she scored 20 or more points. She had 32 points in a win over Bowling Green and scored 27 in a NCAA Tournament win over Fairfield.

Scalia also became a legitimate threat inside the arc. She converted 44.9% of her two-point shots in 2024, taking 4.3 two-point shots per game.

Her free throw prowess was always there. Scalia led the Big Ten with an 89.7% success rate in 2024, and she was 90.3% during her Indiana career.

Scalia averaged 16.3 points in 2024 to bring her Indiana career average up to 12.9 points, the fourth-best average of any Indiana player in the 2020s. She finished strong after a slow start.

Some thought Scalia had an outside shot at being taken in the 2024 WNBA Draft, but that was not to be. Scalia played professionally for Campobiasso in Italy’s Serie A during the 2024-25 season. She averaged 11.9 points in Serie A games and 11.6 points in eight Eurocup contests.

Indiana coach Teri Moren has done a good job identifying transfer portal talent that fit her style. Scalia is one of the most visible success stories.

Previous women's basketball top 16 players of the 2020s

No. 8 - Aleksa Gulbe
No. 9 - Nicole Cardaño-Hillary
No. 10 - Brenna Wise
No. 11 - Shay Ciezki
No. 12 - Jaelynn Penn
No. 13 - Karoline Striplin
No. 14 - LIlly Meister
No. 15 - Kiandra Browne
No. 16 - Julianna LaMendola