Indiana women’s basketball All-American center Mackenzie Holmes injured in Sunday’s win: ‘Try like crazy to not let your mind go anywhere that it shouldn’t’

Despite a 71-54 win over Maryland for the Indiana women’s basketball program on senior day, there was a dark cloud over the team following the game and it had to deal with its All-American center Mackenzie Holmes.

Holmes, who was participating in her final home game on Sunday, went down with an injury late in the third quarter and did not return to the floor. At the 1:20 mark of the third quarter, Holmes was fouled going up for a layup and landed awkwardly on her left leg. While she tried to walk it off, there was clear discomfort. She came off the floor and went straight into the tunnel with the training staff.

Indiana women’s head coach Teri Moren didn’t have much of an update postgame, but addressed the injury.

“I just came from the locker room ad got to speak with them, our medical team,” Moren said. “Both of them are going to be evaluated right now. Day-to-day as far as where they’re at. Hopefully tomorrow they’ll both wake up feeling better … the evaluation is going to be ongoing right now. There’s some festivities right now with seniors and with Mack especially. I think allowing her some time with her family before we know any more.

“She has had some bad luck especially late February but we are going to be hopeful and optimistic it’ll turn out the way we want it to. Mack is clearly a very resilient kid as we know.”

As Moren mentioned, this isn’t the first injury Holmes suffered late in the season. Holmes injured the same knee last year during the Big Ten Tournament and wasn’t the same throughout the rest of Indiana’s postseason play. She also dealt with an injury to that same knee that required surgery in late January of her junior season and required her to miss over a month of play.

Holmes is averaging 20.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season. She become the Indiana women’s basketball all-time leading scorer and all-time winningest player earlier this season.

“You try like crazy to not let your mind go anywhere that it shouldn’t in that moment,” Moren added. “Your job as the coach is to make sure that your focus is on the kids that are out on the floor. And so that’s what I tried to do. Again, I don’t know right now from it, emotionally, I just don’t know. And so, you know, I’m going to be optimistic until they tell me differently.”

Indiana backup center, Lilly Meister, was also injured in IU’s win. Her left leg buckled awkwardly late in the fourth quarter.

Indiana, now 24-4 overall and 15-3 in conference play, begins Big Ten Tournament play this upcoming week. As of now, Moren says both Holmes and Meister’s status is up in the air.

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