After last postseason’s second-round stumble against the ninth-seeded Miami Hurricanes, the Indiana Hoosiers (24-5) will come into the 2024 NCAA women’s tournament with full focus. They host the opening rounds of tourney play starting Saturday with an opener against No. 13 seed Fairfield (31-1) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, March 23 at 1:30 p.m. Below is a rundown of both teams heading into the game.
Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana University (IU) comes into the tournament as a four-seed. It boasts several offensive options that have shown throughout the regular season that they can get hot at any moment in time. Senior forward Mackenzie Holmes, the main weapon in the Hoosier’s offense, finished second in scoring in the Big Ten this season and 24th in the nation when averaging 20 points per game (ppg) while also notching 6.9 rebounds a contest.
Buoying the rest of their offense is Sara Scalia, 16.2 ppg, and ranks fourth in the nation in made three-pointers per game with 3.3. Teammates Yarden Garzon, Sydney Parrish, and Chloe Moore-McNeil all average in double figures offensively. As a team, the Hoosiers have shot 51% from the field while holding opponents to a 40.5% average.
Fairfield Stags
The Stags of Fairfield come into the tournament for the sixth time in program history and their
second in the last three years. Moreover, Fairfield is riding the highs of a conference championship combined with a MAAC (Metro Athletic Atlantic Conference) title. Fairfield has won 29 games in a row. This includes a 70-62 overtime win over Niagara in the conference tournament championship.
Equipped with the trifecta of MAAC Player of the Year in Janelle Brown, MAAC Rookie of the Year Meghan Anderson, and Coach of the Year Carly Thibault-DuDonis, the Stags have an offense that averages 73.2 ppg.
Brown is a senior guard who leads the nation in efficiency with a 57.8 FG%, averaging 13.2 ppg. Additionally, the freshman Anderson leads the team with 15.2 followed by 10.3 from Kaety L’Amoreaux. Fairfield finished the regular season ranked No. 25. It is important to note that it’s their first-ever national ranking in the program’s history. Defensively, Fairfield has held teams to an average of 55.4 ppg.
What to Watch For
The duel threat of Holmes’ impact on the inside and their four guards who can spread the floor make for a full scouting report for the Fairfield Stags. The health of Holmes is something to keep an eye on. Holmes suffered a left knee injury against Maryland on March 3. Holmes played sparingly in their Big Ten Conference tournament opener against Michigan. It was a game in which they lost 69-56, on March 8 but nearly two weeks of rest should bode well for the unanimous first-team All-Big Ten Selection.
Fairfield’s ability to limit her on the inside could call for the Hoosier’s supporting cast to do some of the heavy lifting on Saturday. This is if they want to avoid another short stint in the postseason. One of the keys to victory for the Stags will be to keep pace offensively with the opposition.
Throughout the season, Fairfield is 24-1 in contests in which they’ve scored 64 points or more. They will need every bit of firepower they can get to advance. Nonetheless, the winner of IU/Fairfield will advance to play the winner of No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast on Monday.
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