Mackenize Holmes Becomes Indiana University’s All-Time leading scorer and Sweeps Purdue

By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports

The #15 Excel H Sports Ranked Indiana Hoosiers handled the Purdue Boilermakers 95-62 before a crowd of 13,304 Sunday Afternoon in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are 20-3 overall and 11-2 in the Big Ten. Indiana reaches the 20-win mark for the ninth straight season and 15th overall in the 52-year history of Indiana University Women’s Basketball. With 5:15 left in the game Mackenize Holmes layup gave her 17th point of the game and became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,365 points which is one more than Tyra Buss who scored 2,364 points from 2014-2018. After the game there was a video played in which Buss along with Amanda Cahill, Grace Berger and Denise Jackson-Salters offered their congratulations to her and she received a standing ovation. Coach Teri Moren is very proud of Mackenzie and how far she has come. “I am really proud because she came in very shy couldn’t give you eye contact and was not confident” Moren said after the game. “The fans here just get It” Mackenzie Holmes said after the game, and she is thankful to be a part of program who has believed in her, and Chloe Moore-McNeil knows what to expect when she is out on the court with Holmes. “She amazes me every time I step on the court with her” Moore-McNeil said after the game.

   Holmes finished the game 7-14 from the field and 3-3 from the free throw line. She pulled down 4 rebounds and dished out 2 assists. She now has 2,365 points, 939 Rebounds, 239 Blocks, 26 Career Double-Doubles, along with school records with 972 Field Goals made and 120 career wins in her five seasons at IU.

   Wearing the #54 Jersey Holmes reminds fans of another Hoosier who wore Number 54 and that is Kent Benson, who was the 1976 NCAA Tournament MVP, two time all big-ten along with the first pick in the 1977 NBA Draft and had 14-year pro career with 11 in the NBA and 3 Years overseas and averaged over 10 points and 10 rebounds per game.

   Chloe Moore-McNeil led the Hoosiers with 22 points going 5-5 from downtown and 8-11 from the field. Sara Scalia added 19 points with four three pointers and Lexus Bargesser added 12 points. Yarden Garzon scored 9 points, Juliana LaMendola added 8 points, Lenee Beaumont and Lilly Meister added 4 points apiece as Henna Sandvik and Arielle Wisne played but did not score. The Hoosiers finished 36-61 from the field for 59%, 13-21 from three-point range for 62% and 10-13 from the free throw line for 77%. Indiana pulled down 32 rebounds, dished out 19 assists, 8 steals, 2 blocks and committed 10 turnovers. The Hoosiers scored 42 points in the paint, 16 bench points and 12 points off turnovers.

   Purdue is 10-13 overall and 3-9 in the Big Ten was led in scoring by Freshman Mary Ashley Stevenson with 16 points. Stevenson played with a protective mask for the second game in a row after suffering a broken nose and then have surgery last Tuesday. Caitlyn Harper added 13 points and Sophie Swanson added 11 points off the bench. Purdue finished 23-51 for 41% from the field, 5-13 from three-point range for 38% and 11-12 from free throw line for 91%. The Boilermakers had 21 rebounds, dished out 12 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks and committed 14 turnovers. Purdue had 26 points in the paint and 21 points off turnovers.

The Hoosiers led 18-14 after the first quarter as Holmes scored the first bucket of the game. Indiana outscored Purdue 23-16 in the second quarter and led 41-30 at halftime as Purdue kept hanging around. The third quarter is when the Hoosiers started to open the game up as they outscored the Boilers 31-17 and went 6-7 from three-point range as the Hoosiers led 72-46 going into the final ten minutes. Indiana made sure to get Holmes the ball and make history and then once that happened, she along with the rest of starters were taking out as Indiana outscored Purdue 23-16 in the final quarter and the Hoosiers hit their last six field goals. “We were going to get it one way or another” Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren said after the game.

The Hoosiers have won 11 since 2019 and Holmes is now 10-0 against Purdue in her five years but there is a chance they could meet once again in the Big Ten Tournament, but the regular season series is complete and as Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren noted when she played for Lin Dunn at Purdue she never lost to Indiana. Now that Mackenize Holmes is now the all-time leading scorer in Indiana Women’s Basketball History a huge wait has been lifted off her shoulders and now the Hoosiers can focus on the rest of the season that includes the race for the Big Ten Regular Season title, the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.