Bloomington, Indiana
The No. 3 seed Indiana Hoosiers won their last home game of the season in front of 9,627 to advance to their second Sweet Sixteen in a row. The Princeton Tigers gave Indiana everything they had but fell one point short in the 56 -55 loss.
Princeton had nine more offensive rebounds 10 – 1 and forced Indiana into 17 turnovers, which attributed to the Tigers taking 19 more shots than the Hoosiers.
Indiana had three starters finish the game with double digits. Grace Berger led the way with 15 points, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary had 12, and Mackenzie Holmes finished the game with 10 points. The Hoosiers did shoot a higher percentage for the game, 51 to 34, as both teams played tough defensively.
The critical defensive play late with Indiana up by two was a steal by Ali Patberg. The next offensive procession for Indiana led to a pair of clutch free throws by Aleksa Gulbe, giving Indiana a 4- point lead.
Holmes said in the post-game interview about the free throws, “Aleksa and I shoot free throws on that specific rim every single day during practice, so when we break up to shoot free throws, that’s Leks, and I’s; hoop, you’ve got to make these.”
Indiana celebrated the victory with Mackenzie Holmes leading the team into the student section. “I ran over there, and I was like, ‘Screw it, I’m going to go run-up, and I’m going to go high-five them and make them feel like they’re part of this victory,” Holes said. ” Because they are. We couldn’t have done this without them.”
Up next for Indiana is a trip to Bridgeport, Connecticut, as they will face off with UConn in the Sweet Sixteen on Saturday.
Photo Gallery: Indiana vs. Princeton Photos
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