Hoosiers overcome poor shooting start

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NO. 2 INDIANA 94, MICHIGAN STATE 85

MINNEAPOLIS — Mackenzie Holmes scored 27 points and Sara Scalia added 20 as second-ranked and top-seeded Indiana overcame a slow start to hold off Michigan State 94-85 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.

Chloe Moore-McNeil had 19 points and 11 assists for the Hoosiers (27-2), while Yarden Garzon added 12 points and five rebounds.

“Obviously we’re not proud of how we came out in that first half,” said Holmes, whose team missed seven of its first eight shots and trailed by as much as 12 points in the second quarter. “But the fact that we were able to kind of weather the storm a little bit and keep our foot on the pedal, keep chipping away at the hole we dug ourselves, was really special.

“That’s not going to fly down the stretch here in this Big Ten Tournament. So we’ve got to learn from it, and we’ve got to be better. But I think it’s a special thing that we were able to come back from something like that.”

Indiana will play 14thranked Ohio State in the semifinals today. The Buckeyes, who have the No. 4 seed, beat Michigan 81-79 on Friday.

Kamaria McDaniel pumped in a season-high 32 points for ninth-seeded Michigan State (16-14). DeeDee Hagemann had 18 points and four assists, while Moira Joiner added 16 points and nine boards.

“We were getting stops, and that was helping with momentum,” McDaniel said. “So when you’re playing good defense and your teammates are getting you the ball, I’m just able to kind of be myself and be that scorer that I’ve been.”

The Spartans handed Indiana one of its two losses this season, and early on they seemed poised to take down the Hoosiers again.

Michigan State hit four three-pointers in the first quarter, including a pair by McDaniel, who scored 10 as the Spartans took a 24-14 lead through the first 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, after Holmes converted a layup on their opening possession, the Hoosiers went more than seven minutes without a field goal. They missed seven straight shots before a Scalia three-pointer ended the drought.

“We did dig ourselves a little bit of a hole there, but I did anticipate us getting going,” Indiana Coach Teri Moren said. “I didn’t think it would take till halftime or after halftime.”

Trailing by six to start the third quarter, Indiana finally got its inside-outside game working. Garzon opened the half with a three-pointer, Holmes scored seven points in the paint, and Scalia hit a three-pointer to tie the game 49-49.

Garzon then hit another three-pointer with 3:55 left in the third quarter to give the Hoosiers their first lead since the game’s opening minute.

“This is a balanced team,” Moren said. “If (Holmes) is being doubled, which we anticipate she’s always going to be doubled, then other people have to step up. … We’ve seen it throughout the entire year, I think, with just different pieces stepping up and providing scoring for us.”

NO. 7 IOWA 69, PURDUE 58

MINNEAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark had 12 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter to lead seventh-ranked Iowa past Purdue after a sluggish start in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Clark, the preseason All-Big Ten Player of the Year and the nation’s second-leading scorer, missed 10 of her first 14 shots and picked up a technical foul during a frustrating stretch in the first half before helping the Hawkeyes (24-6) pull away.

Clark, who had eight rebounds and four assists, finished 8 for 18 from the floor.

Monika Czinano scored 14 points and Gabbie Marshall added 11 points for Iowa, the defending conference tournament champion.

NO. 10 NOTRE DAME 66, N.C. STATE 60

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Sonia Citron had a season-high 28 points to help 10th-ranked Notre Dame beat threetime reigning champion North Carolina State in the quarterfinals at the ACC Tournament.

Maddy Westbeld added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (254), the top seed. Notre Dame opened the tournament without injured star guard Olivia Miles, but emerged from a grinding second period in which both teams struggled to make shots by coming out of halftime strong to wrestle away control.

Notre Dame led by as many as 14 points midway through the fourth quarter.

Miles, a first-team all-ACC performer who excels as a scorer and a playmaker, went down with a knee injury in last weekend’s win at Louisville that clinched the regular-season title. Citron had 27 points to help the Irish survive, then came through with another strong showing to open tournament play.

This time, she made 8 of 18 shots, 11 of 15 free throws and hit a fourth-quarter three-pointer to go with 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers each scored 14 points to lead the eighth-seeded Wolfpack (20-11), who had won 10 consecutive ACC Tournament games since the start of the threeyear title run in 2020.

NO. 13 DUKE 44 NORTH CAROLINA 40

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Elizabeth Balogun scored 11 points, the final two from the line to give No. 13 Duke the lead for good with just under two minutes left, and the Blue Devils won the lowest-scoring game in ACC Tournament history, knocking off No. 18 North Carolina.

In a defensive battle, it was Duke who played the winning hand, holding the Tar Heels scoreless for the final 4:16.

North Carolina (21-11) struggled offensively, hitting just 15 of 62 shots (24.2%). Deja Kelly was the lone scorer to reach double figures with 11 points on 4 of 22 shooting.

Reigan Richardson contributed 10 points for Duke (25-5).

NO. 14 OHIO STATE 81, NO. 17 MICHIGAN 79

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Freshman Cotie McMahon had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists in her Big Ten Tournament debut, Taylor Thierry added 20 points and No. 14 Ohio State held off No. 17 Michigan.

Ohio State (24-6) defeated Michigan three times in a season for the first time in program history to advance to the semifinals against No. 1 seed Indiana today.

McMahon made a steal and fast-break layup to give Ohio State a 74-73 lead with 3:37 left and she added two free throws to make it 76-74.

Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon made a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:20 left and McMahon found Taylor Mikesell in transition for an 81-76 lead. Michigan had two chances at a three-pointer on its next possession and Maddie Nolan rattled one in to get within 81-79 with 47 seconds left.

Ohio State turned it over with 23.7 seconds left. Michigan had several chances, but McMahon made a key block and Leigha Brown was off the mark on a contested shot at the buzzer.

Mikesell finished with 16 points for Ohio State. Sheldon, who played just six games this season due to an injury, scored five points.

Brown had 19 points and nine assists for Michigan (22-9).