Indiana forward Mackenzie Holmes of Gorham celebrates after scoring a basket in the second half of a first-round NCAA Tournament game Saturday against Fairfield in Bloomington, Ind. Holmes scored 13 points in an 89-56 win. Doug McSchooler/Associated Press
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana senior Sara Scalia hopes that her hot start to the NCAA Tournament can be a mental boost.
Scalia scored 27 points, hitting five of Indiana’s 10 3-pointers, to lead the fourth-seeded Hoosiers to an 89-56 victory over No. 13 Fairfield on Saturday in the first round.
“It’s always good for a shooter to have good shooting game and kind of go off that,” Scalia said. “It just brings you more and more confidence. It was definitely a good start to the tournament.”
Indiana Coach Teri Moren said Scalia has shown more emotion this year, and her teammates feed off of that.
“Every time she shoots it, we believe it’s going to go in,” the coach said.
Yarden Garzon, Chloe Moore-McNeil and Mackenzie Holmes of Gorham each scored 13 points for the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers (25-5) will play Monday against No. 5 seed Oklahoma, a 73-70 winner over No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast.
Fairfield (31-2) saw its 29-game winning streak come to an end. Janelle Brown led the Stags, who earned the first top-25 ranking in school history earlier this month, with 19 points.
Indiana led just 38-34 at halftime but dominated in the second half. The Hoosiers used a 13-0 spurt in the third quarter to take a 59-43. Scalia scored 10 of those 13 points, including two 3-pointers.
Indiana was ahead 64-49 after three quarters and kept expanding its lead in the fourth quarter.
“I think the biggest thing was we had a little bit of slow start, and we had to lock in defensively and get out to the shooters and don’t let them knock down 3s,” Scalia said.
Moren said the team began switching defensively in the second half.
The Hoosiers shot 51% from the field while hold the Stags to 32%, and also had a 44-29 rebounding advantage. Indiana also outscored Fairfield 40-18 in the paint and had a 17-2 edge in points off turnovers. The hosts made 17 of 22 free throws, while Fairfield only took four shots from the line.
“They have a great defensive team and always have been, but this was an incredibly tough environment to play in,” Fairfield Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said.
Trailing 31-26 with 4:46 left in the second quarter, the Hoosiers outscored the Stags 12-3 the rest of the quarter. Garzon led Indiana with 12 points in the opening half, including a 3-pointer that gave the Hoosiers the lead for good at 32-31.
Holmes converted a 3-point play that broke a 17-17 tie with 52 seconds left in the opening quarter. Fairfield then took a five-point lead before the bubble burst.
“We are going to remember this team forever, not because we’re 31-2, but because of how they pushed each other and challenged each other,” Thibault-DuDonis said. “They’ve brought joy to each other’s lives, and they’ve done that not only within the locker room, but within our campus and community.”
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