No. 6 Indiana at No. 21 Illinois | Big Ten | 1.18.23

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Indiana head coach Teri Moren picked up her 189th career win as No. 6 Indiana defeated No. 21 Illinois, 83-72, at State Farm Center on Wednesday night.

KEY MOMENTS
In a tight first quarter, Indiana (17-1, 7-1 B1G) kept the game within one possession as senior forward Mackenzie Holmes connected at the line with 4:15 to go. But it fueled a 9-0 run by the Illini, who held its largest lead of the half with 2:27 remaining in the opening frame.
Graduate student guard Grace Berger's jumper and 3-pointers from freshman guard Yarden Garzon and junior guard Sydney Parrish Parrish kept Indiana within three, trailing 21-18 at the end of the first. Scoring was hard to come by in the early goings of the second quarter, which helped the Hoosiers claw their way back into the contest. Berger's post up gave her team the lead 28-27 while Garzon got a pair at the line to make it a 3-point advantage. Berger connected on the step through in traffic with 1:55 to play as Indiana would head to the locker room with a 37-31 lead.
The Hoosiers opened up the game in the third quarter, putting up a 30-piece in the frame behind 14 points on 6-for-7 from the floor by Holmes. It was part of a 68.4 percent clip from the floor as Garzon added a pair of triples to fuel the offense as it took a 67-51 lead.
Not backing down in the fourth, the Illini (14-4, 5-3 B1G) cut the deficit to as few as seven with 4:26 to play. Junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil would help her team respond with the and-1 opportunity as Illinois didn't score in the final 1:07 of play.

NOTABLE
With the win, ninth year head coach Teri Moren secured the program's record for all-time wins with 189. It bests the previous record of 188 set by Jim Izard in 12 seasons.
The Hoosiers 17-1 start to the season is its best record through 18 games since its inaugural season in 1971-72.
Indiana picked up its 15th straight win in the series against the Illini, dating back to 2013-14.
Holmes led the way with 30 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. She now has 18 all-time double-doubles, which ranks tied for eighth all-time.
Holmes also sent a career-high six steals in the victory.
Three others added double figures including Berger who had 18 points on 7-for-10 from the floor and six rebounds to go along with three assists.
Moore-McNeil chipped in 12 points and a team-high six assists.
Freshman guard Yarden Garzon went 3-for-6 from 3-point range and added 13 points.
Indiana shot 55.6 percent from the floor, the 12th time it has shot 50 percent or more in a single game this season.

QUOTABLE
Indiana head coach Teri Moren
"First of all, I want to give Illinois, what a great win and turnaround that Coach (Shauna Green) is doing over there with her staff. What a great atmosphere. I have been in the league nine years, and I'm not sure I have seen an atmosphere like that. Congratulations to Shauna, her staff and her team on what they are building here with their fans. I think it is great for women's basketball. We knew that it was going to be a complete dogfight tonight with a really good team in Illinois. The advantage that you sometimes have is that you already play a team. As you know, we opened with them in conference play at our place. We learned a lot about them. They certainly improved just like we have improved. I felt like our staff did a great job at preparing and planning the right scouting report, especially defensively to do a much better job on (Makira) Cook. She had her way with us in Bloomington, and I thought collectively we did a much better job defensively. I would be remised, if I didn't talk about these two and just how terrific they both were. It is so good to have Grace Berger back. She didn't get to play against Illinois, but she was clearly in control out there on the outside. And we have this one over here (Mackenzie Holmes) who was in control down there on the block. Overall, it was a great win for us and a great win for our program. We are happy to be getting out of here with a good solid win."

UP NEXT
Indiana heads to Ann Arbor to face No. 14 Michigan on Monday night. Tipoff at Crisler Center is set for 8 p.m. ET.

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