March Madness 2022: IU women's basketball cruises past Charlotte in First Round
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana women's basketball is moving on.
The third-seeded Hoosiers cruised to victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. No. 14 seed Charlotte kept it close for most of the first quarter, but once IU went on a run, the 49ers couldn't keep up. Indiana ran away with a 85-51 win Saturday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
IU advances to the round of 32 and will play Princeton at 8 p.m. Monday in Bloomington. The game will be telecast on ESPNU.
Here are three reasons why it happened.
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Indiana dominated inside
It took the Hoosiers a minute to figure out the right way to attack Charlotte. They found good looks early and often, but shots weren't falling to start the game.
But once Indiana started to work it into the post more, the 49ers didn't have many answers.
It didn't matter which player; if Indiana got the ball inside, it often ended in a bucket. Aleksa Gulbe, Mackenzie Holmes, Grace Berger, and Kiandra Browne all took advantage. IU finished with 46 points in the paint; Charlotte put up 22.
Gulbe, in particular, got to work inside. She often plays as a stretch-four and will space the floor from beyond the arc. But once she found a groove in the post — while Holmes sat with first-half foul trouble — she went back there more frequently.
Gulbe went back outside more once Holmes checked back in during the second half, but her inside success complemented her other strong attributes. The Latvia native shot 6 for 12 for 15 points, and grabbed seven rebounds.
Holmes took the wheel inside in the second half. She ended as IU's leading scorer with 19 points on a 9-of-15 clip and eight rebounds.
Grace Berger took control
As she often does, Berger dominated this game.
Her mid-range game was on point, and she often got to the rim with ease. She ran the floor well, launched fastbreaks, and played effective defense. She hit a buzzer-beater in the second quarter to cap off a strong first half, and kept it rolling in the second half.
Berger before the buzzer spins into a fadeaway to score ! #MarchMadness x @IndianaWBB pic.twitter.com/1j5FiNsfcr
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 19, 2022
In a game where Indiana's entire team played well, Berger was IU's best player.
She finished with 18 points on a 7-of-13 line, six rebounds, six assists, and two steals.
IU didn't let Octavia Jett-Wilson take over
Jett-Wilson was Charlotte's best player this season. She won Conference USA Player of the Year, and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the conference tournament.
She averaged over 19 points per game entering this contest.
Indiana used a lot of different defensive looks at Jett-Wilson. It was primarily Ali Patberg and Chloe Moore-McNeil guarding her, as Nicole Cardaño-Hillary matched up against Jada McMillan.
Patberg and Moore-McNeil are different defenders. Patberg is a bit peskier, but Moore-McNeil has more length and uses it to her advantage.
Jett-Wilson still led Charlotte with 19 points on an 7-of-14 line. But she was never the best player on the floor — and if the 49ers were going to have a chance in this game, she needed to be.
Follow Herald-Times sports reporter Seth Tow on Twitter @SethTow, or email him at stow@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: NCAA Tournament 2022: Indiana basketball gets First Round v. Charlotte
