3/27/2021 basketball Edit

Scouting Indiana

Justin H. Williams • TheWolfpackCentral

Staff Writer

NC State faces Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Saturday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN2.

The Wolfpack, the No. 1 seed of the Mercado Region, defeated eighth-seeded South Florida 79-67 in the second round Tuesday. The Hoosiers, the No. 4 seed, defeated 12th-seeded Belmont 70-48 in the second round.

Here is the scouting report on the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten Conference:

Indiana Hoosiers basketball Mackenzie Holmes — Indiana forward Mackenzie Holmes is the Hoosiers' leading scorer, averaging 17.8 points per game. (Julio Cortez/AP Photos)

Rankings

Indiana finished second in the regular-season Big Ten standings and went on to lose its conference tournament first-round matchup against Michigan State.

Indiana entered the tournament ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press poll (NC State is No. 3 with two votes for No. 1).

The Hoosiers also finished No. 10 in the USA Today/Women's Basketball Coaches Association Poll (NC State No. 3) and No. 9 in the NET rankings (Wolfpack No. 7).

Indiana finished the regular season 20-5 overall and 16-2 in the Big Ten.

Three of the Hoosiers' five losses came against ranked opponents, including an 84-80 road loss to Maryland, who won the Big Ten and earned a No. 2 seed in the tournament.

After falling to then-ranked No. 14 Ohio State 78-70 on Jan. 28, Indiana has won 11 of its last 12 games entering the Sweet Sixteen.

Offense

Indiana's field goal percentage of .457 ranks 18th nationally (NC State 11th, .469), but unlike the Pack's second-round matchup with South Florida, the Hoosiers do most of their damage from inside the arc.

IU ranks 239th nationally in perimeter shooting efficiency, making just 29.2 percent of its three-point attempts collectively.

Despite the inefficiency from three, where the Wolfpack will have a significant advantage Saturday, the Hoosiers fare just fine on offense. Indiana averages 75.4 points per game, which ranks 28th among Division I teams.

Advantage: NC State

Defense

Indiana is strong defensively, but basketball analyst and commentator Debbie Antonelli (who has called multiple IU games this season) admits she wouldn't use the term "elite" to define the Hoosiers' defense.

IU ranks just outside the national top 50 in scoring defense, allowing opponents to an average of 59.3 points per game.

The Hoosiers have had some early defensive success in the NCAA Tournament, however. Indiana's first two opponents, 13th-seeded VCU and 12th-seeded Belmont, scored just 32 and 48 points in the first and second rounds, respectively.

Advantage: NC State

Rebounding

Indiana averages 39.3 rebounds per game, good for 80th nationally.

The Hoosiers also average a +4.1 rebounding margin per contest, which ranks 66th nationally. NC State averages +7.8 rebounds per game in margin, good for 20th in Division I.

Advantage: NC State

Player to watch

Sophomore forward Mackenzie Holmes is Indiana's leading scorer, rebounder and shotblocker. She'll present one-half of the matchup of the day, going head-to-head with NC State All-American center Elissa Cunane.

Holmes averages 17.8 points per game and had 13 or more points in all but three games this season. She also averages 7.8 rebounds and three blocks per game.

As opposed to Cunane, Holmes is a more traditional post player with an inability to shoot the outside shot. The 6-3 Hoosier leads the team with a 60.7 percent field goal average but is 0-of-6 on the season from beyond the arc.

She shoots just fine from the free-throw line, however, averaging 77.9 percent on attempts from the stripe on the season.

Numbers of Note

1 Time in NC State program history has the Wolfpack women made it to the Elite Eight. A win Saturday could mark the second. The last time, 1998, the Pack went on to advance to the Final Four under legendary head coach Kay Yow.

26 Points off of the bench was NC State's difference between round one and round two. Most notably, starting senior forward Kayla Jones was unable to play in the second round due to injury, catapulting the sophomore forward Jada Boyd, the ACC Sixth Man of the Year, into the starting lineup. The Pack was able to produce 33 points off of the bench in round one but just seven from its reserves in the Round of 32.

85.7 Percent is NC State senior guard Kai Crutchfield's three-point shooting average through two rounds of the tournament. She is a combined 6-of-7 from beyond the arc in the past two games, including a perfect 3-of-3 mark in the second-round win over South Florida. She is averaging 12.5 points per game so far in the NCAA Tournament.