Fourth-seeded Indiana rolls past Fairfield in first round of NCAAs
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Sara Scalia scored 27 points to lead fourth-seeded Indiana to an 89-56 victory over No. 13 Fairfield on Saturday in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament.
Scalia sank five of the Hoosiers’ 10 3-pointers. Yarden Garzon, Chloe Moore-McNeil and Mackenzie Holmes each scored 13 points for the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers (25-5) will face the winner of No. 5 seed Oklahoma and No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast on Monday night.
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.
IU led 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 lead with 4:23 left in third quarter. Scalia scored 10 of those 13 points with two 3-pointers.
Indiana led 64-49 after three quarters and kept expanding its lead in the fourth quarter.
The Hoosiers shot 51% from the field while hold the Stags to 32% IU held a 44-29 rebounding advantage. IU held a 40-18 edge of points in the paint and 17-2 edge in points off turnovers
IU had a big advantage in free throws, too, making 17-of-22 free throws while Fairfield only took four from the line.
Trailing 31-26 with 4:46 left in the second quarter, the Hoosiers outscored the Stags 12-3 the rest of the quarter to take a 38-34 halftime lead.
Garzon led IU with 12 points in the opening half, including a 3-pointer that gave the Hoosiers the lead for good at 32-31.
Holmes had converted a 3-point play to give IU a 20-17 left with 52 seconds left in the opening quarter.