Mackenzie Holmes, Teri Moren hit milestones as No. 9 Indiana routs Eastern Illinois 96-43

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- — Preseason All-American Mackenzie Holmes and reigning national coach of the year Teri Moren celebrated milestone nights together Thursday.

It seemed a fitting start to a new era of Indiana basketball.

Holmes scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and moved into third place on the Hoosiers career scoring list, leading No. 9 Indiana to a 96-43 rout over Eastern Illinois. Indiana won its 11th straight season opener under Moren, who became the fifth active Big Ten coach with 400 career wins.

“Hopefully, there’s more in the future,” Moren said. “I think it reminds me of all the great stops I’ve had and all the great players I’ve had the opportunity to coach. I’m glad and I appreciate that our team got me to the finish line tonight.”

As usual, Holmes did her part as the 53-point margin was the 11th-most lopsided in Indiana history.

She only needed 19 minutes to pass Karna Abram and move within two points of Denise Jackson (1,917 points) for second all-time. The only other player ahead of Holmes is Tyra Buss at 2,364.

The Panthers (0-2) were led by Miah Monahan with 13 points and freshman Lalani Ellis with eight, but ultimately had no answer for Holmes in the Hoosiers' first meaningful game inside Assembly Hall since a shocking second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Miami.

But they had no answer for Holmes — or the defending Big Ten regular-season champs.

“She's so much better over her right shoulder now,” said Eastern Illinois coach Matt Bollant, a former assistant with the Hoosiers. “Last year, she was so good over her left shoulder and tonight she was good over her right as well. Their length made a lot of difference and Holmes was part of that as well.”

The Hoosiers took control quickly. They closed the first quarter on a 15-4 run, opened the second with back-to-back 3-pointers from Sara Scalia to make it 35-14 and extended the halftime margin to 53-24.

Yarden Gazon had 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Hoosiers. Scalia added 13 points in a game most of Indiana's top players spent the final 17 minutes on the bench.

BIG PICTURE

Eastern Illinois: After winning 21 games last season, the Panthers were picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference. They just couldn't match the Hoosiers' size, speed or strength.

Indiana: Moren's squad did exactly what it needed in the opener — establishing itself early and pulling away. The Hoosiers will need another strong performance Sunday at No. 15 Stanford.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Hoosiers already seemed poised to move up at least one spot next week, but a road victory over the Cardinal could expedite their ascent.

ISRAELI CONNECTION

Gardon grew up in Israel and following the game, she addressed the situation in her home country.

“I'm trying to do like whatever I can to compete on this stage and I played with this one (bracelet) today, to bring them home and honor to the hostages," she said, citing a 12-year-old hostage by name.

UP NEXT

Eastern Illinois: Hosts Valparaiso in its home opener Sunday.

Indiana: Hits the road to play Stanford and coach Tara VanDerveer, an Indiana alum, on Sunday.

------ AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball