Sara Scalia continues to thrive and her development gives Indiana women’s basketball two stars ready for a deep postseason run

When the ball is in Sara Scalia’s hands, good things happen. On Thursday, she took one of the bigger shots of the game … and did exactly what she’s known for; making 3s. Scalia’s big time performance against No. 4 Iowa helped lift the Indiana women’s basketball program to an 86-69 win for a much-needed resume-building performance.

With 2:05 remaining in the fourth quarter, Scalia hit the biggest shot of the game. It was a wing three that gave Indiana a 13-point lead and essentially iced the game.

“When Sara hit that — it was in the fourth and Syd (Parrish) had it in the corner and threw that extra (pass) to Sara right there on the wing,” Indiana women’s basketball head coach Teri Moren said of the moment she knew IU had the game won. “And you could just tell. I was like, ‘that’s the dagger right there, that’s the one that we’re gonna win the game’.”

That three was Scalia’s third of the game en route to a game-high 25 points. She was 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-8 from three. She also was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

It was the perfect moment for Scalia who dominated the game from start to finish. Scalia scored eight points in the first quarter — including the first five of the game for Indiana — and never looked back.

“We didn’t have an answer for Sara Scalia,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said postgame. “She was really good tonight. Give her credit, she played really well today.”

Sara Scalia arrived at Indiana known as a shooter from her three seasons prior at Minnesota. She shot 38.1 percent from three on 2.7 made 3s per game in her time at Minnesota. After a year of adjusting to coming off of the bench in her first season at Indiana, she has retaken her crown as the best shooter in the Big Ten.

Earlier this month, Scalia set an Indiana women’s basketball single-season record in made 3s and is currently shooting a career high 43.5 percent from three on 3.2 made 3s per game. She currently ranks first in the Big Ten in three-point percentage and is fourth in the NCAA in made 3s.

She could always shoot and score the ball, but her overall development as a leader and well-rounded offensive player has shown this season.

“She has — she’s been terrific,” Moren said earlier this month. “She’s played with confidence and I know you guys watched it but they were physical with her tonight. As we move forward more teams are going to be. She’s continued to shoot it at a high, high level for us. I’ve talked about her ability to put it on the deck and be aggressive and just not be a catch and shoot kid. So I love how aggressive she’s played. She also has to guard on the other end really hard. I’m really, really happy she was able to get the new record tonight. it’s special for her and her teammates were really happy for her.”

“She really did a great job running off screens, getting her feet set,” Bluder added. “She set her screens up really well. And then when we closed out hard, she beat us off the bounce. She really, really played well I thought.” 

Scalia is averaging 16.3 points per game while shooting a career-high 44.1 percent overall and 45.1 percent on 2s. She is currently sixth in the Big Ten in effective field goal rate.

Her 2.6 assists per game are a career high in addition to 0.9 turnover per game being a career low.

“I’m honestly just having fun. That’s really it,” Scalia said after the Iowa win. “I love playing with my teammates. I love playing under this coaching staff. We all put in the work and nights like tonight really show all the work that we’ve put in behind the scenes. I just think that it’s all about our hard work and it’s fun when that shows.”

“When we’re on the same side of the floor, you have to make a decision if you’re going to help off of Sara Scalia. I don’t think you should ever help off Sara Scalia,” Holmes said earlier this month. “Every time the ball leaves her hands I think it’s going in. It’s the confidence she has in herself and she knows the confidence we have in her as well. She’s an elite shooter. But even if you are guarding her she’s done a great job being able to create space.”

SEE ALSO: ‘Our backs are against the wall’: In a game that Indiana women’s basketball ‘had to have’ — it did just that and got the statement win it was searching for

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