Mackenzie Holmes and Caitlin Clark turned Indiana-Iowa rivalry into must-see matchup
BLOOMINGTON — Iowa guard Caitlin Clark started out 2024 by hitting a buzzer-beater near the logo at half court to give her team a win over Michigan State.
Replays of Clark’s heroics brought back some unpleasant memories for an Indiana women’s basketball team that lost to the Hawkeyes in similar fashion in last year’s regular season finale.
Clark came off a screen with 1.5 seconds left — IU guard Chloe Moore-McNeil tripped coming off the pick — and buried an off-balance 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded in front of a sold out crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The image of Clark running around the arena’s floor celebrating alongside her teammates was on Holmes’ mind this week as No. 14 Indiana (14-1; 5-0 Big Ten) heads back to Iowa City on Saturday to face No. 3 Iowa (16-1; 5-0) in the first of two games between the teams this season.
“That one left an impact,” Indiana forward Mackenzie Holmes said, in an interview with The Herald-Times this week. “None of us have forgotten about it.”
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Fans can expect more fireworks this weekend if history is any indication.
Going back to Clark’s freshman year in 2020-21, six of the seven games the teams have played were decided by single-digits and the last three have been a one-possession game in the fourth quarter.
“It's become a rivalry,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said, after Wednesday night’s win over Penn State. “That's what it's become.”
The stakes have never been higher either.
Iowa, last year’s NCAA tournament runner-up, won the Big Ten regular season title in 2022 and each of the last two Big Ten tournaments while Indiana won last season’s regular season crown. The programs are riding identical 13-game winning streaks into this weekend and are the last unbeaten teams standing in the conference.
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The series will also have national implications come tournament time with a potential No. 1 seed up for grabs.
“It's so exciting for us,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said. “It's so exciting. We've been wanting Indiana women's basketball to be on the big stage for a long time. To see where we have taken it, it's so exciting. It's great for the Big Ten, it's great for women's basketball, but it's really great for Indiana basketball."
It’s the culmination of the vision that Dolson’s predecessor Fred Glass had when he hired Moren away from Indiana State in 2014.
Dolson, who has a deep appreciation for hoops going back to his days as a student manager for Bob Knight, marveled at the job Moren has done after the team beat Penn State 75-67.
“You are trying to build a program, not a team,” Dolson said. “That's what coach Moren has done."
The Caitlin Clark of it all
One of Clark’s first 30-point games came at Indiana’s expense back on Feb. 7, 2021 in a game played in front of only 265 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The atmosphere will be a little different this weekend.
Purdue fans got a glimpse of the Caitlin Clark hysteria on Wednesday night when Iowa visited West Lafayette. She helped sell out Mackey Arena (14,240) for a team that averages just under 5,000 fans per game.
Record crowds have followed Clark all season long starting with the 55,646 fans who attended an exhibition at Kinnick Stadium back in October. The Hawkeyes will easily break the Big Ten record for attendance they set last year when it averaged 11,142 fans.
Indiana’s rematch at Assembly Hall against Iowa in February is also sold out.
"We are all aware of the excitement Caitlin Clark brings around women's basketball,” Holmes said. “She has a huge following, as she should. She's a great player.”
While Iowa has long been a successful program under coach Lisa Bluder — the team has made 21 postseason appearances (17 NCAA) in 23 seasons — Clark has been a transformational talent.
The Hawkeyes reached the NCAA finals last year as Clark was named the Naismith College Player of the Year. She entered this season as a two-time reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and two-time unanimous All-American.
Last year, Clark was the first player in women’s basketball history with more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in the same season. Clark has built on that success as a senior by setting the Big Ten and Iowa all-time records for scoring and assists.
“Caitlin Clark is just amazing, a generational talent,” Dolson said. “I feel fortunate we've been able to watch her and will be able to say years from now we competed against her. What she's done for the Big Ten and women's basketball is remarkable. It's great for us to be such a rival of theirs.”
Mackenzie Holmes doesn't belong in anyone's shadow
Holmes doesn’t get the same national attention as Clark — a fact that Moren lamented at Big Ten media days — but she’s viewed throughout the conference as an elite talent after earning unanimous All-American honors last season and winning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Maine native is averaging 19.5 points per game and 6.9 rebounds a game this year with a 66.4% field goal percentage that ranks eighth nationally. Holmes put up her 23rd career double-double against Penn State on Wednesday and is 172 points away from the program’s all-time scoring record.
She’s already put herself in the conversation of all-time great IU women’s players, a fact that isn’t lost on Dolson, who has told Holmes on more than one occasion that the program’s fan base isn’t taking her contributions lightly.
“I say we don't take you for granted,” Dolson said. “She’s been unbelievable, she's been a rock. You just know, she's going to play her heart out, score and lead us to a win.”
While Holmes and Clark are often linked through their success, the only substantive interaction they’ve had off the court was at last year’s Wooden Awards banquet. They could cross paths at the event again later this year (they made the award’s top 25 midseason watch list on Wednesday, but a more fitting end to the season would be the two facing off again in March.
"People want to watch her play, people want to watch us play," Holmes said. "When you bring two high-level basketball teams into the same arena whether it's here or at Iowa, people are going to come watch. I think it's great for the sport."
How the Indiana-Iowa rivalry took shape
Take a look back at the games between Indiana and Iowa over the last three seasons.
2020-21 Season
INDIANA 85, IOWA 72
■ When: Feb. 7, 2021
■ Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
■ The game: This was Indiana’s first road win at Iowa since Feb. 20, 1994. The Hoosiers went on a 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter to expand on a 58-56 lead. Ali Patberg scored 12 of her 23 points in the quarter. Clark scored 30 points for the fifth time in her career, but she was 3 of 8 with four turnovers in the final 10 minutes thanks to pesky defense from Nicole Cardaño-Hillary.
INDIANA 89, IOWA 80
■ When: March 3, 2021
■ Where: Assembly Hall
■ The game: Indiana completed the season sweep over Iowa to win its eight straight game. There were 12 lead changes in the game and the Hoosiers trailed by 49-42 with 8:55 to go in the third quarter. They dominated on the glass to take back control with a 25-15 rebounding advantage and had 21 second chance points off 13 offensive rebounds. Clark fouled out with 2:50 left in the game.
2021-22 Season
IOWA, 96, INDIANA 91
■ When: Feb. 19, 2022
■ Where: Assembly Hall
■ The game: Iowa jumped out to a 14-point advantage in the first quarter while the No. 5 Hoosiers shot 26.7% from the field. The Hawkeyes lead grew to as many as 24 points in the final minute of the third. Indiana came storming back by scoring a program record 42 points in the fourth quarter.
IOWA 88, INDIANA 82
■ When: Feb. 21, 2022
■ Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
■ The game: The rivals played twice in three days thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a number of games to be rescheduled. Clark turned it over seven times in the first half as IU went into the break up 52-41. Iowa jumped out in front thanks to a 11-0 fourth quarter run with senior center Monika Czinano scoring nine points during the stretch. She led all scorers with 31 points (13 of 17 shooting) and 10 rebounds.
IOWA 74, INDIANA 67 (Big Ten Tournament Finals)
■ When: March 6, 2022
■ Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse
■ The game: Indiana was making its first appearance in the Big Ten finals in 20 years, but was playing its fourth time in as many days. It was a one-possession game after each of the first three quarters. The Hoosiers locked down Clark, who went 1 of 7 from 3-point range, but struggled containing Czinano in the paint once again. She had 30 points and 10 points.
2022-23 Season
INDIANA 87, IOWA 78
■ When: Feb. 9, 2023
■ Where: Assembly Hall
■ The game: It was the first Big Ten matchup between top-five teams in nearly 30 years, Indiana was ranked No. 2 and Iowa was ranked No. 5, in front of a then program record 13,046 fans. Grace Berger and Holmes combined to score 20 of Indiana’s 23 points in the third quarter to keep Iowa at bay. Czinano only had six points and fouled out in the fourth. It was the Hoosiers fourth win against an AP top-10 opponent.
IOWA 86, INDIANA 85
■ When: Feb. 26, 2023
■ Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
■ The game: Clark hit an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Iowa a win over No. 2 Indiana. She took the inbound pass with 1.5 seconds left and came off a screen set by Czinano. Holmes handed the Hoosiers a 85-83 in the final minute with a pair of free throws after they trailed by as many as 11 points. Iowa’s win snapped Indiana’s 14-game win streak that was one short of tying the program record.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Mackenzie Holmes and Caitlin Clark make Indiana-Iowa must-see matchup
