Indiana University first team All-American forward Mackenzie Holmes is ready for her homecoming.
But Anne Simon and her University of Maine teammates are going to try to spoil it.
The 17th-ranked Hoosiers, 5-1, will take on the 4-3 Black Bears on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, 13 ½ miles from Holmes’ Gorham home.
Holmes was a multi-year All-State player at Gorham High School, where she won two state AA championships and was the Gatorade Player of the Year.
She became just the second player in Hoosier history to eclipse the 2,000-point mark in a win over Princeton at a tournament in Florida last weekend.
The 6-foot-3 Holmes is excited to play in front of her family, friends, and former teammates and coaches, but maintained that she and her teammates are treating their clash with UMaine as just another game in their season.
“I’m doing my best to stay level-headed. I’ve played a lot of games in there,” said Holmes, a graduate student, during a Wednesday press conference. “I’m trying not to overthink it. And my coaches and teammates will keep me level-headed.”
Graduate student Simon said the Black Bears respect Holmes and her Indiana team, and that they are focusing on themselves.
“All season long, we talked about being strong on defense. That’s important to us,” Simon said. “We need to put pressure on the ball and limit them to one shot.”
Simon knows there is going to be a large, enthusiastic crowd, and the number of fans is something they aren’t used to. But Simon, the Black Bears’ leading scorer and the 2021-22 America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, believes the atmosphere will settle down once the game begins.
Holmes first learned of the game in July and said the game has “snuck up” on her.
“From July to now has gone super fast. Things move fast in college basketball. I can’t believe it’s already here,” Holmes said.
She is grateful to Indiana coach Teri Moren for booking the game and to UMaine coach Amy Vachon for allowing it to happen.
“I’m very blessed. Coach Moren knows how much Maine and the people of Maine mean to me,” Holmes said. “Not a lot of players get to experience something like this.”
Holmes said she was grateful to her father, Lenny, for handling all the seating requests.
“That has been very helpful. He knows how focused I am,” Holmes said.
Indiana returned four starters from its 28-4 NCAA Tournament team and is led by senior guard Sara Scalia (18.7 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists), Holmes (17.8 ppg, 6.8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.5 blocked shots, 58.8 percent shooting percentage from the floor) and sophomore guard Yarden Garzon (11.8 ppg, 4.2 apg).
Indiana is averaging 82 points per game.
Simon has sparked the Bears, averaging 15.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg and 3 apg, along with reigning America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith (12 ppg, 11 rpg, 3.1 apg). Senior guard/forward Caroline Bornemann has averaged 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
