Indiana's Ali Patberg drives against Charlotte in an NCAA tournament game Saturday.
(Indiana University Athletics)
Ali Patberg hoped her final game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall would be just like it turned out to be.
That’s with the IU women’s basketball team hosting a second round NCAA Tournament game.
“I’m just thankful that I get another game in Assembly Hall,” Patberg said. “And I’m going to make the most of it. We’re going to make the most of it.”
Third-seeded IU faces No. 11 seed Princeton Monday at 8 p.m. The Tigers upset sixth-seeded Kentucky in Saturday’s first round game.
Beat Princeton, and IU will advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.
It’s one of the reasons Patberg, a Columbus-native, returned for a seventh - yes, seventh – year of college basketball this season.
“I love Assembly Hall,” Patberg said. “I grew up coming to games, dreamed about playing here.”
But it was a long journey to get there. A McDonald’s All-American from Columbus North, Patberg began her college career at Notre Dame in 2015. She tore her ACL as a freshman but played in 22 games as a sophomore for the Irish. But after the season, Patberg decided to transfer to IU.
Indiana coach Teri Moren was looking for an experienced guard to fill the role of Tyra Buss, the school’s all-time leading scorer who graduated in 2018.
“Ali Patberg was that kid for us,” Moren said.
And she’s held down that spot for the past four years, helping lead the Hoosiers to the NCAA Tournament in three of them. It would four, but the tournament was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Because of the impact COVID-19, the NCAA granted all seniors an extra year of eligibility if they wanted it. After helping lead the Hoosiers to the Elite Eight last season, Patberg jumped at the chance.
“Set aside what she is as a player, I think she’s probably meant more as a teammate to those guys in the locker room,” Moren said. “She’s meant so much to helping us build this thing the right way. And I think she’ll be remembered as on of the best players in school history.”
Patberg still has a chance to add to that legacy.
But the Hoosiers can’t afford to look past Princeton, the Ivy League champions who spoiled the anticipated IU-Kentucky rematch in the second round by knocking off the Wildcats, 69-62.
Moren said she’s impressed with the Tigers’ discipline on the offensive side of the ball.
“If they don’t get the first option off their stuff, they’re willing to be patient enough to maybe get the second or third or fourth (option),” Moren said. “So, they’re really going to test us defensively.”
Senior guard Abby Meyer scored 29 points to lead the upset of Kentucky. Meyer averaged a team-high 18.2 points per game.
“She has a quick trigger,” Moren said. “But she also has a little spin, floater game, up-and-under game.
“She can score in a lot of different ways; she has a lot of tricks in her bag.”
All five IU starters averaged double figures in scoring this season, led by All-American guard Grace Berger’s 16.4 points per game. Center Mackenzie Holmes, who’s still working her way back from in-season knee surgery, averages 15.6, and forward Aleksa Gulbe averages 12.1 points per game. Patberg and guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary both average 11.7.
If the Hoosiers win tonight, they’ll play either Connecticut or Central Florida in Bridgeport, Conn., on March 26.
