Indiana women's basketball star Grace Berger will miss Thursday's top-10 matchup against North Carolina and is considered "day-to-day" after injuring her right knee this past weekend, coach Teri Moren said Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Moren described Berger as "out indefinitely" as well as "day-to-day." She was set to undergo an MRI on Sunday upon returning to Bloomington.
Berger, a 6-foot senior guard, was an honorable mention All-American last season and is a three-time All-Big Ten first-team selection. She averaged 10.3 points, 4.8 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 24.2 minutes per game to start the season.
"She's our leader," Moren said. "She obviously knows our system, both offensively and defensively, better than anybody."
The Hoosiers are coming off a pair of victories in the Las Vegas Invitational, where inadequate conditions have since come to light. Berger was injured early in Indiana's 96-81 win over Auburn, but Moren said this weekend that the injury had nothing to do with the court, which was assembled in the ballroom at the Mirage hotel.
Indiana beat Memphis 79-64 to close the weekend.
The Hoosiers, who made the program's first Elite Eight in 2021 and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2022, and North Carolina are undefeated going into Thursday's matchup (6 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network), one of the marquee games of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Indiana is No. 5 in the latest Associated Press poll, and North Carolina is No. 6.
The Tar Heels just won the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland.
"I think what we learned in Vegas when Grace went down, because it was early, was that we still have enough firepower," Moren said. "We still have enough pieces out there that can put points on the board. I thought our level of toughness was incredible."
Mackenzie Holmes (20.0 PPG) leads the Hoosiers in scoring to start the year, followed by Minnesota transfer Sara Scalia (13.3 PPG) and freshman Yarden Garzon (12.9 PPG).
