BLOOMINGTON — Sara Scalia was so hot she would have burned the Christmas turkey if she had been cooking, never mind the flames that would have ensued if she had been in charge of the annual teddy bear throw at Assembly Hall on Friday night.

Scalia, a senior guard for the Indiana University women’s basketball team, had better accuracy firing a basketball through the small hoop than fans did by the hundreds tossing teddy bears for charity onto the court — and they were aiming at a target the size of a pond.

After scoring a career-high 32 points and hitting eight 3-point shots, Scalia, who rarely changes a serious expression during a game, was caught smiling because not even she could explain her wicked sharp shooting in the Hoosiers’ 84-35 victory.

It was Merry Christmas to all as IU concluded the nonconference portion of the season with a 10-1 mark before beginning Big Ten Conference play Dec. 31 at home against Illinois.

“I was trying to have fun with it,” said Scalia, recognizing the reality of making 8-for-11 beyond the arc.

There was some irony in the performance because a couple of years ago when she was playing for the University of Minnesota before transferring to IU, Scalia made seven 3-pointers in Bloomington.

Point guard Chloe Moore-McNeil, who scored nine points and had five assists, said it was a no-brainer to keep feeding Scalia the ball.

“For sure, the universal rule is to feed the hot hand,” Moore-McNeil said.

This was probably one of the worst weeks in recent program history for Bowling Green of the Mid-American Conference. Not only did the Falcons lose by 49 points, a few days earlier, they lost by 31 points to No. 1-ranked South Carolina and just 1 minute, 10 seconds into this game lost a top scorer to injury.

Guard Lexi Fleming fell to the floor and had to be helped off favoring her left leg and did not return. The tumble occurred right in front of IU coach Teri Moren, and she expressed remorse about Fleming having to depart in pain.

“I think it shook all of us for a minute,” Moren said.

Mostly, IU kept expanding its lead, holding Bowling Green (6-4) to six points in the first quarter and six points in the third quarter.

Moren had the opportunity to provide considerable playing time to many players, and what has become evident in recent games, on any given night, one member of the cast can explode. A few days earlier, Yarden Garzon scored a career-high 30 points. All-American center Mackenzie Holmes can go off for 20 and 10 any night (although not this one, ending up with 10 points and six rebounds).

This illustrates Indiana has many weapons. The Hoosiers will need them to defend their league regular-season 2022 title. Moren knows the conference will be gunning for IU.

“We really looked like a tough, gritty team tonight, and that’s what I’ve been wanting to see,” Moren said.

The score was 39-19 at the half and 60-25 after three, and if there was any illusion Bowling Green might make a comeback, a Hoosiers explosion fixed that.

Over a span of about 3½ minutes, Sydney Parrish, Moore-McNeil and Scalia (three of them) swished 3-point shots to electrify the building.

“I thought Sara Scalia was super special,” Moren said. “Yes, she scored the ball great, but I thought she was really good defensively. As well as she shot it from beyond the arc, I thought she was as good defensively with how she was focused, determined and did a great job.”

Only a coach would make such a mention on a 32-point scoring night by a player.

Last season, the Hoosiers hung around the top five in the national rankings most of the year. This year, after losing Grace Berger, they began the season ninth. Their one loss, being battered by Stanford, dropped them to 16th, where they have hovered.

In the Dec. 18 top 25 poll, there were still nine unbeaten teams and eight other teams (including IU, Stanford and defending national champion Louisiana State) with a single loss. That means it is hard to move up even if you keep winning.

“No question of the parity,” Moren said. “Our game has gotten better. Our game has continued to improve.”

It used to be, she said, it was not difficult to slate a couple of teams into the Final Four. Not now.

“I don’t know if anybody can pen anybody into the Final Four,” she said.

As the second half of the 2023-24 season approaches, Moren just hopes Indiana is one of those teams that emerges as one of those last four standing.