BLOOMINGTON — Indiana women’s basketball has improved throughout the nonconference season,
The Hoosiers’ early woes were clearly on display in a 30-point blowout loss to Stanford — the third-worst loss of head coach Teri Moren’s tenure. Indiana allowed 96 points to the Cardinal, who were ranked lower than the Hoosiers at the time, and did not hold a lead in the game.
It was a big hit to the Hoosiers’ confidence in their second game of the season. But throughout the rest of the nonconference slate, they showed promise.
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The Hoosiers locked down on defense, only allowing 60 or more points twice after the Stanford loss. Indiana stifled some offenses entirely, with opponents scoring 45 points or less three times.
All in all, the Hoosiers think they’re on the right track.
“We started off this season, this nonconference schedule, not looking like we usually do on defense,” senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil said. “But I will say I am proud of us and my teammates because they did show up defensively (in our last game).”
But defense is only one part of the equation.
Indiana women’s basketball got through the nonconference season with a 9-1 record (the Hoosiers are 1-0 in conference play), with the only loss coming to a top-15 ranked Stanford team.
The Big Ten is one of the strongest women’s basketball conferences in the nation. Seven Big Ten teams made it into the 2023 NCAA Tournament — the most of any conference. Four of those teams — Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio State — were a top-16 seed, hosting the first two rounds on their home courts.
Iowa, Maryland, and Ohio State all made it to the Elite Eight, and Iowa made its first program appearance in the national championship.
Iowa has continued its winning ways this season, thanks to reigning national player of the year Caitlin Clark. The Hawkeyes are No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and haven’t dropped lower than sixth so far this season. Ohio State and Indiana have also both been ranked throughout the season.
“Our game has gotten better, our game continues to improve, not just individually but team-wise, coaching, all of it,” Moren said. “It’s so great. What a privilege it is to be a part of this game right now at the height of not just people being interested in it, but also, we’re seeing fantastic teams, high level of play, and that’s good for us. Good for us and our game.”
Indiana played its most complete game of the season in their final nonconference matchup, taking down Bowling Green, 84-35, on Friday night. The Hoosiers played the stifling defense they prided themselves on last year, holding the Falcons to 0.54 points per possession and no made 3-pointers. Hoosier guard Sara Scalia made eight 3-pointers, the second-most by a single player in IU women’s basketball history, and Indiana had an otherwise balanced scoring night.
But Indiana also did that after Bowling Green lost its leading scorer, Lexi Fleming, in the first minute of the game.
from the game: Sara Scalia sizzles, IU defense stifles in 84-35 blowout win over Bowling Green
“I felt like we could still look a lot cleaner, be a little bit more efficient, get some better shots, move the ball, and have great pace, and I didn’t think we did that in the first half,” Moren said. “I’m not so sure we did it in the second half.”
The Hoosiers are also still struggling in one key aspect of the game: free throw shooting. Indiana ranks 11th in the conference and 202nd in the nation, making just 68.8% of those shots.
“70% is not going to cut it,” senior center Mackenzie Holmes, who is shooting 71.4% from the line this season, said. “We need to knock down those free throws. We work on it every day in practice, but we just have to continue to have that confidence when we get to the line and knock them down because we got by missing 10 free throws tonight, but if we do that in the Big Ten season, it’s not going to be good enough.”
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Behind the scenes, Moren isn’t convinced her team is completely prepared for Big Ten play. After all, the Hoosiers are still the reigning regular season conference champions — teams will have them circled on the schedule.
“Things are gonna change. We’re gonna go into Big Ten play, and the target is clearly on our backs still, and we’ll continue to get everybody’s best,” Moren said. “… This is a great league. Everybody from the bottom has improved and gotten better, so night in and night out, we have to have better balance.”
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