Hoosiers experiment with all-freshman lineup

The youth movement in IU women’s basketball has never been more evident than during the past two weeks.

IU Coach Curt Miller started an all-freshmen lineup in the Hoosiers’ last three games. The freshmen starters have played in 90 games combined.

To put the starting lineup’s youth in perspective, graduate student Sasha Chaplin has appeared in 109 games in her career at IU — 19 more games than the freshmen starting five have combined.

The change to the starting lineup came in the aftermath of IU’s three-game losing streak in the Big Ten, capped off by a 33-point loss to Purdue. The stall in IU’s offense during the losing streak prompted the change in lineup.

“We wanted a spark,” Miller said.

The result of the move has been unprecedented in the Big Ten this season.
IU (15-5, 2-5) is the only team in the conference to start five freshmen together this season.

Freshmen Larryn Brooks, Taylor Agler, Alexis Gassion, Jenn Anderson and Lyndsay Leikem took the floor together for the first time against Minnesota Jan. 19, and they have started ever since.

The shake-up in the lineup paid instant dividends against the Golden Gophers.

IU won 83-78 in overtime. The freshmen starting five contributed 69 of IU’s 83 points.

“I don’t know when — if ever — a team in the Big Ten has started five freshmen to win a Big Ten game,” Miller said. “(The win) was a big step for this program.”

Brooks, Agler and Gassion have been staples in the Hoosier lineup all season.

Miller has referred to Brooks as the women’s program’s version of IU point guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell.

She leads the team with 17.4 points and 4.25 assists per game.

Miller often credits Agler as being a lock-down defender who does all the little things that help teams win.

Gassion is the team’s third leading rebounder and she is fifth in points and steals.
The major changes in the lineup came from the additions of Anderson and Leikem.

Leikem said she was not aware she was starting until just before the game, which meant she needed to adjust quickly.

Despite the shift in roles, she recorded 10 points while playing a career-high 37 minutes in the win.

“I usually get a chance to watch Tabitha (Gerardot) work the floor and see what I have coming up to play against,” Leikem said. “It was a transition, but you learn really fast.”

The move to put in Leikem and Anderson has sent seniors Gerardot and Chaplin to the bench. Miller said the two responded well to being moved out of the starting role and have pushed harder in training.

“I think we’re seeing a little bit more focus, a little bit more intensity in practice,” he said.

Since the win against Minnesota, IU has lost a pair of road games to Penn State and Iowa while using the all-freshmen lineup, making IU 1-2 when using it.
Whether or not IU continues starting five freshmen remains to be seen, but Miller said the lineup change was good for his team.

“We have a really neat mixture right now,” he said. “We have five seniors that have a sense of senior urgency combined with talented freshmen with a fearless attitude.”

The coaching staff has put emphasis on building chemistry in the locker room. Miller said he believes the younger players have built a strong relationship with one another and the upperclassmen.

For now, IU may have to deal with some growing pains that playing a young team brings.

Miller said the experience the players are getting now could bode well for the future of the program.

“We always talk about building a championship locker room before you can build a championship team,” Miller said. “They believe in each other. They care for each other. Our locker room is really strong right now.”

Follow reporter Sam Beishuizen on Twitter @Sam_Beishuizen.