After easily beating their first two opponents with an average margin of victory of 46.5 points, IU Coach Teri Moren warned the players cannot afford to get too ?comfortable.
“(Morehead State) is a veteran team, and they’ve played really well,” Moren said. “They’ve got tremendous perimeter players, and they’re very dangerous off the dribble.”
Morehead State (2-1) tallied two wins in its first two games before falling to No. 13 Kentucky 91-62. At one point in the second half, though, it cut the lead to just 13 against a Kentucky team that upset powerhouse Baylor.
The Eagles are led by senior guard Almesha Jones, someone whom Moren said the Hoosiers are well aware of.
“They have a tremendous point guard who’s explosive,” Moren said. “She’s so good coming off the high ball screen, so we have to force her into where she doesn’t want to go. We have to take away any driving lanes.”
Jones is averaging 15.3 points and 7.7 assists but also has accumulated 21 turnovers through three games.
The Eagles will have a challenge of their own in stopping the offensive powerhouse that has been IU so far this season. The Hoosiers (2-0) have put up 196 points in their first two contests.
Freshman guard Tyra Buss and sophomore guard Larryn Brooks have contributed 34.5 points per game between the two of them.
Another major contributor to the offense has been sophomore guard Taylor Agler. In the season opener against Gardner-Webb, Agler caught fire early and hit five of six threes on her way to 17 points. In IU’s second game against Valparaiso, Agler contributed six steals, which led to eight Hoosier points.
“I think the five of six threes was pretty lucky,” Agler said, laughing. “I don’t know if I can do that ever again. For the steals, the ball just came my way. That’s not something I go in thinking about, though.”
On the other end, sophomore Alexis Gassion hasn’t had some of the offensive numbers she put up last year but has been one of the better Hoosier defenders.
“They count on me because I’m more athletic and can get rebounds and make stops on the defensive side,” Gassion said. “If one of our other guards can’t stop a player, they put me on them. I’m long and athletic, and I can get deflections.”
Moren also said Gassion has been a source of energy for the team.
“She’s long and athletic and a terrific defender,” Moren said. “I’d like to see her get a little more consistently aggressive on the offensive end, as well.”
Moren’s ongoing goal is to keep teams to less than 60 points.
The team accomplished this goal in both games and in its exhibition, but she said IU would have to be careful of the individual abilities of many players on Morehead State’s team.
“This is going to be important for our group to understand personnel and tendencies,” Moren said. “We have a good idea of how we’re going to guard each of them individually. So even with the short turnaround, we feel we have a good gauge of what we’re going to face Friday.”
