Four-straight double-digit wins, back-to-back road wins and a 10-1 record.
Those will be the selling points for the IU women’s basketball team as they closed out the non-conference schedule with an 88-61 road victory over Oakland (5-5) on Saturday.
After the holiday break, the Hoosiers will begin Big Ten play against Rutgers on Dec. 28 and that has to make one wonder if this non-conference schedule prepared them for the coming months.
After 11 games of learning how to play together, this young IU team ended that stretch playing some of its best basketball.
Twenty-five of IU’s 36 baskets came off assists, and the Hoosiers shot 55 percent from the field as well as 46 percent from deep. The ball moved around quickly, and the players seemed to know where their teammates would be.
The issue is that it becomes difficult to appreciate the production of this team when recognizing that the Hoosiers have played an underwhelming slate of non-conference opponents.
The combined record of their opponents is 51-63. That is a winning percentage of 44.7 percent. They have played only three winning teams and only Indiana State (8-1) had a record better than 60 percent.
"That doesn't matter,” IU Assistant Coach Curtis Loyd said about the schedule. “We are trying to get better game by game by game, and I think we've done that."
IU’s next two opponents are Rutgers (8-2) and Michigan State (7-2). Not only do these teams have better records than most of IU’s past opponents, but also they have played against much tougher teams.
Rutgers tested themselves against teams like LSU, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. Michigan State has faced off with top ranked programs such as Notre Dame and Georgia.
IU can boast the fact that they have scored 84.6 points per game heading into Saturday, but none of those opponents had the size or physicality that they will face in Big Ten. IU Coach Teri Moren has referred to the Big Ten as a "different beast."
It is not just that these schools will have more size, which they will; it is the quality of size.
For example, IU’s only player listed at 6-foot-3 is sophomore center Jenn Anderson. She is only averaging 4.2 rebounds per game.
Rutgers senior forward Betnijah Laney is listed at 6-foot and averages 15.2 points per game and 12.8 rebounds. They have more size, depth and also get more inside production from their bigger players.
Saturday’s win perfectly summed up how IU has played. They took 26 3-pointers and they never had much trouble driving the ball inside. The team was clicking on all cylinders for the way they like to play.
Time will tell if better opponents will alter the way IU plays or halt their success in certain areas. The Hoosiers currently have a plus 6.6 rebounding margin, but Moren consistently stresses that they need to improve in this area or else they will struggle in the Big Ten.
The answer will be available when IU hosts Rutgers at Assembly Hall on Dec. 28.
"Let's go. I want that place filled up," Lloyd said.
