Sophomore guard Alexis Gassion entered the 2014-15 season one of the most experienced players on a young IU team.
As a freshman, she started 32 of 34 games. She was IU’s second leading scorer with 8.8 points per game — averaging 9.3 through the conference season — and was second in rebounds with 5.5 per game.
But when IU Coach Teri Moren replaced Curt Miller as the head women’s basketball coach in August, Gassion had to reprove herself.
It didn’t happen right away.
“She was a kid when we first arrived that we just kept waiting and waiting and waiting for that athleticism to emerge,” Moren said.
So instead of picking up where she left off last season, Gassion came off the bench for the Hoosiers for the first 15 games. Freshman Tyra Buss took the third guard position in the starting lineup, along with sophomores Larryn Brooks and Taylor Agler, the only two players to start in every game during the 2013-14 season.
That starting lineup shifted for the first time Jan. 11. In the days before IU’s game against Wisconsin, Brooks fell ill and Agler tweaked her ankle in practice.
Gassion was inserted into the lineup in Agler’s place. In a 69-52 win over the Badgers, Moren finally saw the player she and her coaching staff had been waiting for.
While the rest of the starting lineup returned to normal with Brooks playing the point, Gassion kept her place.
“I’m really glad that she’s stepped up to the challenge,” Moren said. “She’s just been terrific for us.”
Through her first four games as a starter, Gassion averaged 13 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. That included back-to-back 18-point, 9-rebound games. Every chance she got, Moren spoke about how important Gassion had become to her team.
And when asked if Gassion would remain in the starting lineup, she didn’t hesitate.
“Oh yeah, without question,” Moren said. “Lex is playing with a lot of confidence right now. Her ability to be able to shoot, to be around the basket, to rebound, is really critical to our success — a piece like that.”
As a bench player, Gassion had to adjust to a different role than she’d had at any point since coming to IU. Rather than being counted on to score, she had to defend.
The coaches often counted on her to stop the opponent’s best player, asking her to guard the best guy on the practice squad. They counted on her to get rebounds. With a thin frontcourt, they counted on her to play two positions. She wasn’t just a guard now. She was expected to sometimes play the four, which meant learning to play two or more spots on either side of the court.
Gassion said it took some adjusting to, but she’s getting used to it.
“They need me as a four because I’m one of our bigger guards and we don’t have a lot of backup posts,” Gassion said. “But then they also need me as a three because of my height, and I can attack.”
Over and over, Moren has called her 5-foot-10 sophomore “versatile.” She uses Gassion to create matchup problems for the defense.
“She can go on the low block, she has range, she has the skills of a guard,” Moren said. “That puts a lot of pressure on the fours in our league that have to guard her.”
But Gassion isn’t taking either role too seriously. Whether she’s starting the game on the bench or on the court, she treats her preparation the same.
She’s spent more time than ever this season working to evolve her defensive game.
Just because she’s back where she was a year ago, though, she’s not settling.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” she said.
