It’s a game she took from one of IU Coach Tom Crean’s practices. It forces her players to be defensive-minded.
In the final minutes Thursday night against Northwestern, instead of IU getting three stops, the Wildcats scored on three consecutive possessions during a stretch where the Hoosiers went scoreless.
Northwestern closed the game on a 18-10 run in an eventual 75-69 win at Assembly Hall. IU is now 0-4 in games decided by six points or less this season.
Moren is waiting to see the progress from practice transfer to games.
“I think at one point Northwestern had scored five straight times down the floor,” Moren said. “Somebody out there has to recognize that it’s been a long time since we got a stop. Dig your heels in and make sure that happens.”
The Hoosiers opened the game shooting 5-of-10 from the field, with an 11-3 advantage on the boards.
But midway through the first half, the IU offense was stalled by turnovers, which totaled 11 by halftime. Sophomore Karlee McBride, who had 15 points, said it was a matter of speeding up to ?Northwestern’s pace.
McBride credited Wildcat guard Ashley Deary for pressuring them and forcing the Hoosiers to rush possessions offensively, rather than controlling the tempo of ?the game.
“It was just silly mistakes,” sophomore guard Alexis Gassion said. “We kept turning the ball over, and at some points we couldn’t even get ?a score.”
Many times throughout the night, the shot clock was under five seconds before IU finally forced a shot up. With Northwestern frequently switching defenses, Moren said it was taking her team too long to recognize what they were facing and how ?to adjust.
“When Cahill is above the block with a 5-foot kid on her, take advantage of it,” Moren said. “That has to be me, I guess, doing a better job of teaching them ?the game.”
In the second half, IU put more of an emphasis on driving to the basket and getting to the free-throw line. McBride said that was her strategy in the final minutes. Freshman guard Tyra Buss did the same, finishing 5-of-7 from the free-throw line and with a team-high ?17 points.
But there was also a lot of pressure put on those guards to score, Moren said, because of her forwards getting in foul trouble.
Jenn Anderson picked up two fouls early on and sat out for a good portion of the first half. She and Amanda Cahill each had four fouls during the last five minutes of ?the game.
“That kills us,” Moren said. “Cahill is our energy player, and Jenn is the only five that we’ve got. We didn’t get enough post touches because Anderson was over sitting next to me.”
Four Northwestern players scored in double digits, led by Maggie Lyon who had 16. Nia Coffey finished the game with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Moren said on a night when the Wildcats weren’t at their best, more than anything she was disappointed in her team not taking advantage of an opportunity.
The Hoosiers drop to 3-8 in conference play, with their next game Sunday at Ohio State.
“I’ll take the blame because the preparation obviously was not good enough defensively,” Moren said. “We’re still in search of somebody who’s going to really take the reigns of ?this team.”
