So she knew she was going to lose players to other schools with more rooted expectations and traditions, after the women’s basketball team finished 15-16 in her debut season.
“Sometimes when transition happens, transferring happens,” Moren said.
In the case of the starting small forward spot, the transition is junior Alexis Gassion, and the transfer is sophomore Taylor Agler.
Beginning the 2014-15 season at the three-spot, Agler started 15 games with Gassion as the backup. Agler hit 32 percent of her shots from the field and recorded just two rebounds per game.
But when Agler went down with an ankle injury in the middle of the season, Gassion took the starting spot and never gave it back. She started the rest of the Hoosiers’ 16 games and recorded the second-highest total rebounds with 189 on the team. She hit 45 percent of her shots, the third-best percentage on the team.
After losing her spot, Agler transferred to Texas Tech, and now Gassion is being called on more than ever before.
“There’s no question we want Lex to do more,” Moren said. “I’ve asked her to be more selfish in her shot selection. She has to score for us, and she knows that. I think she’s excited about that.”
Being named as one of the best all-around athletes on the team by Moren, Gassion led IU in conference play in rebounds (129), was second on the team in blocks (11) and three-point percentage (36.4) and only turned the ball over 25 times in 18 games.
As the most dynamic all-around scorer, Gassion had the fewest field goal attempts in the starting lineup during conference play, putting up nine fewer the sophomore forward Amanda Cahill, and the junior said she doesn’t know why.
All she knows, she said, is what Moren expects from her this year: selfishness.
“When I look at my teammates, I see that I kind of have to be a leader out there because they’re younger and they’re going to look up to me,” Gassion said. “So, in order for us to score, I know that I’m going to have to be selfish sometimes and have that scorer’s mentality when I have the ball.”
As the only upperclassmen in the expected starting lineup this season, Gassion said she sees herself moving from a role as a bench player at the beginning of last season to not only a starter and a leading scorer but a leader for the Hoosiers.
“I think in the last two years she’s been trying to figure out and navigate her role on this basketball team, and we’ve made it crystal clear for her that she’s a scorer,” Moren said. “We didn’t have summer access last year, so we’re really trying to take advantage of that this year. This is a group that really enjoys being around each other.”
During their summer practices, the Hoosiers worked on developing chemistry between the front and back courts, as well as pushing the pace of the game.
That involves moving the speedy sophomore point guard Tyra Buss to the distribution role and Gassion to the floor general role.
Gassion said she likes Buss running the floor because the point guard keeps her head up to look for outlets to pass the ball inside.
After a rule-change dropped the play clock to 30 seconds per possession, Moren decided to practice on a 24-second play clock to make the offense naturally run quicker than last season.
Gassion, who said she loves playing in transition, said she likes to play in a high-tempo offense because the post players can’t make it to the other end of the floor in time to contest her shots.
As a group, Moren said the team — as well as Gassion — is in a different place than it was a year ago.
“I think the intangible part, the chemistry part, is really important,” Moren said. “It’s something that we didn’t have the time in order to build our team. There’s no question that we have a group that’s motivated, ambitious, eager, hungry.”
