IU Coach Teri Moren and Georgia Tech Coach MaChelle Joseph were college teammates at Purdue before Joseph joined Georgia Tech’s staff as an assistant coach from 2007-10.
Wednesday night’s inter-conference clash, however, is not about Moren, the second-year skipper said.
“It’s not a lot of fun,” Moren said. “MaChelle is a dear friend of mine, we vacation together and stay in touch. It’s never fun to have to play one of your friends. For me, it will be a bit of a miserable 40 minutes. When the ball goes up, all bets are off. It’s not about MaChelle and I — it’s about our teams.”
The Yellow Jackets will travel to Bloomington after playing in Mexico during the Thanksgiving holiday. While in Mexico, Georgia Tech fell to Northern Iowa before defeating High Point in a consolation game. Georgia Tech has a 5-2 record, with its only other defeat coming at the hands of in-state foe Georgia earlier in the season. A year ago, the Jackets qualified for the WNIT after completing a 19-15 season with a 7-9 mark in ACC play.
IU will return to Assembly Hall after a shaky performance in the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament. IU fell to Ohio University in the opening round after struggling offensively down the stretch before shooting a season-high 70.4 percent in a blowout win against Austin Peay.
“It feels good to be back,” Moren said. “We came off a road trip where we split, but I’m still a little bitter with how poorly we played against Ohio. I would like us to come in with the same mindset we did against Austin Peay.”
The Hoosiers will face the ACC’s leading scorer Wednesday in the Yellow Jackets’ 6-foot wing Aaliyah Whiteside.
Whiteside, a senior, has averaged 21.6 points and 6.7 rebounds through seven games this season.
Moren said 6-foot-3 junior center Jenn Anderson will replace 6-foot-1 senior forward Lyndsay Leikem in the starting lineup due to Georgia Tech’s size. The Yellow Jackets usually play four starters that are taller than six feet tall, one reason why they enter having the 20th-best rebounding margin in the country.
Along with Whiteside’s scoring and rebounding output, 6-foot senior forward Roddreka Rogers contributes 7.1 rebounds per game, and 6-foot-3 junior forward Katarina Vuckovic contributes 6.1 rebounds per game. The pair also combines for more than 20 points per game.
Sophomore guard Jess Walter, who is slowly being eased into Moren’s rotation after suffering a concussion before Hoosier Hysteria, said Georgia Tech plays with physicality and speed.
“Georgia Tech is a great team,” Walter said. “I think it’s kinda cool that coach used to coach there too. They like to play fast, physical. We’re prepared for their presses and traps. We’re going to have to box out and keep them off the glass.”
