It all started when Teri Moren hit the Quan.
Fans and students went crazy in the dimly-lit Assembly Hall while the IU coach danced back and forth at centercourt during Hoosier Hysteria with point guard transfer Tia Elbert.
Please watch your step ‘cause I’m feeling myself.
Throw a flag on the play. Man, somebody get the ref.
This was a fun team. It was going to be a special year for IU women’s basketball.
Now, four months later, the Hoosiers stand at 17-9 overall, 9-5 in Big Ten play and 12-0 at home. The team is also projected as a No. 9 seed by ESPN’s Chris Creme in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
But with all the story lines surrounding the team this season, and all the things that happened in the offseason, the coach gives the credit to team chemistry.
“Our chemistry is 100 percent different than it was a year ago,” Moren said. “That’s why you’ve seen this success.”
Moren, who is in her second season at IU after former IU Coach Curt Miller’s sudden departure, said having the summer to prepare and get to know the players as people helped after a 15-16 season.
Coming in at the end of August in 2014, Moren, her coaching staff and the players didn’t have the time to work and get to know each other. That’s an important part of the offseason, she said.
This year has been different.
It hasn't been easy, as two starters and two bench players in Larryn Brooks, Taylor Agler, Maura Muensterman and Liz Stratman, all transferred from the program in the same offseason after Moren's first season, but Moren said the team has grown tighter throughout it all.
“They enjoy being around each other, they enjoy playing with each other,” Moren said about this season’s team. “We talk a lot about really falling in love with each other’s success, and I think that’s what this group’s about.”
She said, to the players, it doesn’t matter who scores. It’s about winning.
It stems, Moren said, from team building. Through an inaugural team meeting that set the foundation for the team’s identity, a one-word activity to keep each other accountable and team gatherings at Moren’s house, the team has become a tight-knit group.
“We’ve spent intentional time together where it hasn’t really been about basketball,” Moren said. “It’s been about getting to know each other on a deeper level, not just as a player or just as a coach.”
Four IU women’s basketball alumnae sat in on practice Friday and noticed what Moren has been saying since October — this team has fun.
Whether it’s wishing each other a happy birthday on Twitter, laughing and joking at press conferences after games, there is an aura around the team that translates onto the court.
“We’ve finally been able to spend time together where it’s not in between the lines focusing on competition,” Moren said. “It’s been about getting to know Indiana better and getting to know your players. It’s about being with them and getting to know their values and who they are and who they’re parents are and who their brothers and sisters are.”
Even the fan base catches on. Following every game, fans of all ages walk directly onto the court and talk to the players, the biggest crowds gathering around sophomore guard Tyra Buss.
The team is finally finding success to parallel the men’s team, and fans are noticing.
“I laugh at some of the young kids,” Moren said. “It’s the same kids, and I have a feeling we have the same adults that are still hanging around trying to get Tyra Buss’ autograph.”
With that added chemistry, IU has defeated three top-25 teams, owns the program’s best Big Ten record through 14 games in 32 years and will play Minnesota on Thursday in Assembly Hall for a share of third place in the conference.
“The winning has helped, there’s no question,” Moren said. “They’ve pulled together even stronger. But sometimes it’s difficult to get 11 or 12 women in a room and everything be great, but they really enjoy playing together.”
