After an October filled with preseason accolades and high expectations, IU will see its first game action this Sunday when University of Indianapolis comes to Bloomington for an exhibition contest.
It will be IU’s first competitive game in the renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. The Division II Greyhounds finished 10-20 last season and two years ago lost an exhibition game to IU at Assembly Hall 88-49.
All five IU starters return from a season ago, so this year’s exhibition won’t be so much an adjustment period as an opportunity to test how fresh the team is.
Throughout the preseason, IU Coach Teri Moren has repeatedly stressed the need for IU to focus on the future rather than the past. Moren’s squad won its first NCAA tournament game in 33 years last season and is ranked No. 23 in the country in the AP preseason poll. IU was selected to finish third in the Big Ten by the coaches and media.
Moren said the heightened focus on her team can be beneficial.
“All of a sudden now we’re in uncharted territory because now we have expectations placed on us, but there’s not a true competitor that I know that wouldn’t want expectations placed on them,” Moren said.
Indianapolis and its first-year head coach, Kristin Drabyn, return four starters and their second- and third-leading scorers from a squad last year that finished ninth in the 16-team Great Lakes Valley Conference. Senior forward Nicole Anderson, 13.7 ppg, and junior guard Sarah Costello, 10.4 ppg, will anchor the team.
The Greyhounds were selected to finish fifth by coaches in their eight-team division of the GLVC. Seven letter winners from last year’s team return, along with the addition of five freshmen.
Expect IU’s new faces to see plenty of action Sunday to get their first taste of collegiate basketball in a more relaxed game setting.
Freshmen forwards Darby Foresman and Bre Wickware and freshman guard Ria Gulley have all been impressive, Moren said. The third-year coach even went so far as to say Gulley is the most athletic player on IU’s roster. Junior forward Amanda Cahill said the young players have adapted to IU’s system smoothly.
“Things are definitely coming together. We still have things we need to continue to work on, but all the new people are really coming to the system well,” Cahill said. “Darby’s a really hard worker, and I think she’s eager to learn and try her best, so I’m thinking she’s going to have a good year.”
Moren said the team’s four returning seniors, in addition to Cahill and junior guard Tyra Buss, have been able to bring the freshmen along and coach them up on their own. Moren stressed the importance of turning the team into a player-driven program rather than the coach-driven atmosphere that marked her first two seasons in Bloomington.
Although results won’t matter much, if at all, Sunday, the play on the court will tell Moren a lot about what kind of growth IU can have this season. She hasn’t been shy about declaring that the goal for this season is to advance further in the NCAA tournament.
“We are just taking it one day at a time and one play at a time, but we’re a lot different now than we were a year ago in terms of the experience,” Moren said. “We’re excited about the start of the season.”
