IU suffered its first loss of the season on the back end of a two-game road trip Saturday, and dropped out of the AP Top-25 poll because of it.
For Coach Teri Moren and her team, nothing will get the team on track quicker than a quality performance against UMass Lowell at home on the day before Thanksgiving.
“After coming back from that tough loss at Western Kentucky, we talk about bounce-back ability, and we’re going to have to have that,” Moren said. “We’ve been working on a few different things defensively, so I’m eager to see some of the things we’ve been working on and how that can translate into our game plan.”
The Hoosiers (3-1) allowed a season-high 85 points to WKU in their upset loss this past weekend. UMass Lowell (0-4) presents the perfect opportunity for IU to recover and get rolling again, as the River Hawks have yet to hit the 60-point mark this season.
IU can find success if it forces turnovers early, as UMass Lowell averages 30 turnovers per game. The Hoosiers have been able to force about 15 turnovers per game from opponents so far this year.
Moren said keying in on forced turnovers will be a focus for her squad, but she stopped short of promising 30 turnovers for her team on Wednesday, saying IU’s style doesn’t quite match that of the River Hawks' previous opponents.
One of those previous opponents for UMass Lowell was Big Ten counterpart and No. 6 Maryland, who came out on top with a 100-44 victory over the River Hawks. The Terrapins forced 34 turnovers in that game.
“A lot of those teams were pressing them, and we’re not a pressing team, but certainly we want to be aggressive in the half court,” Moren said. “The one thing we didn’t do a good enough job of with Western Kentucky was guard not just their dribble handoffs, but their high ball screening action. And we’re going to see that tomorrow, which I’m excited about, because you want to see that we’ve kind of learned our lesson.”
Senior guard Nicole Hayner leads the River Hawks with 10 points per game on 44 percent shooting from three. Sophomore forward and Indiana native Katherine Smith controls the paint for UMass Lowell, leading the team with six rebounds per game while also dishing out 2.8 assists per game, good for second most on the team.
A duo of versatile guards lead the Hoosiers in scoring, with junior guard Tyra Buss averaging a team-high 18.3 points per game and senior guard Alexis Gassion tallying 14.8 points per contest. Gassion is just 18 points away from 1,000 for her career.
Outside of forcing turnovers IU's post players will have to stay out of foul trouble Wednesday, something they've struggled to do of late. Junior Amanda Cahill, sophomore Kym Royster and senior Jenn Anderson have combined for 21 fouls in the past two games, with Royster and Cahill each fouling out once.
Moren said the emphasis the past few days has been to keep it simple and remain focused on what areas need improvement. While the team practiced hard Tuesday, it spent Sunday and Monday addressing the little things and off-court preparation.
“We have to regroup anytime you come off a difficult defeat,” Moren said. “We had a great film session and team meeting yesterday; we just spent some really good time together as a team. It did give us a chance to regroup and be together, and talk about the things that we know moving forward that we have to improve and get better at.”
