The IU women’s basketball team has picked up wins in each of its first two games this season, but the wins have come in different styles for IU.
In the first game of the season, the Hoosiers defeated Arkansas State 93-51. IU shot 52 percent from the field and 42 percent from the three.
In the second game of the season, IU beat Southern University 64-49, where the Hoosiers only shot 41 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc.
However, those percentages weren’t the biggest difference for IU Coach Teri Moren.
Against Arkansas State, the team shot 76 percent from the free-throw line, Moren said wants them to be around 75 each game. They also had 14 turnovers, which she said wants to be around 10 or fewer.
In the game versus Southern, the Hoosiers shot just 57 percent from the line and turned the ball over 23 times.
“Since day one, we’ve been talking about valuing the ball,” senior guard Tyra Buss said. “We were forcing passes that weren’t there, and we didn’t fake a pass to make a pass. It goes back to fundamentals of just taking care of the ball.”
The Hoosiers will have to take care of the ball Friday night when they play Western Kentucky, a team which likes to go for the steal, at 7 p.m. at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Lady Toppers have played three games this year and are 1-2. They had 12 steals against Missouri, 10 against Iowa and nine against Notre Dame.
IU has been working on taking care of the ball all season and Moren said it’s important to do if they want to win games.
Western Kentucky senior forward Tashia Brown will be the focus defensively for the Hoosiers. Brown dropped 30 points on Missouri, 16 against the Hawkeyes and 25 versus Notre Dame, giving her an average of 23.7.
Brown stands at six-feet, one-inch. IU will counter with senior forward Amanda Cahill and junior forward Kim Royster, who both stand at six-feet, two-inches.
Cahill and Royster are both averaging a double-double through the first two games.
“In practice, we’ve been harping on rebounding,” Royster said. “We’ve been getting outrebounded at the beginning of games, so we are just trying to crash the glass and get our team extra possessions.”
Any extra possession for Buss is something any team would want to avoid. The senior guard is averaging 25.5 points per game to go along with eight assists per game as well.
As the stats say, the upperclassmen are getting it done. The freshmen are also contributing to the team, guards Jaelynn Penn, Bendu Yeaney and Keyanna Warthen are all averaging 20 minutes per game or more.
IU will look to put together another team effort for Western Kentucky to improve to 3-0.
“Every possession matters and everything you do matters,” Moren said. “You have to show up every night no matter who’s out there.”
