“In My Feelings” by Drake blasted through a speaker at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as IU women’s basketball wound down its first practice of the season.
The team that won its first ever WNIT title last season is now without its usual leaders in Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill, but it has not let its hopes leave with the duo.
With the regular season just over a month away and Hoosier Hysteria on Saturday, Coach Teri Moren along with select players met with the media to discuss what is ahead for the program.
Here are three takeaways:
Banner up
Phone lock screens and desktop wallpapers of IU fans frequently display the five men’s basketball championship banners in Assembly Hall, but a new banner will be going up Saturday.
After falling in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament, the team was not selected for the NCAA Tournament as played in the WNIT bracket. With six consecutive wins at home in the tournament, the Hoosiers captured success.
“It’s going to be a moment that we’re all going to cherish and remember for a long time,” Moren said. "This place is all about banners, right? We want to do our part to hang some women’s basketball banners up there.”
Hoosier Hysteria will also be the first time fans will gather to see the team since a record-high 13,007 came to the WNIT Championship game in March.
“Our hope is that we’ve gotten them to get on the women’s basketball train as far as coming out and supporting us,” Moren said. “We want fans to be in the seats. We want fans to not only come support us, but to watch good basketball."
WNIT title is a start
Buss and Cahill were able to be the main pieces of building a program that eventually brought home the WNIT title last season.
However, there is much more that the team is hoping to build now.
“It doesn’t matter what we’ve done in the past, all that matters is where we go from here,” Moren said. “They feel like there’s been a foundation that we’ve created here. The NIT was a great experience, and it’s something that we’ll always remember, but that’s not the goal.”
More said she hopes the team can make a push for the Big Ten title or compete and advance in the NCAA Tournament.
“Winning NIT championships, that’s not what we’re after,” Moren said. “Those are things that we can’t shy away from talking about. Those are the expectations for our program.”
Depth at guard
With Cahill and Buss gone, there is more than a culture leaving. The two averaged a combined 78 minutes per game and more than half of the team's scoring.
Big pieces for the team this season will include juniors Brenna Wise and Ali Patberg who redshirted last year.
“We feel like with Brenna Wise and Ali being on the bench last year, they’re going to give us some minutes,” Moren said. “I don’t think we’re going to have a depth problem as far as on the perimeter like a year ago.”
With Buss dominating playing time at the point guard position, numerous players will have to step in to fill her spot – particularly sophomore Keyanna Warthen and freshman Grace Berger.
“Tyra could play 40 minutes,” Moren said. “With Keyanna Warthen getting bigger and Grace Berger being an option, we feel really confident that we have enough guards to play a lot of bodies on the outside.”
