A new season is not fully on the horizon but is slowly approaching. With every new season comes new expectations.
Indiana women’s basketball has to replace 45% of its offensive production this season following the departure of Mackenzie Holmes, the all-time leading scorer in Indiana women’s basketball history.
Holmes scored 2,365 points over her five-year career: big shoes for the next starting center to step into.
All eyes point to junior forward Lilly Meister being the starting center. The Rochester, Minnesota, native got her first crack at an expanded role Wednesday during Indiana’s first and only exhibition game of its season.
Meister finished with 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field –– 12 of those points came in the first half.
Meister’s first two seasons in Bloomington were not total afterthoughts. Averaging 6.5 minutes per game as a freshman and 10.6 as a sophomore, Meister played 17 minutes on Wednesday.
In comparison, Holmes averaged 30 minutes per game as a first-year starter and 28 in her final season.
Wednesday, Meister did it all — except shoot the 3-pointer — driving, cutting, screening, rolling, shooting and making those shots.
Many Hoosier fans thought this jump was uncharted territory. Especially with the addition of the University of Tennessee transfer senior forward Karoline Striplin.
But head coach Teri Moren and assistant coach Rhet Wierzba went to work with Meister.
The staff and Meister will try to get the quickness, effectiveness and consistency that worked so well with Holmes for five incredible seasons.
But Moren said it herself, that task will not come to fruition.
“That’s the biggest question: How we are going to replace Mackenzie Holmes?” Moren said postgame. “And the answer to that is that you’re not.”
Forget Meister being Holmes. But before she can even be the best version of herself, that rock-solid confidence needs to be locked in. The coaching staff are the catalysts for this change and Meister credits the jump start to her fully maximized confidence in them.
“They see me at my worst, basketball-wise, and if they can have that much confidence in me still, there’s no reason I can’t myself,” Meister said. “And I think it’s just me teaching myself that.”
Meister’s apex at this unlocked potential is the most lethal domino to fall for Indiana, and more importantly, its opponents. Meister won’t be Holmes exactly, but she can still be this team's spark. The spark to a much-needed run in a conference game or one that boosts an already excelling team to new heights.
A lot will need to happen if Meister wants to recover the lost ground from Holmes’ departure. But if she does the strengths, the Hoosiers could remain put.
There is so much time left to play out, the season hasn’t even started yet, but this is why you have exhibitions like this. To gain expectations and feel things out. Situations like Meister’s need moments like this, and it was a massive success.
“She deserves this moment to have a night where she can shine,” Moren said. “She needs to stay steady for us. I don’t want her to feel like she needs to be anybody but Lilly.”
While some may place heavy expectations for Meister to jump and fit firmly into Holmes’ shoes, that will not happen. She is her own player.
It will be the biggest talking point among the returnees this 2024-25 Indiana squad. Along with Meister, what will the development of Striplin look like? Could we see the two bigs on the floor at the same time?
The Hoosiers will kick off their regular season at 7 p.m., Nov. 4, when they take on Brown University at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The game will stream on Big Ten +.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
