On Thursday, 10,287 fans left Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, shocked. Game two for Indiana women’s basketball raised some much-needed questions ahead of the bulk of its 2024-25 season.
The team that suffered the 72-68 loss to Harvard University just simply doesn’t look like a team that Indiana head coach Teri Moren has led into battle.
Committing 27 turnovers, allowing 32 points off them and, most of all, going 3-18 on 3-point attempts?
Plus, what won’t show up on the stat sheet, but on film: allowing and missing offensive rebounds, late close-outs and the reasoning for the 27 turnovers, including horrible awareness and errors on inbounds plays.
Indiana is in need of a reality check.
Harvard is likely to be the lone bid from the Ivy League come March, providing further proof Indiana picked the wrong night to be lazy.
Even with all the poor play plaguing Indiana, it responded, which was one of the lone positives Moren relayed postgame. The Hoosiers came back from a deficit as large as 16 and a quarter where it had more turnovers than points. Hoosiers accounted for eight turnovers and seven points in the first quarter.
But when Indiana needed buckets, there was just not enough consistency. There were scoring runs, but when the deficits were smaller, the runs were short-lived.
It’s Nov. 7, so there is still time before needing to hit the panic button. Plus, we know what questions Indiana needs to be asking themselves, as early as its next film session.
Addressing the carelessness and lack of readiness when facing a press is top priority. Moren noted the team can play against a press; Kevin McGuff’s Ohio State Buckeyes have shown the Hoosiers that threat during his 12 years in Columbus, Ohio.
Thankfully, the Hoosiers faced the press in game two and not during a game in March.
With the team's proven track record of superb 3-point shooting, Indiana should not be shooting 16.7% from behind the line. The Hoosiers just can’t bury 3-pointers at this point in time.
Junior guard Shay Ciezki has yet to make a 3-pointer, as she is 0 for 6 on them through two games. Ciezki is on this roster to add that third level of scoring after losing Sara Scalia.
Fifth-year senior guard Sydney Parrish was not just 0 for 4 from three but also 1-of-7 from the field. In a victorious effort, this would be brushed off due to the 40 combined points from junior forwards Lilly Meister and Yarden Garzon. But with the sky-high expectations for Parrish, it’s simply not enough to win consistently.
Fifth-year senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil has had two very different games through the eight quarters she’s played. Monday against Brown, she was 1-of-2 from the field with two points in the 22-point victory. Thursday, Moore-McNeil was 2-of-9 and 0-of-2 from deep.
Simply, Indiana needs this consistent shot making. Thankfully for the Hoosiers, it’s all coachable.
Opponents can succeed when playing their own style, such as the press that Harvard played to perfection. Competition will always succeed when you make mistakes, that’s true in any sport. When you don’t rebound effectively and have careless awareness, you will get bit. It is all mental.
What the coaching staff can work on with these players is getting caught on defensive switches, getting caught and not communicating when closing out. If those things get fixed, Indiana will prevent many open shots.
Indiana has six days to prepare for its next matchup with intrastate opponent Butler University at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
