After a bounce-back victory over the University of Maine on Sunday, Indiana women’s basketball is set to host the University of Southern Indiana on Wednesday. The contest will mark the first meeting between the Hoosiers and the Screaming Eagles in program history.
Against Maine, Indiana put together its best shooting performance of the season as it shot 52.6% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. But overall, the Hoosiers have been hot and cold this season when it comes to scoring. Their season-best came just after the Hoosiers shot 29.1% from the field and made just four of their 26 3-point attempts against the University of North Carolina on Nov. 25 in the Battle 4 Atlantis Championship.
“I feel like I speak for everybody, it’s very challenging to consistently keep your head up when you do have poor shooting nights or you do get 30-pieced,” graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil said after the win over Maine. “But I think the main thing is just staying connected and realizing we’re in this together.”
Head coach Teri Moren is not going to change the Hoosiers’ plan because of the up and down shooting.
“I just think the best recipe for us is to stay the course of what we’re doing and making sure that our kids continue to get in before and after, they’re working on their shots, they’re getting shots up outside of required time, which has been part of what we do around here and the lifestyle,” Moren said. “Then you just keep plugging away and try to continue to give them confidence that the next one’s going to go in.”
Wednesday’s game against Southern Indiana will be an opportunity for Indiana to find some scoring consistency before its first Big Ten game against Penn State at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania.
The Screaming Eagles enter the matchup riding a six-game win streak and sitting at 7-1 on the season –– their only loss coming to then-No. 17 University of Louisville. Most recently, Southern Indiana swept its two games in the Puerto Rico Clasico against Youngstown State University on Nov. 29 and Le Moyne College on Nov. 30.
Southern Indiana has put together dominant performances this season as it currently has a 20-point average margin of victory over its opponents.
Junior guard Ali Saunders leads Southern Indiana with 13.4 points, 4.6 assists and three steals per game. She recorded a season-high 18 points in the Screaming Eagles’ season opener against Brescia University on Nov. 4.
The matchup between the Hoosiers and the Screaming Eagles is set to tip off at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Simon Skojdt Assembly Hall and 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.
