On the surface, Indiana women’s basketball is more experienced than Michigan.
The Hoosiers’ roster consists of mostly upperclassmen, with only one underclassman — sophomore guard Julianna LaMendola — consistently getting time on the floor. Their starting lineup is composed of two graduate students, one senior and two juniors.
The Wolverines, on the other hand, lack Indiana’s experience. They have three freshmen in their starting lineup — two of whom lead the team in scoring — along with two seniors.
So, when Indiana held a 7-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter in its contest with Michigan on Wednesday, its experience should have led the Hoosiers to victory.
Instead, the lead slowly dwindled.
The back-and-forth game continued in the final quarter, but a 7-0 run from Michigan allowed it to take the lead — the final lead change between the two teams.
When the Hoosiers eventually fell 67-70 Wednesday at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Wolverines played like the more experienced team. They made stops on the defensive end and — perhaps most importantly — protected the basketball.
Two things that Indiana didn’t do in the final minutes of the game.
Indiana allowed Michigan to heat up offensively and failed to stop it from scoring. The Wolverines shot 71.4% from the field and went 4 for 5 from 3-point range in the final quarter.
Indiana head coach Teri Moren said the way Indiana lost track of Michigan freshman guard Syla Swords, allowing her to heat up in the final period, was “unacceptable,” as one of the Hoosiers defensive rules is to never leave the strong side.
But it’s not just straying from the strong side that Indiana has struggled with fundamentally, as turnovers were once again a problem.
The Hoosiers tallied three turnovers in the fourth quarter alone, two of which came in the final three and a half minutes of the contest, just as the Wolverines began to assert themselves. The two lost possessions could have been the determining factor of Wednesday’s game.
“I think they understand it; we rep it every day,” Moren said postgame of her team’s principles. “I don’t know why it’s not sticking.”
The veteran players on Indiana's roster should lead the way when games get tough down the stretch. However, the Hoosiers haven’t found a way to play their experience to their advantage consistently this season.
Indiana has lost multiple games due to collapses down the stretch this season, like its loss to Oregon on Jan. 24, and its veteran qualities have not shown as the season moves forward.
“The game’s not perfect, we’re not going to play perfect,” Moren said. “But when you put yourself in a position to win a game, you can’t let those types of mistakes happen.”
And even with a team this experienced this far into the season, Moren still doesn’t know what to do differently to get her squad on the right track.
As the coaching staff tries to figure out what they could do better, Moren said it usually comes down to intensity — how to push her squads’ proverbial buttons and be hard on them without making them feel defeated at the end of the day.
“We got to make sure we continue to teach them, and they improve,” Moren said. “Hopefully, they see their mistakes, they learn their lessons, but also make sure that we’re pouring into them, but they also need to pour into each other.”
But Moren and the Hoosiers are running out of time to find that balance, which shouldn’t be a problem for a team with years of college basketball under their belts.
With just five games left in the regular season and an NCAA Tournament berth on the line, Indiana will have to find a way to use its experience as a strength especially against teams like Michigan, which lack the same amount of veteran experience.
Indiana will now turn its attention to Purdue before it takes on three straight ranked opponents. The contest between the Hoosiers (15-9, 7-6 Big Ten) and the Boilermakers (8-15, 1-11 Big Ten) is set to tipoff at noon Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
