Now on a two-game winning streak, Indiana women’s basketball returns to the hardwood against Rutgers at 6 p.m. Thursday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Hoosiers (14-7, 6-4 Big Ten) are coming off a 16-point victory over Nebraska on Sunday in which they led for nearly 37 minutes. The Scarlet Knights, however, enter Thursday’s matchup having lost nine of their last 10 games.
But Indiana head coach Teri Moren feels Rutgers could pose issues for her squad.
“They’ve gotten better as the season has gone on,” Moren said during the Inside Indiana Basketball radio show Monday. “This is a team that is well-coached and is, in my opinion, could be very dangerous.”
The Scarlet Knights are led by freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller, who averages 19 points and 3.1 assists per game. In their 4-point loss to Illinois on Jan. 30, McMiller scored 22 points while also securing seven rebounds.
The 5-foot-8 McMiller is shooting 41.5% from the field and 33.6% from 3-point range. Although the Scarlet Knights have largely struggled from downtown in terms of their 29.3% clip, graduate student forward JoJo Lacey and McMiller are two exceptions.
McMiller is 13th in the country — behind players such as USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins — in field goal attempts, averaging 18.5 shots per game.
“She’s going to come across the timeline; there’s no bad shot for her,” Moren said. “And so, you’re going to see her take a lot of shots.”
Throughout the past few seasons, Indiana graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil has earned the assignment of guarding the opposing squad’s best offensive player. Thursday will be no exception.
“Anytime you have a player, like the freshman that, again, has never seen a shot she doesn’t like, she can heat up real fast,” Moren said. “That could be a problem.
Moren explained junior guards Lexus Bargesser and Shay Ciezki will each also guard McMiller at times Thursday.
While McMiller leads the Scarlet Knights’ offense, senior guard Destiny Adams isn’t far behind. The 6-foot-3 Adams averages 17.5 points per game and leads the starters in field goal percentage at 42.9%.
However, Moren knows the Hoosiers can’t set their sights on just the two that lead the Scarlet Knights.
“It’s always interesting when you think about those two kids, but you forget about those other three and some of those kids that come off the bench too,” Moren said. “There has to be players that play their roles as well. And so, you can’t get caught up in just the two of them.”
Although Moren understands the challenges that Rutgers may present Thursday, the Hoosiers have a 94.4% winning probability, according to ESPN Analytics.
After Thursday’s matchup, Indiana heads into a rather challenging seven-game stretch to end the season. Five of the Hoosiers’ final seven games are slated to be Quad 1 matchups with two of those coming inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Cream and Crimson will depart Bloomington for a two-game road trip that includes matchups with Minnesota, ranked No. 29 in the NCAA NET rankings, on Sunday and Michigan on Feb. 12. The Wolverines currently sit at No. 27 in the NET rankings.
Before then, however, the Hoosiers have to protect their home court — something they have struggled to do this season. After going undefeated on Branch McCracken Court last season and losing just one game at home in the 2022-23 season, Indiana has lost four of its 12 games in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall this season.
Winning every game at home was one of the Hoosiers’ goals this season. Instead, they’ve had to adapt.
“Any time you have goals, and you don’t meet them, you got to readjust,” Moren said. “This week was to come back home after a long six days on the road and be back in the Hall, be back in front of our fans and win the next two. And so, we got half of the job done.”
The matchup between the Hoosiers and Scarlet Knights is set to tipoff at 6 p.m. Thursday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The matchup will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
