IU Coach Teri Moren said she won’t let one game define the season for her IU women’s basketball team.
Despite a 69-57 loss to Villanova in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals March 26, Moren remained relatively upbeat after the game and was eager to reflect on the season as much as the loss.
IU trailed throughout, but with 4,770 fans in attendance at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, each run that cut into Villanova’s lead got the fans fired up. Moren said she thinks her squad’s run to the quarterfinals has introduced many Hoosier fans to the women’s basketball team.
“We’re sorry that we couldn’t allow this run to go another few weeks but really, really grateful for the support,” Moren said.
A scorching start to the game had Villanova up early, while IU had to fight to keep the game close. The Wildcats made seven 3-pointers in the first quarter, but 56.3-percent shooting from the Hoosiers kept the score at 25-21.
From the second quarter on, IU struggled to hit shots, however. IU entered halftime trailing 41-30. In the Hoosiers’ fourth WNIT game in 11 days, their shots fell flat, and the team finished the game with just a 38.1-percent shooting performance.
Moren said there wasn’t really one thing in particular that limited her team’s offense. She said the Hoosiers knew the Wildcats would present a challenge defensively, but added that she was generally happy with the looks IU was able to get throughout the game. The shots just didn’t fall, she said.
“I don’t think that had anything to do with Villanova,” Moren said. “It just, to me, offensively wasn’t our day. That’s what’s so disappointing because, I thought in the second half we had an opportunity there to climb back in it.”
Senior guard Amber Deane, who transferred from Dayton after graduating early last year, stepped up to lead IU’s second-half charge in her best performance of the season. She scored a season-high 12 points, including 10 in the second half.
She started the second half on the court and played the first seven minutes of the third quarter. In the fourth, she remained a contributor for the Hoosiers and hit a 3-pointer with five minutes remaining to cut the Wildcats’ lead to six. Deane said every one of her teammates and coaches were encouraging her throughout the game.
“I think that’s honestly why some of those shots were able to go in,” Deane said. “The faith from my teammates, the faith from my coaches, and I just rode that as much as I could. I wish I could have hit more shots. I wish I could have done more, honestly.”
With just under three minutes remaining, junior guard Tyra Buss, who scored a game-high 21 points, hit a shot to cut Villanova’s lead to 56-52. But a subsequent free throw parade for the Wildcats only extended the lead from there. By the time the game had reached its final minute, it was all but over.
The only three fourth-year seniors on the IU women’s basketball team walked off the court with 14 seconds remaining.
Tears ran down the face of guard Karlee McBride as center Jenn Anderson and guard Alexis Gassion joined her in a procession of hugs with each coach and member of the Hoosier bench.
The veteran group is the winningest senior class in the history of IU women’s basketball with 80 victories. Moren didn’t recruit Gassion, McBride or Anderson to Bloomington, but she got them to stay when she took over the program for the 2014-15 season. For that, Moren is thankful, she said.
“Really grateful for the opportunity that we got to coach those guys,” Moren said. “We’re trending in the right direction. We’re building something really special here, but it had to start with a group of young ladies, a group of seniors.”
