IU's Miller to begin coaching career

They had plenty of homework this offseason. Now it’s time for their first test.

When the IU women’s basketball team takes the floor 7 p.m. today against Kentucky State in Assembly Hall, it will the mark the debut of IU Coach Curt Miller and his detailed ball-screen offense, albeit in an exhibition.

“I think it’s just being in a whole system and having 15 new people — it’s kind of test time,” senior center Sasha Chaplin said. “Just knowing that we’ve learned a lot of stuff, it’s time to see how we put it all together in a game-like setting.”

Miller has said the team will operate from an abbreviated playbook, and the team will take time to completely install the offense.

Either way, it won’t be a challenge to keep the team focused on playing Kentucky State and not looking ahead to the regular season opener Nov. 9 at Valparaiso.

“I think they’re scared to death that we have games coming up because we have so much more to do,” Miller said. “It’s not so much of trying to get them not to look ahead. I get them to calm down and not panic.”

Of course, the players aren’t the only ones who get pre-game nerves.

“For a team that I’ve never coached before, it’s a scary proposition that you’ve gotta make so many adjustments on the fly,” Miller said. “I’m excited at the fact that we don’t know exactly how this team is gonna play with only six returners in the first game of the year.

“It’d be fun to watch this team try to adjust as we learn more and more of Kentucky State throughout the game.”

The Hoosiers will lean on their two leading returning scorers in seniors Jasmine McGhee, at 12.6 points per game, and Aulani Sinclair, at 12.4 points per game, to help the team make those adjustments and stay collected.

They will also need a considerable contribution from freshman guard Nicole Bell, who is likely to make her first collegiate start Tuesday in place of sophomore guard Andrea Newbauer. Newbauer is still recovering from ankle surgery she had during the summer.

“It means a lot,” Bell said. “But I’m really just focused on the team and just going out and doing what we do and
executing.”

Sophomore guard Candyce Ussery backed Newbauer last season but was hampered early in the preseason by several injuries. She has practiced regularly only for the past couple of weeks, making Bell’s progress that much more important.

“I’m pleased with the progress of Nicole,” Miller said. “But it’s hard being a freshman point guard and not having someone to learn from out there, but she’s doing the best she can. I’m not sure where we would be without her because of the injuries to our point guard position.”

Ussery is available to play but expects to see limited minutes as she works to get back in game shape.

Bell will look to create looks for open teammates, particularly in the low post.

Kentucky State’s tallest player is 6-foot-1-inch sophomore center Brielle Newton, who averaged 4.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game last season. She will be matched up against the 6-foot-4-inch Chaplin.

The Hoosier frontcourt rotation also features centers 6-foot-3-inch junior Simone Deloach and 6-foot-6-inch sophomore Quaneisha McCurty and junior 6-foot-3-inch forward Linda Rubene.

While the Hoosiers have a distinct size advantage in the paint, Kentucky State boasts a veteran backcourt of senior guards Jasmine Davis (team-high 14.7 points per game) and Sharnita Lloyd (9.1 points per game off the bench).

“They have two legitimate small veteran guards that are both very, very talented,” Miller said. “They shoot it, they score, they know how to play.”

No matter the outcome of Tuesday’s exhibition, Miller will get the first opportunity to see how his team performs against someone other than itself.

“I go into tomorrow really not knowing who our top five are, so we’re gonna use this as a great teaching tool,” he said. “I’m not concerned about necessarily the score. I’m looking to see how we execute what we do and really using it as a teaching tool when it’s all done.

“It’d be fun to play somebody else. And it’d be fun to really evaluate the highs and lows of the scrimmage.”