She saw it during timeouts. She saw it during ?halftime.
The Hoosiers had just given up a 5-point lead with two minutes to play.
In a situation where many players might’ve have pulled apart, Moren saw a togetherness from her team that she said didn’t exist up until that point in time.
“It was just different,” Moren said. “We just really pulled toward each other and were together in the moment.”
There were 38 minutes worth of positives for Moren to take away from a 65-61 loss.
But the Hoosiers took an in-depth look at the final two minutes in practice this week to prepare for tonight’s game against Penn State in University Park, Pa.
After finishing the 2013-14 season with a 24-8 record and NCAA Tournament appearance, the Nittany Lions remain winless in the Big Ten this season.
IU will be the under-sized team against nearly every opponent, but Penn State maybe more than any other.
“They’re huge,” Moren said.
Nittany Lions starting forward Tori Waldner stands at 6-foot-5. The other forward? 6-foot-6. Six players coming off the bench stand at 6 feet or taller.
The Hoosiers faced the same problem against Minnesota, having to guard Amanda Zahui B. and Shae Kelley, who were averaging a combined 32.9 points ?per game.
They kept Zahui B. to just 11 points. Moren said after the game that using Alexis Gassion to double-team her was especially ?effective.
After experimenting with a variety of defense through the beginning of the conference schedule, the Hoosiers reverted back to mostly man defense the last two games with ?success.
On Sunday, they only went to a zone defense with sophomore forward Jenn Anderson in the game.
Moren said they’ll continue to mix it up defensively but that Gassion’s versatility makes her team more effective in man-to-man when they’re out-sized.
Moren said despite not winning Sunday, it gave a lot of confidence to a young team knowing they had the ability to compete with the No. 23 team in the country.
Opening the game shooting 7-of-8 from the field helped, Moren said. It always does — even with aspects of the game not related to shooting.
IU might not always win the rebounding battle, but 16 offensive rebounds against the Gophers showed improvement. Moren credited her team’s shooting.
“I know that sounds weird, but when we hit shots, everything that we do is better, whether that’s defensively, whether we have more bounce, whether we get to loose balls quicker,” Moren said. “We have better ?communication.”
When the Hoosiers haven’t hit shots, it’s caused early-game deficits. It’s a reflection of a young team, Moren said, as was Sunday’s end-of-game ?situation.
IU went back in practice this week to simulate ?similar scenarios.
That includes the coaches doing a better job of helping and encouraging younger players in those situations for the first time, Moren said, beginning with Penn State ?tonight.
“There’s a lot of tradition in that program,” Moren said. “Right now they’re struggling. As I said to our crew after the Minnesota game, they’re going to get a Big Ten win. But it just can’t be against us.”
