The road has been very familiar this season for the IU women’s basketball team.
IU Coach Teri Moren scheduled a stretch of non-conference games that saw her Hoosiers play five out of six games on the road. Three of the five road games were consecutive. The Hoosiers had their struggles but came out of that stretch having learned a lot about themselves.
The Hoosiers will face another road test Tuesday when they travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to face the Michigan Wolverines at the Crisler Center.
“I feel like we have a great game plan,” Moren said. “We just have to execute it once we get over there. I think our kids are excited to get back out on the floor although they appreciated the time off. We still went hard and were competitive in practice.”
There was a reason why Moren decided to play all of those road games. With the amount of underclassmen on this team, she wanted to get them experience playing on the road. Thus far in conference play, the road hasn’t too hard on IU, which has a 5-3 record away from Assembly Hall. That competition will ramp up, however, as the season progresses.
The Hoosiers have played two of their three games at home to start the Big Ten slate. In the lone road game at Penn State, the Hoosiers mostly dominated throughout the game and picked up a win.
“I think they’re pretty confident,” Moren said of her team playing on the road. “I think — our non-conference schedule, we were away from Assembly Hall quite a bit. Then to go on the road our first game against Penn State and play well was big for this group.”
Michigan comes in to Tuesday’s matchup with a 2-1 conference record, the same as IU. Both teams have dropped a conference game to Ohio State. Another common opponent between the two is Oakland, which both teams handled easily.
Much like IU, Michigan has had success on its home court. The Wolverines are undefeated at home. Overall, Michigan comes in with a 13-4 record. Junior guard Katelynn Flaherty, who has averaged 19.1 points per game, has led Michigan. She is one of three Wolverines to average double figures in scorin, but Flaherty is the central figure of the Michigan offense.
“Containing their 3-point shot, especially Flaherty,” IU junior guard Tyra Buss said about Michigan. “She has a pretty quick release, and she’ll shoot it anytime, anywhere, whenever she feels like she’s open. Senior guard Alexis Gassion is going to do a good job of locking her down, and our team will help with her.”
Much like the Minnesota game Wednesday, Tuesday’s game at Michigan could be seen as a measuring-stick game for IU. The Hoosiers needed to get back on track Wednesday, and they did.
After a six-day break, the Hoosiers will be refreshed but could also be trying to get some of the rust off early on. IU was picked to finish higher in the Big Ten than Michigan, so the Hoosiers feels confident they can go on the road and get wins against anyone.
“I think just last year, knowing that we can go into other team’s home courts and steal a road win, I think we have that confidence that we can go in and play with anybody,” Buss said.
