Just seconds after tipoff in Indiana women’s basketball’s final nonconference game against Western Carolina University, the Hoosiers made it clear they were going to be dominant in the contest.
After the Catamounts won the jump, Indiana freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey forced a turnover from Western Carolina just 22 seconds into the contest. Then, junior forward Edessa Noyan used the steal to record the Hoosiers’ first points of the game nearly 20 seconds later.
The quick steal and score were telling of the first half to come for Indiana. The Hoosiers held a 40-13 advantage over the Catamounts at halftime, which they were able to turn into a 71-44 win Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Indiana was better in nearly every statistical category in the first half. It shot 54% from the field compared to Western Carolina’s 21%. The Hoosiers outrebounded the Catamounts 18-13. They had seven assists to Western Carolina’s four.
Defensively, Indiana held Western Carolina to just eight points in the first quarter and five points in the second. The Catamounts racked up 13 turnovers, five of which were steals from the Hoosiers.
The combination of the Hoosiers’ potent offense and defense gave them a lead the Catamounts could not overcome, despite Western Carolina’s improved performance in the second half.
However, while the win over the Catamounts was relatively mistake-free for the Hoosiers, there are still areas Indiana will need to clean up as it heads into the rest of its Big Ten slate, especially in the rebounding and free throw categories.
After outrebounding the Catamounts in the first half, the second half was a different story for the Hoosiers on the boards. They allowed Western Carolina to record 21 rebounds — eight of which were offensive — to their 12.
Rebounding has been a stumbling block for Indiana all season. The Hoosiers have averaged just 34.2 rebounds per game this season and had just 30 total rebounds against the Catamounts.
Moren and redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont both recognized that getting outrebounded won’t bode well for the Hoosiers come Big Ten play, which starts against Minnesota on Dec. 29 in Bloomington.
“Rebounding is more heart, toughness, determination, than it is anything else,” Moren said postgame. “We have to continue to emphasize it but we have to continue to demand it, at some point they’re going to have to take pride in doing it. Because if they don’t that’ll be one of the reasons why we’ll have a hard time having any level of success.”
While both Moren and Beaumont said it’s an area Indiana has worked on “every single day” in practice, the fruits of the Hoosiers’ work have not yet shown on the court, which Moren said needs fixed quickly. She said it can’t take a couple games for the Hoosiers to warm up to Big Ten opponents and their rebounding abilities; they have to be ready when they step on the court against Minnesota.
The Hoosiers' performance from the free-throw line was another area of struggle against the Catamounts. They went just 13 for 23 from the charity stripe, which marked Indiana’s worst performance of the season.
“There's definitely going to be some punishment along with the missed free throws in practice. If we miss free throws, we run,” Beaumont said. “I think we’re all very aware, but most wins in the Big Ten might be single-digit wins so for us to miss, I think it was 10 free throws, yeah, that’s unacceptable and that might cost us a game down the line.”
Moren echoed Beaumont, calling the poor effort from the free-throw line “downright just unacceptable.”
So, as the Hoosiers look toward a gauntlet of Big Ten games as they resume their conference schedule, they have glaring areas they’ll need to clean up. After their contest against Minnesota, Indiana plays six straight games against opponents ranked in the Associated Press’ top 25 poll.
“Do I think we have grown? There is no question we have. Because trust me, we’ve worked too hard not to see some growth,” Moren said. “Do we need to see a lot more? Yeah, we need to see a lot more, especially when we start back and the Big Ten starts here with Minnesota.”
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Max Schneider (maxschn@iu.edu) and columnist Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
