No Rest For IU Amid Postseason Push
2/24/2016 11:04:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - There isn't much time for rest over at the south end of Cook Hall.
The Indiana women's basketball team is halfway through a closing stretch that has the Hoosiers playing four games in 10 days. They'll be in Lincoln to play Nebraska Wednesday night before closing out the season at home against Penn State Saturday afternoon.
Could the Hoosiers (18-10, 10-6) use a break? No question, head coach Teri Moren said. But there's not much of an option when the postseason picture has Indiana fighting for an NCAA Tournament bid and a double-bye in next week's Big Ten Tournament.
"There's no doubt we're in a critical stretch," Moren said. "It's as exciting as it is tough."
Indiana is one win away from clinching a top-5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, but the rest of the conference tournament picture isn't nearly as clear.
IU is tied with Minnesota for fourth place in the conference standings but would take the No. 4 seed if the season ended today because the Hoosiers have a win against Michigan State, the highest ranked team ahead of fourth place that each have played.
If Minnesota were to win either of its remaining games against No. 5 Ohio State and No. 6 Maryland, the Golden Gophers would inherit the tiebreaker. That would force Indiana to win both of its remaining games against Nebraska and Penn State and hope Minnesota loses one of its remaining two.
Should Indiana lose its final two games, which would require suffering its first home loss of the season on senior night against the Lady Lions, the seeding scenarios could get messy. Nebraska, Purdue and Michigan all stand two games behind the Hoosiers and could all potentially pull into a tie with Indiana if any of those three teams are able to win out and bring up an even more complex series of potential seeding tiebreakers where all the teams tied up have their records compared against one another.
Simplifying the seeding scenario further, the Golden Gophers earn the No. 4 seed if they win out. They could also get it with one win unless the Hoosiers win both of their remaining games. In the latter case, it would go to Indiana.
It's no wonder junior guard Alexis Gassion said she stopped thinking about the seeding scenarios.
"Just taking it one game at a time," she said.
Somewhere in the seeding race, Indiana is trying to catch its breath.
The Hoosiers' five consistent starters throughout the Big Ten season are all averaging more than 22.2 minutes per game. Sophomore guard Tyra Buss is carrying the bulk of the load, staying on the court for an average of 37.4 minutes per game. Fellow sophomore guard Amanda Cahill is averaging 31.6 and Gassion has 34.4 minutes per game under her belt.
This doesn't come as a surprise to anyone taking up chunks of minutes. Moren knew long before the season began that she'd have a short bench.
But as the season reaches its climax, Moren said her team cannot afford to be tired. That's why practices have been slowly tapered down as best the coaching staff can to allow for extra mileage to be racked up during the games for players who rarely leave the court like Buss, Gassion and Cahill.
"We've got to keep them mentally fresh, physically fresh, but we've also got to have an edge," Moren said. "Just doing anything competitive whether it's a boxing out drill is important to them because they're competing. So that's what we're trying to do at a level where it's not exhausting."
That's where the No. 4 seed and the double-bye that comes with it could be even more valuable. The rest would give the Hoosiers a chance to refocus before playing an opponent coming off at least one game already. But the basketball between now and then could change that.
It has all the makings for a stressful couple of games, but Moren said she's kept her cool better this year than even a year ago now that she has a Big Ten season under her belt.
Having something to play for doesn't hurt, either.
"I think there's a calmness because I really believe in this group," Moren said. "I've said this from the beginning, I knew they were going to be an enjoyable group to coach because they're super competitive. They've shown everybody that they have a 'don't quit' attitude. They just don't give in, and that's one of the things I love about them."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - There isn't much time for rest over at the south end of Cook Hall.
The Indiana women's basketball team is halfway through a closing stretch that has the Hoosiers playing four games in 10 days. They'll be in Lincoln to play Nebraska Wednesday night before closing out the season at home against Penn State Saturday afternoon.
Could the Hoosiers (18-10, 10-6) use a break? No question, head coach Teri Moren said. But there's not much of an option when the postseason picture has Indiana fighting for an NCAA Tournament bid and a double-bye in next week's Big Ten Tournament.
"There's no doubt we're in a critical stretch," Moren said. "It's as exciting as it is tough."
Indiana is one win away from clinching a top-5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, but the rest of the conference tournament picture isn't nearly as clear.
IU is tied with Minnesota for fourth place in the conference standings but would take the No. 4 seed if the season ended today because the Hoosiers have a win against Michigan State, the highest ranked team ahead of fourth place that each have played.
If Minnesota were to win either of its remaining games against No. 5 Ohio State and No. 6 Maryland, the Golden Gophers would inherit the tiebreaker. That would force Indiana to win both of its remaining games against Nebraska and Penn State and hope Minnesota loses one of its remaining two.
Should Indiana lose its final two games, which would require suffering its first home loss of the season on senior night against the Lady Lions, the seeding scenarios could get messy. Nebraska, Purdue and Michigan all stand two games behind the Hoosiers and could all potentially pull into a tie with Indiana if any of those three teams are able to win out and bring up an even more complex series of potential seeding tiebreakers where all the teams tied up have their records compared against one another.
Simplifying the seeding scenario further, the Golden Gophers earn the No. 4 seed if they win out. They could also get it with one win unless the Hoosiers win both of their remaining games. In the latter case, it would go to Indiana.
It's no wonder junior guard Alexis Gassion said she stopped thinking about the seeding scenarios.
"Just taking it one game at a time," she said.
Somewhere in the seeding race, Indiana is trying to catch its breath.
The Hoosiers' five consistent starters throughout the Big Ten season are all averaging more than 22.2 minutes per game. Sophomore guard Tyra Buss is carrying the bulk of the load, staying on the court for an average of 37.4 minutes per game. Fellow sophomore guard Amanda Cahill is averaging 31.6 and Gassion has 34.4 minutes per game under her belt.
This doesn't come as a surprise to anyone taking up chunks of minutes. Moren knew long before the season began that she'd have a short bench.
But as the season reaches its climax, Moren said her team cannot afford to be tired. That's why practices have been slowly tapered down as best the coaching staff can to allow for extra mileage to be racked up during the games for players who rarely leave the court like Buss, Gassion and Cahill.
"We've got to keep them mentally fresh, physically fresh, but we've also got to have an edge," Moren said. "Just doing anything competitive whether it's a boxing out drill is important to them because they're competing. So that's what we're trying to do at a level where it's not exhausting."
That's where the No. 4 seed and the double-bye that comes with it could be even more valuable. The rest would give the Hoosiers a chance to refocus before playing an opponent coming off at least one game already. But the basketball between now and then could change that.
It has all the makings for a stressful couple of games, but Moren said she's kept her cool better this year than even a year ago now that she has a Big Ten season under her belt.
Having something to play for doesn't hurt, either.
"I think there's a calmness because I really believe in this group," Moren said. "I've said this from the beginning, I knew they were going to be an enjoyable group to coach because they're super competitive. They've shown everybody that they have a 'don't quit' attitude. They just don't give in, and that's one of the things I love about them."
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