Indiana University Athletics
IU Completes Best Half of B1G Play in 7 Years
1/28/2016 3:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana women's basketball completed its best opening half of conference play in seven seasons with a 64-48 win over Rutgers Wednesday night.
The Hoosiers are trying not to think about it. They really are.
But don't begin to think their immune to their accomplishment.
When the subject was brought up postgame, sophomore guard Tyra Buss smiled and allowed herself to reflect for a brief moment before immediately shifting the focus back toward the future.
"It says a lot," Buss said. "We're just going to keep getting better. It's not the end goal right now. We've got to keep winning games. I think this was a big confidence booster. We've won three in a row now, and I think we're going to go into Maryland Saturday and that's the plan to go in their house and hopefully take a win."
After dropping three of its first four conference games, Indiana has settled into a groove and picked up wins in four of its last five to improve to 5-4 in the Big Ten. It's the program's best record at the halfway point of the conference season cine 2008-09 when IU was 7-2 through nine Big Ten games.
Indiana's stretch of wins include a road victory over then-No. 20 Northwestern—the first conference road win in more than a year—and three home wins against then-No. 18/18 Michigan State, Illinois and now Rutgers as the Hoosiers have consistently found different ways to win.
There was the runaway win against the Spartans at Assembly Hall. Then they grinded out a two-point victory over the Illini in Bloomington before rallying to beat Northwestern on the road.
Defense was the calling card in the most-recent win against the Scarlet Knights, which hasn't always been the case for a program that's willingly acknowledged a heavy reliance on the offensive end to carry them to wins.
Each win has come differently. And each reflects growth in the program under second-year head coach Teri Moren.
"It kind of says a lot about this team," Buss said. "We're just going to keep fighting. I think that's something coach Moren's been really proud of is our toughness. Last year, we didn't really have that. We'd get down and wouldn't fight back."
Indiana's streak has seen the Hoosiers improve to 9-0 in Assembly Hall for the first time since 1994-95, a time the majority of Indiana's players weren't even born.
But perhaps the most optimistic part of the start is that Indiana doesn't feel like it's realized its own potential quite yet. The Hoosiers have admittedly left their share of wins on the table that could have helped build on an already solid start to the Big Ten season.
"I hope that they're a confident group," Moren said. "We've had some peaks and valleys for sure. I know if you probably asked them—there's two in my mind that we probably think we gave away. But at any rate, the past is the past and we move forward."
That's been the calling card of sorts for Indiana in recent weeks. Moren has tried to keep her players from studying the Big Ten standings or what's been written about them. That much will sort itself out later.
"You can't get caught up in public opinion, you don't get caught up in the standings," Moren said. "You just put your head down and you continue to work and improve."
Prepare. Play. Learn. Repeat.
It's worked so far.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana women's basketball completed its best opening half of conference play in seven seasons with a 64-48 win over Rutgers Wednesday night.
The Hoosiers are trying not to think about it. They really are.
But don't begin to think their immune to their accomplishment.
When the subject was brought up postgame, sophomore guard Tyra Buss smiled and allowed herself to reflect for a brief moment before immediately shifting the focus back toward the future.
"It says a lot," Buss said. "We're just going to keep getting better. It's not the end goal right now. We've got to keep winning games. I think this was a big confidence booster. We've won three in a row now, and I think we're going to go into Maryland Saturday and that's the plan to go in their house and hopefully take a win."
After dropping three of its first four conference games, Indiana has settled into a groove and picked up wins in four of its last five to improve to 5-4 in the Big Ten. It's the program's best record at the halfway point of the conference season cine 2008-09 when IU was 7-2 through nine Big Ten games.
Indiana's stretch of wins include a road victory over then-No. 20 Northwestern—the first conference road win in more than a year—and three home wins against then-No. 18/18 Michigan State, Illinois and now Rutgers as the Hoosiers have consistently found different ways to win.
There was the runaway win against the Spartans at Assembly Hall. Then they grinded out a two-point victory over the Illini in Bloomington before rallying to beat Northwestern on the road.
Defense was the calling card in the most-recent win against the Scarlet Knights, which hasn't always been the case for a program that's willingly acknowledged a heavy reliance on the offensive end to carry them to wins.
Each win has come differently. And each reflects growth in the program under second-year head coach Teri Moren.
"It kind of says a lot about this team," Buss said. "We're just going to keep fighting. I think that's something coach Moren's been really proud of is our toughness. Last year, we didn't really have that. We'd get down and wouldn't fight back."
Indiana's streak has seen the Hoosiers improve to 9-0 in Assembly Hall for the first time since 1994-95, a time the majority of Indiana's players weren't even born.
But perhaps the most optimistic part of the start is that Indiana doesn't feel like it's realized its own potential quite yet. The Hoosiers have admittedly left their share of wins on the table that could have helped build on an already solid start to the Big Ten season.
"I hope that they're a confident group," Moren said. "We've had some peaks and valleys for sure. I know if you probably asked them—there's two in my mind that we probably think we gave away. But at any rate, the past is the past and we move forward."
That's been the calling card of sorts for Indiana in recent weeks. Moren has tried to keep her players from studying the Big Ten standings or what's been written about them. That much will sort itself out later.
"You can't get caught up in public opinion, you don't get caught up in the standings," Moren said. "You just put your head down and you continue to work and improve."
Prepare. Play. Learn. Repeat.
It's worked so far.
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