Indiana University Athletics
IU Sees NCAA Win as Just the Beginning
3/20/2016 3:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By: Tori Ziege, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Hoosiers found out shortly before tip of their first NCAA Tournament game: Indiana men's basketball had beaten Kentucky to advance to the Sweet 16.
With all of Hoosier Nation celebrating, the women didn't want to be left out of the party.
Three hours later, they made school history for both programs by becoming the first men's and women's teams to advance in the postseason on the same day.
"That was really exciting for us to watch a little bit of it and know by the time we started our game that they were going to the Sweet 16," head coach Teri Moren said. "We're really excited for our guys, but as equally excited for our players."
The Hoosiers' 62-58 first round win over No. 8-seed Georgia is just the second all-time tournament win for Indiana women's basketball and the first since 1983. Asked what the monumental victory means to the program, Moren immediately pointed to the rich tradition of Indiana basketball, a tradition, up to this point, that has been dominated by the men.
Moren uses that tradition to recruit players to Indiana, a state and a school known for basketball more than anything else. Right now, she said, when people think of Indiana, they think of five championship banners, Bob Knight and now, coach Tom Crean.
But Indiana women's basketball is building its own tradition. And last night's triumph over the Lady Bulldogs was just the beginning.
"I'll tell you something about this group," Moren said. "They're hungry. They want more. We're not going to settle on this one thing tonight. We're going to keep building this program."
In order to establish tradition, you have to beat programs with a history of winning themselves. The Hoosiers did that in their first opportunity against Georgia, who has been to the NCAA Tournament a staggering 32 times.
The victory didn't come easy, but Moren trusted her team on the biggest stage college basketball has to offer. Calling her players into a huddle up 60-56 with 34 seconds remaining, she asked them whether they'd rather play man or zone for the final defensive series.
The players elected to stay in zone.
On the Lady Bulldogs' last possession trailing by three, junior guard Karlee McBride and sophomore guard Tyra Buss chased Georgia's Tiaria Griffin down the floor. Four times that night, Griffin had connected from beyond the arc. She didn't get the opportunity to do so a fifth time.
Instead, Georgia's Majorie Butler took the three-point shot. It bounced off the rim, and the Hoosiers survived to dance another day.
"One of the things I have with this basketball team is a whole lot of faith in them," Moren said. "There was no way (Griffin) was going to get that open shot."
Next up for Indiana is another opportunity to assert itself against one of women's college basketball's elite in top-seeded Notre Dame. It will be a tremendous challenge, Moren said, to upset the Fighting Irish, who haven't lost in the first weekend of the tournament since 2009.
But it's a challenge the Hoosiers are excited to take on in a season that has already seen them advance farther than they've been in the last 33 years.
"We built a culture that I think we didn't have a year ago, and it's taken some time, the whole process," Moren said. "We don't want to be a one-hit wonder.
"We want to be in this thing."
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Hoosiers found out shortly before tip of their first NCAA Tournament game: Indiana men's basketball had beaten Kentucky to advance to the Sweet 16.
With all of Hoosier Nation celebrating, the women didn't want to be left out of the party.
Three hours later, they made school history for both programs by becoming the first men's and women's teams to advance in the postseason on the same day.
"That was really exciting for us to watch a little bit of it and know by the time we started our game that they were going to the Sweet 16," head coach Teri Moren said. "We're really excited for our guys, but as equally excited for our players."
The Hoosiers' 62-58 first round win over No. 8-seed Georgia is just the second all-time tournament win for Indiana women's basketball and the first since 1983. Asked what the monumental victory means to the program, Moren immediately pointed to the rich tradition of Indiana basketball, a tradition, up to this point, that has been dominated by the men.
Moren uses that tradition to recruit players to Indiana, a state and a school known for basketball more than anything else. Right now, she said, when people think of Indiana, they think of five championship banners, Bob Knight and now, coach Tom Crean.
But Indiana women's basketball is building its own tradition. And last night's triumph over the Lady Bulldogs was just the beginning.
"I'll tell you something about this group," Moren said. "They're hungry. They want more. We're not going to settle on this one thing tonight. We're going to keep building this program."
In order to establish tradition, you have to beat programs with a history of winning themselves. The Hoosiers did that in their first opportunity against Georgia, who has been to the NCAA Tournament a staggering 32 times.
The victory didn't come easy, but Moren trusted her team on the biggest stage college basketball has to offer. Calling her players into a huddle up 60-56 with 34 seconds remaining, she asked them whether they'd rather play man or zone for the final defensive series.
The players elected to stay in zone.
On the Lady Bulldogs' last possession trailing by three, junior guard Karlee McBride and sophomore guard Tyra Buss chased Georgia's Tiaria Griffin down the floor. Four times that night, Griffin had connected from beyond the arc. She didn't get the opportunity to do so a fifth time.
Instead, Georgia's Majorie Butler took the three-point shot. It bounced off the rim, and the Hoosiers survived to dance another day.
"One of the things I have with this basketball team is a whole lot of faith in them," Moren said. "There was no way (Griffin) was going to get that open shot."
Next up for Indiana is another opportunity to assert itself against one of women's college basketball's elite in top-seeded Notre Dame. It will be a tremendous challenge, Moren said, to upset the Fighting Irish, who haven't lost in the first weekend of the tournament since 2009.
But it's a challenge the Hoosiers are excited to take on in a season that has already seen them advance farther than they've been in the last 33 years.
"We built a culture that I think we didn't have a year ago, and it's taken some time, the whole process," Moren said. "We don't want to be a one-hit wonder.
"We want to be in this thing."
Players Mentioned
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