Indiana Women Built To Overcome Challenges

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Want to win women's basketball championships?

You'd better have a good backcourt.

Want a deep NCAA Tournament run?

Guards must take over games.

Challenge Indiana coach Teri Moren that there's a better backcourt nationally than senior Ali Patberg and junior Grace Berger as starters, with senior Jaelynn Penn and Notre Dame transfer Danielle Patterson in the mix?

Prepare to be corrected.

"Ali is due to have a tremendous season, with Grace not far behind," Moren says with Zoom press conference certainty. "They've been fabulous. I like my chances with them."

For good reason. Their production helped produce last season's 24-8 record -- a fifth straight 20-win season and IU's most victories ever in a season -- that would have been better if a pandemic hadn't stopped the world.

And with a deep, talented roster of veterans and newcomers, that just might be only the beginning.

Last season, the 5-11 Patberg rated among the nation's best players after averaging 15.6 points, 5.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds. She was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which goes to the country's best point guard.

The 6-foot Berger went from reserve to starter and averaged 13.1 points and 5.2 rebounds, and that was without a reliable perimeter shooting game she has worked to fix. The ultra-athletic Penn made honorable mention All-Big Ten by averaging 10.6 points and making a team-leading 39 three-pointers. The 6-2 Peterson, a former McDonald's All-American, seeks to upgrade the reserve status she had during her two Notre Dame seasons.

"She's a bucket filler," Moren says of Peterson. "With Danielle, Ali and Grace, that's a big lineup.

"They're awfully good. We have work to do. They're super humble, but super confident."

Confidence for Patberg means more aggressive play in general, more scoring in particular, and if that sometimes clashes with her team-first attitude, well, it's OK to be selfish.

"I'm a team player," Patberg said. "With me, that's doing whatever I'm asked. If that's what they want from me, I'll look to be more selfish.

"Most of my life, I've liked to pass first and set people up. But, if I'm more selfish, it might open things up for others. I'll do whatever the coaches want me to do."

Good guard play, combined with a deep and talented front court, plus a ton of experience, has the Hoosiers aiming for a Big Ten title, something they haven't won since the 1982-83 season, and advancing past the NCAA tourney second round, which they've never done.

For the record, IU has reached the second round under Moren in 2016 and '19 to go with the 2018 NIT championship.

If you believe Patberg, bigger and better things are coming.

"We're all bought in and doing what we have to do to push one another, get better individually and get better together," Patberg said. "It's going to be great. Every game, we have to leave it all out there."

The frontcourt starts with sophomore forward Mackenzie Holmes, who made a huge impact with 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds en route to All-Big Ten freshman team honors.

"She has added another element to her game," Moren says about Holmes' improved three-point shooting. "She's able to knock down the long ball."

Add Patterson (whose versatility will work inside and out), and junior forward Aleksa Gulbe (who spent the summer working with the Latvia national team after averaging 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds last season) and you have four returning starters, 11 letterwinners, a couple of talented newcomers and the foundation of a powerhouse.

IU has withstood the challenges of a pandemic, and multiple player health issues, including surgery for Penn (plantar fasciitis). Players returned to campus in June to train.

"We had to be light on our feet," Moren says. "We had to be nimble and flexible. We grew through the pandemic. A lot of growth happened. The chemistry improved. We got some great work in. It helps when you have some of the veterans we have."

The Hoosiers have worked on improving their three-point shooting, which was inconsistent last season.

"We're getting up a lot of shots from beyond the arc," Moren says. "It's layups and three-pointers, but there's still a need for mid-range."

Not having Gulbe over the summer wasn't ideal (she left in mid-March and didn't return to Bloomington until late September), Moren adds, but "representing Latvia was important to her."

"She got to work with the Latvian national team."

Then there's 6-foot guard Chloe Moore-McNeil, a two-time Tennessee Miss Basketball. As a senior, she led Greenfield High School to a 34-0 record. She finished with 2,598 career points and more than 500 rebounds and assists, and more than 400 steals, and reflects the uptick in recruiting under Moren.

Moore-McNeil dealt with mononucleosis and a pulled wisdom tooth in the off-season

"She has picked it up of late," Moren says. "She has great range. What we like about her is, she's a winner."

The deep roster also includes senior Keyanna Warthen, sophomore Chanel Wilson, sophomore Hannah Noveroske, redshirt freshman Arielle Wisne, sophomore Grace Waggoner and true freshman Kiandra Browne.

Sitting out the season during to NCAA rules is George Mason transfer Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, a former Atlantic-10 Conference player of the year, who has impressed Moren with her all-around game.

Because of the pandemic, the schedule is still being finalized.

"We work on the 15-minute rule," Moren says with a smile, "which is everything can change in 15 minutes.

"We're trying to make sense of what a schedule might look like. We're leaning to a 20-game conference schedule. We're looking at 25 games. One will be the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, so we're trying to get four home games. It's been challenging."

In these most challenging of times, Indiana is built to overcome it.

Players Mentioned

Grace Berger

Kiandra Browne

Aleksa Gulbe

Mackenzie Holmes

Chloe Moore-McNeil

Hannah Noveroske

Ali Patberg

Danielle Patterson

Jaelynn Penn

Grace Waggoner

Keyanna Warthen

Chanel Wilson

Arielle Wisne

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