Indiana University Athletics
Sweet Sixteen Showdown -- IU ‘Fueled to Take the Next Step’
3/25/2022 10:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Geno Aureimma knows basketball. The Hall of Fame coach has won 1,149 games, 11 national titles and two Olympic gold medals. His teams lose about as often as the sun rises in the West.
For perspective, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has won 1,128 games and five national titles.
Auriemma knows excellence when he sees it, and he's seen plenty in No. 3-seed Indiana (24-8), which will play his No. 2-seed UConn Huskies (27-5) in Saturday's Sweet 16 showdown in Bridgeport, Conn.
"Don't be shocked -- I wouldn't be -- if they win this whole thing," he says.
Indiana has depth, talent and experience. Everybody is back from last year's Elite Eight run. Its 24 victories match the school record. It has spent most of the season ranked in the top-10 nationally despite injuries and a Covid outbreak.
Then there's this:
"The one thing they have other than talent is that they're smart as hell," Auriemma says.
He's not kidding. Eight Hoosiers made academic All-Big Ten with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher -- Grace Berger, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, Chloe Moore-McNeil, Mackenzie Holmes, Ali Patberg, Grace Waggoner, Kiandra Browne and Arielle Wisne.
But good grades won't be Saturday's focus.
"We do know the magnitude of this game," coach Teri Moren says. "We've been here before a year ago, and so we do feel like we have some experience.
"I have a veteran group and experienced group, so I don't know if it does matter that it's UConn. It could be any other name across the chest. We just know that we want to keep this thing going as long as we can."
If the Hoosiers don't generate national acclaim in the manner of UConn or Stanford or Tennessee, well, Auriemma spent some of his Friday press conference setting the record straight.
"Indiana probably gets less respect than they deserve for what they've done."
Respects is earned on a national stage. IU did that last year in the postseason. It did it a couple of years ago by beating a powerhouse South Carolina team in a Virgin Islands non-conference event, and in its 2019 WNIT championship and in the quality of its upgraded non-conference schedule.
But there's nothing like beating a program such as UConn in the NCAA tourney to alter perspective as never before.
"We've had a lot of historic moments in this program since we've been here in our eight seasons," Moren says. "It would just be another thing certainly we could tick off (by beating the Huskies).
"We've been in these big games and these big moments.
"But the only thing we're thinking about is if we win the next game, we get to a second Elite Eight. That's our focus."
Huskies players are well aware of what the Hoosiers can do, none more than forward Dorka Juhasz, who faced them while at Ohio State before transferring to UConn.
"You have to guard all five players on the floor," she says
Yes, UConn will likely have a huge crowd advantage given the 78-mile proximity to its campus, but that misses the point, Auriemma says.
"It doesn't matter where you play. If you don't play well, you'll get beat."
This has not been a typically dominant UConn season. Injuries contributed to its most losses entering the NCAA tourney since 2005. It lost to an unranked opponent (Georgia Tech) for the first time 239 games; lost to a conference opponent (Villanova) for the first time in nine years.
Still, the Huskies are playing in the Sweet 16 for the 28th straight season, a remarkable run of consistency in this ever-increasing era of parity. They have won 12 straight games and 18 of their last 19, most in dominating fashion.
"They've been the bar in women's basketball for some time," Moren says.
It's a bar that reflects, in so many ways, basketball as art.
"If you're not competing against them," Moren says, "you enjoy watching them play because they play pretty basketball with their cutting and ability to pass. They have terrific players.
"We know the task. We know how big of a game this is."
The Huskies are led by senior guard Chrystin Williams, who averages 14.5 points. Sophomore guard Paige Bueckers is at 13.7
IU counters with Berger, who has averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two NCAA tourney games. Holmes is at 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds.
The Hoosier focus, Moren says, is to keep UConn off the offensive glass. That was a major problem against Princeton in the second round, when the Tigers had 10 offensive rebounds.
Hoosiers also want to keep the Huskies out of transition and force them to run half-court offense. In other words, limit the turnovers and take good shots.
And one other thing -- don't get rattled when UConn makes a run.
"Great teams will make great runs," Patberg says. "It's how we react, how we sustain, how we punch back and fight back. Do we stay disciplined in our game plan?"
The Hoosiers have prepared for a rowdy, pro-UConn crowd. Playing in the Big Ten, Moren says, helps.
"We've been battle tested. We've played in a lot of big crowds in our conference."
To beat the noise, Cardaño-Hillary will call the plays during the game rather than the coaches.
"If we're not out in transition trying to get early buckets," Moren says, "then she has to be the one who is going to get us into what it is we're going to do."
That's the technical aspect, but in the end, it likely will come down to heart.
"This group has no panic in them," Moren says. "The experience we have can carry us pretty far."
As for those who underestimate the Hoosiers, forward Aleksa Gulbe has a message for them.
"The team that we are, the work that we've put in, I guess people don't see us to know we are good enough to be on this stage.
"It's okay. It fuels us. It motivates us to take that next step."
IUHoosiers.com
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Geno Aureimma knows basketball. The Hall of Fame coach has won 1,149 games, 11 national titles and two Olympic gold medals. His teams lose about as often as the sun rises in the West.
For perspective, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has won 1,128 games and five national titles.
Auriemma knows excellence when he sees it, and he's seen plenty in No. 3-seed Indiana (24-8), which will play his No. 2-seed UConn Huskies (27-5) in Saturday's Sweet 16 showdown in Bridgeport, Conn.
"Don't be shocked -- I wouldn't be -- if they win this whole thing," he says.
Indiana has depth, talent and experience. Everybody is back from last year's Elite Eight run. Its 24 victories match the school record. It has spent most of the season ranked in the top-10 nationally despite injuries and a Covid outbreak.
Then there's this:
"The one thing they have other than talent is that they're smart as hell," Auriemma says.
He's not kidding. Eight Hoosiers made academic All-Big Ten with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher -- Grace Berger, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, Chloe Moore-McNeil, Mackenzie Holmes, Ali Patberg, Grace Waggoner, Kiandra Browne and Arielle Wisne.
But good grades won't be Saturday's focus.
"We do know the magnitude of this game," coach Teri Moren says. "We've been here before a year ago, and so we do feel like we have some experience.
"I have a veteran group and experienced group, so I don't know if it does matter that it's UConn. It could be any other name across the chest. We just know that we want to keep this thing going as long as we can."
If the Hoosiers don't generate national acclaim in the manner of UConn or Stanford or Tennessee, well, Auriemma spent some of his Friday press conference setting the record straight.
"Indiana probably gets less respect than they deserve for what they've done."
Respects is earned on a national stage. IU did that last year in the postseason. It did it a couple of years ago by beating a powerhouse South Carolina team in a Virgin Islands non-conference event, and in its 2019 WNIT championship and in the quality of its upgraded non-conference schedule.
But there's nothing like beating a program such as UConn in the NCAA tourney to alter perspective as never before.
"We've had a lot of historic moments in this program since we've been here in our eight seasons," Moren says. "It would just be another thing certainly we could tick off (by beating the Huskies).
"We've been in these big games and these big moments.
"But the only thing we're thinking about is if we win the next game, we get to a second Elite Eight. That's our focus."
Huskies players are well aware of what the Hoosiers can do, none more than forward Dorka Juhasz, who faced them while at Ohio State before transferring to UConn.
"You have to guard all five players on the floor," she says
Yes, UConn will likely have a huge crowd advantage given the 78-mile proximity to its campus, but that misses the point, Auriemma says.
"It doesn't matter where you play. If you don't play well, you'll get beat."
This has not been a typically dominant UConn season. Injuries contributed to its most losses entering the NCAA tourney since 2005. It lost to an unranked opponent (Georgia Tech) for the first time 239 games; lost to a conference opponent (Villanova) for the first time in nine years.
Still, the Huskies are playing in the Sweet 16 for the 28th straight season, a remarkable run of consistency in this ever-increasing era of parity. They have won 12 straight games and 18 of their last 19, most in dominating fashion.
"They've been the bar in women's basketball for some time," Moren says.
It's a bar that reflects, in so many ways, basketball as art.
"If you're not competing against them," Moren says, "you enjoy watching them play because they play pretty basketball with their cutting and ability to pass. They have terrific players.
"We know the task. We know how big of a game this is."
The Huskies are led by senior guard Chrystin Williams, who averages 14.5 points. Sophomore guard Paige Bueckers is at 13.7
IU counters with Berger, who has averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two NCAA tourney games. Holmes is at 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds.
The Hoosier focus, Moren says, is to keep UConn off the offensive glass. That was a major problem against Princeton in the second round, when the Tigers had 10 offensive rebounds.
Hoosiers also want to keep the Huskies out of transition and force them to run half-court offense. In other words, limit the turnovers and take good shots.
And one other thing -- don't get rattled when UConn makes a run.
"Great teams will make great runs," Patberg says. "It's how we react, how we sustain, how we punch back and fight back. Do we stay disciplined in our game plan?"
The Hoosiers have prepared for a rowdy, pro-UConn crowd. Playing in the Big Ten, Moren says, helps.
"We've been battle tested. We've played in a lot of big crowds in our conference."
To beat the noise, Cardaño-Hillary will call the plays during the game rather than the coaches.
"If we're not out in transition trying to get early buckets," Moren says, "then she has to be the one who is going to get us into what it is we're going to do."
That's the technical aspect, but in the end, it likely will come down to heart.
"This group has no panic in them," Moren says. "The experience we have can carry us pretty far."
As for those who underestimate the Hoosiers, forward Aleksa Gulbe has a message for them.
"The team that we are, the work that we've put in, I guess people don't see us to know we are good enough to be on this stage.
"It's okay. It fuels us. It motivates us to take that next step."
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
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Guard
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