Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Open NCAA Tourney Play Focused on the Goal
3/22/2024 5:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" and the Scorpions' "No One Like You" rock Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as the Indiana Hoosiers hit their NCAA women's basketball tourney open practice strides.
"Good, Mack!" shouts guard Sydney Parrish as forward Mackenzie Holmes positions herself deep in the post to receive a pass from guard Sara Scalia, catches it and powers in a layup.
"Yeah!" shouts associate head coach Rhet Wierzba before following with a celebration hand slap with Holmes, and then more instruction.
"Get deep!" he shouts as Holmes and Lilly Meister continue to work the paint.
Near half court, head coach Teri Moren watches with an intensity normally reserved for jet fighter pilots. Everything is possible if the fourth-seed Hoosiers (24-5) play to their potential.
"Keep it up!" she shouts.
Energy. Passion. Intensity. Fun.
It's all displayed on a Branch McCracken Court stage. This is no casual shoot-around in preparation for Saturday's NCAA tourney first-round game with 13th-seed Fairfield (31-1). IU's brisk workout features full-speed shooting, passing and cutting amid 1980s' musical motivation.
Coaches praise, encourage and instruct as they seek to build peak form, beat Fairfield and then the Oklahoma-Florida Gulf Coast winner on Monday night, and advance to a Sweet Sixteen opportunity in Albany N.Y., perhaps against top-seed South Carolina (33-0), which overwhelmed No. 16-seed Presbyterian 91-39 on Friday.
The fourth-seeded Hoosiers are loving every minute of it, says Parrish.
"With March Madness, not a lot of people in the college basketball world get to experience this. We're fortunate enough to host this year again. That's a big deal for us, knowing we're going to have our friends, family and fans in the stands supporting us.
"At the end of the day, we need to focus. Our goal is to get out of Bloomington and head to Albany and upset some teams once we get there. That's our main goal. Focus on that."
IU is primed for a big run after a two-week break since its last game, a quarterfinal loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tourney in Minneapolis. Parrish and backup forward Lilly Meister are fully healed from their ankle injuries. Holmes is at full strength after tweaking her knee in the regular season finale against Maryland.
"We are much healthier," Moren says. "Mack has been really good all week. She has been a constant in practice, as well as Syd. Lilly feels good on that ankle, as well.
"This break has been good for this group. We're going to enter (Saturday's) game with our normal five starters."
March Madness is known for its upsets. For the women, No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee beat No. 6 Louisville on Friday. The men's tourney was rocked with underdog Oakland, a 14th seed, stunning third-seed Kentucky Thursday night. Eleventh seeds North Carolina State, Oregon and Duquesne also won in upsets.
IU, which experienced its own disappointing upset defeat in last season's second round against Miami of Florida, aims to make the most of this opportunity by balancing intensity with fun.
"We've got to just take it one game at a time, one possession at a time, just play our game," Scalia says. "We have to play connected as a team and show the work that we've put in these past two weeks to prep for this tournament."
The Hoosiers are ready, Holmes adds.
"We're wasting time if we look too far ahead into the future thinking about this is our last this, or this is our last that. We take it, like Sara said, day by day, possession by possession.
"Throughout the game, there are going to be highs and lows, ebbs and flows. We're going to have to stay locked in for 40 minutes and not worry about the future."
This is exactly the mindset Moren wants.
"They are dialed in, I can tell you that," she says. "We don't talk about anything other than the fact that we're grateful to be in this tournament and we're entitled to absolutely nothing.
"We understand that in a tournament like this, they call it madness for a reason. We've got to show up and everybody has to do their job.
"But inside of that, you want them to enjoy the moment. There's a lot of teams that don't have the privilege of playing in this tournament. We're one of those. We try to keep that in perspective. I want them to have fun. I want them to enjoy all of it.
"But I do know this. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in our team. They understand the task, and in order to achieve the goals that we want to achieve, we've got to get the first one. And then we move on from there."
Moving on means beating a fast-paced Fairfield team that thrives with pressure defense (it averages 9.3 steals per game) and a perimeter sharpshooting (it averages 8.3 made three-pointers, and takes 26.4 a game). That's worked for a 29-game winning streak, second in the nation to South Carolina's 32 straight.
"The fact that they shoot about 242 more threes than we do says a lot about who they are in terms of how they want to generate their offense," Moren says. "They do a tremendous job of trying to pressure you. They share the ball extremely well.
"I think they all have the green light (to shoot). They play with a lot of freedom, a lot of movement, a lot of cutting. This is a very, very good team."
The goal, Parrish says, is to win on Saturday, "get back in the film room and start studying for the next game.
"It's really just staying focused and not letting the outside noise distract us."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" and the Scorpions' "No One Like You" rock Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as the Indiana Hoosiers hit their NCAA women's basketball tourney open practice strides.
"Good, Mack!" shouts guard Sydney Parrish as forward Mackenzie Holmes positions herself deep in the post to receive a pass from guard Sara Scalia, catches it and powers in a layup.
"Yeah!" shouts associate head coach Rhet Wierzba before following with a celebration hand slap with Holmes, and then more instruction.
"Get deep!" he shouts as Holmes and Lilly Meister continue to work the paint.
Near half court, head coach Teri Moren watches with an intensity normally reserved for jet fighter pilots. Everything is possible if the fourth-seed Hoosiers (24-5) play to their potential.
"Keep it up!" she shouts.
Energy. Passion. Intensity. Fun.
It's all displayed on a Branch McCracken Court stage. This is no casual shoot-around in preparation for Saturday's NCAA tourney first-round game with 13th-seed Fairfield (31-1). IU's brisk workout features full-speed shooting, passing and cutting amid 1980s' musical motivation.
Coaches praise, encourage and instruct as they seek to build peak form, beat Fairfield and then the Oklahoma-Florida Gulf Coast winner on Monday night, and advance to a Sweet Sixteen opportunity in Albany N.Y., perhaps against top-seed South Carolina (33-0), which overwhelmed No. 16-seed Presbyterian 91-39 on Friday.
The fourth-seeded Hoosiers are loving every minute of it, says Parrish.
"With March Madness, not a lot of people in the college basketball world get to experience this. We're fortunate enough to host this year again. That's a big deal for us, knowing we're going to have our friends, family and fans in the stands supporting us.
"At the end of the day, we need to focus. Our goal is to get out of Bloomington and head to Albany and upset some teams once we get there. That's our main goal. Focus on that."
IU is primed for a big run after a two-week break since its last game, a quarterfinal loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tourney in Minneapolis. Parrish and backup forward Lilly Meister are fully healed from their ankle injuries. Holmes is at full strength after tweaking her knee in the regular season finale against Maryland.
"We are much healthier," Moren says. "Mack has been really good all week. She has been a constant in practice, as well as Syd. Lilly feels good on that ankle, as well.
"This break has been good for this group. We're going to enter (Saturday's) game with our normal five starters."
March Madness is known for its upsets. For the women, No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee beat No. 6 Louisville on Friday. The men's tourney was rocked with underdog Oakland, a 14th seed, stunning third-seed Kentucky Thursday night. Eleventh seeds North Carolina State, Oregon and Duquesne also won in upsets.
IU, which experienced its own disappointing upset defeat in last season's second round against Miami of Florida, aims to make the most of this opportunity by balancing intensity with fun.
"We've got to just take it one game at a time, one possession at a time, just play our game," Scalia says. "We have to play connected as a team and show the work that we've put in these past two weeks to prep for this tournament."
The Hoosiers are ready, Holmes adds.
"We're wasting time if we look too far ahead into the future thinking about this is our last this, or this is our last that. We take it, like Sara said, day by day, possession by possession.
"Throughout the game, there are going to be highs and lows, ebbs and flows. We're going to have to stay locked in for 40 minutes and not worry about the future."
This is exactly the mindset Moren wants.
"They are dialed in, I can tell you that," she says. "We don't talk about anything other than the fact that we're grateful to be in this tournament and we're entitled to absolutely nothing.
"We understand that in a tournament like this, they call it madness for a reason. We've got to show up and everybody has to do their job.
"But inside of that, you want them to enjoy the moment. There's a lot of teams that don't have the privilege of playing in this tournament. We're one of those. We try to keep that in perspective. I want them to have fun. I want them to enjoy all of it.
"But I do know this. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in our team. They understand the task, and in order to achieve the goals that we want to achieve, we've got to get the first one. And then we move on from there."
Moving on means beating a fast-paced Fairfield team that thrives with pressure defense (it averages 9.3 steals per game) and a perimeter sharpshooting (it averages 8.3 made three-pointers, and takes 26.4 a game). That's worked for a 29-game winning streak, second in the nation to South Carolina's 32 straight.
"The fact that they shoot about 242 more threes than we do says a lot about who they are in terms of how they want to generate their offense," Moren says. "They do a tremendous job of trying to pressure you. They share the ball extremely well.
"I think they all have the green light (to shoot). They play with a lot of freedom, a lot of movement, a lot of cutting. This is a very, very good team."
The goal, Parrish says, is to win on Saturday, "get back in the film room and start studying for the next game.
"It's really just staying focused and not letting the outside noise distract us."
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