No. 25 Indiana Women Beat Brown 82-60, But Teri Moren Was Not Pleased

Teri Moren made it crystal clear that the Hoosiers did not perform to the standard she expects.

Indiana's Lilly Meister (52) looks to score during the Indiana versus Brown women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As season openers go, Indiana’s women’s basketball team seemingly took care of business against Ivy League visitors Brown. The No. 25 Hoosiers took an early lead, held it, and walked away with a pro forma 82-60 victory at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday.

The Hoosiers didn’t blow the Bears out of the water as they have done against other nonconference foes in recent seasons, and it wasn’t perfect, but a 22-point victory is fine, right?

When Sydney Parrish addressed the media and was asked to give a grade on the Hoosiers’ performance, it was the first sign that Hoosiers were not satisfied with how they played.

“I’d give it a C, but that gives us a lot of hope. We’re a lot better than we showed today,” said Parrish, who was then asked to give a reason for her grade.

“I think defensively we weren’t great at times. They made 11 3-pointers total, they shot 36, but we can’t let up more than five in a game. Playing Big Ten teams, that will definitely hurt us down the stretch,” Parrish said.

If that seemed to be an oddly negative assessment given the victory, several minutes later, Indiana coach Teri Moren topped Parrish’s dissatisfaction by several magnitudes of irritation.

Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren calls a set during the Indiana versus Brown women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Moren made it crystal clear that Indiana’s performance did not meet her standard – regardless of whether the Hoosiers won or not.

“I’d be lying if I told you I was at all pleased with any of that tonight. We have game goals throughout every game and I thought we were lackluster getting out to (shooters). We gave up 11 (3-point makes) … unacceptable,” Moren said.

The 11th-year Indiana coach was just getting warmed up. Indiana (1-0) clamped down on Brown (0-1) to start the game as the Bears were 1 of 10 from the field and 3 of 16 in the first quarter. After that, the Bears did not shoot below 40% in a quarter for the remainder of the contest.

“We had some miscues defensively. We switched when we weren’t supposed to switch. We helped off the strong side when we weren’t supposed to help off the strong side. We did a lot of undisciplined things that are not characteristic of our basketball teams,” Moren said.

Moren made it clear that she has a standard that needs to be met for the Hoosiers to reach their potential in the 2024-25 season.

“It bothers me that we don’t have more pride. It bothers me that I have to go into halftime and have those conversations about being undisciplined. We left a shooter off the strong side. We never do that. We switched guard to five ball screen. We never do that,” Moren said.

“It’s those little things that if you don’t nip it in the bud real quick, those are the things that are going to get your ass beat. Our kids know that,” Moren continued.

“If I don’t address it now? Then I can’t wait down the road. I can’t wait until Thursday (Indiana hosts Harvard on Thursday) to address it and say, ‘Gosh I hope you guys do a lot better than you did the other night.’ I have to address it tomorrow morning when we show up for film,” she concluded.

There were bright spots. Parrish had 20 points and 10 rebounds as she shook off any concern about her ankle after she was injured in the exhibition game against Maryville five days prior.

Indiana's Karoline Striplin (11) looks to score during the Indiana versus Brown women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Karoline Striplin had a positive Indiana debut with 17 points. She and Lilly Meister combined to go 10 of 15 from the field. Yarden Garzon added 16 points, including a 4-for-8 performance from 3-point range.

Indiana was in command from the start – even if the nature of that control was not pleasing to Moren as the game played out.

After Brown made its first shot of the game to take a 3-0 lead, the Bears missed their next nine shots. That gave Indiana the opening to take control of the game. Brown was 3 of 16 in the first quarter as Indiana built an 18-7 lead by the end of the opening period.

Indiana had a few turnovers that would be costly against a higher-caliber opponent. The Hoosiers made two of their first three attempts from 3-point range, but were only 3 of 13 from long range in the first half – another part of the game that didn’t please Moren.

“We got carried away with taking too many outside shots when our clear advantage was on the inside. That’s disappointing because I think we’re a smart team and our advantage was clearly in the low post tonight,” Moren said. “We started to figure that out a little bit in the second half, but it shouldn’t take halftime to make that correction with the older team we have.”

Brown settled in a bit in the second quarter – without ever truly threatening the lead. The Indiana lead twice got to a single-digit margin and the Hoosiers’ lead was 31-20 with four minutes left in the first half.

The Bears missed their final six shots before halftime. Indiana took advantage to finish the half with an 8-1 run to take a 39-21 halftime lead. Those little moments of quality pushed the advantage for Indiana.

Brown did not fade away. In fact, the Bears won the third quarter 23-21 as the Hoosiers had trouble with the Bears’ outside shooters. The Bears made 7 of 17 from 3-point range after halftime. At one point, Brown cut Indiana’s lead to 11.

Indiana finally pounded away at the rim with Brown post player Gianna Aiello having fouled out. Indiana scored its first six buckets in the paint in the fourth quarter as the Hoosiers salted the game away for good.

Indiana continues its week of Ivy League foes as the Hoosiers host Harvard at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday at Assembly Hall. A win is a win, right?

“A win … sure. But this performance will not win you any Big Ten game,” Moren said.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• LIVE BLOG: Read how the game against Brown played out as it happened with the Hoosiers On SI live blog of the women's basketball season opener. CLICK HERE.

• IU WOMEN CLAMP DOWN ON MARYVILLE: In an exhibition romp, Indiana rolled past Division II Maryville. CLICK HERE.

• BARGESSER HOPES SHOT WORK PAYS OFF: Lexus Bargesser worked in the offseason to change her shot release. CLICK HERE.

• IT'S MEISTER'S TURN: Indiana center Lilly Meister will get a much bigger stage on which to show her talent in 2025. CLICK HERE.

• IU WOMEN PICKED 25TH IN PRESEASON AP POLL: Indiana's women were ranked in the AP preseason poll for the sixth consecutive season. CLICK HERE.