'We Want a Banner': Indiana Women's Basketball Begins NCAA Tournament Play Saturday

Indiana women's basketball will begin NCAA Tournament play on Saturday versus Tennessee Tech. The Hoosiers haven't been shy about wanting a banner as the team gears up to host the first and second rounds in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to jumpstart a hopeful deep run.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — One-seed Indiana women's basketball will start its NCAA Tournament journey Saturday with a first round game versus 16-seed Tennessee Tech at 11:30 a.m. ET in Bloomington, Ind.

The Golden Eagles defeated Monmouth 79-69 in the First Four round of the tournament Thursday night inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Tennessee Tech is now on an eight-game winning streak.

"We've never been in this scenario where we were watching a play-in game and now you have only really one day to prep," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. 

"But we have all week been spreading out workloads from our staff in terms of covering all the teams we're playing."

Moren said it's obvious Tennessee Tech is playing its best basketball right now. The first round game will not be so simple as the Hoosiers ended their regular season with two losses in their last three games including an early exit due to Ohio State in the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals. 

Indiana hasn't played a game since March 4 giving the team a full two weeks off to prepare for the Big Dance.

"I think it's been good for us to be able to have some extra time off because of the schedule we've played," Moren said. "But you know, you get inside a practice — there's plenty of things, trust me, that we can... improve on, and we've tried to pick something, whether it's two or three things in practice."

The Hoosiers only have three blemishes on their whole schedule and lost those three games by a combined 10 points. Although it's not how Indiana wanted to finish its regular season, the No. 2 overall tournament seed and Big Ten regular season title speaks for itself.

"The Big Ten is the best — I personally think the best conference in the nation," junior guard Sydney Parrish said. "It's just crazy to see from top to bottom the talent level through each team, and it's just been really fun to play in the Big Ten."

Moren said the team wasn't at the First Four game Thursday night, but it was watching on TV while the staff attended in person. Taking one game at a time and treating every matchup like it's the title game is the kicker to sparking a deeper run than last season's Sweet 16 appearance. 

"Last year I feel like we had a great defensive-minded team, and we have that this year, as well, but I think the difference in last year and this year is the three-point," junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil said. "People that we've brought into this program have taken us to an entire different level, so I'm really grateful to be a part of it."

The Hoosiers will certainly use their 37 percent clip from the three-point to fire at the Golden Eagles while Moore-McNeil will get the nod at guarding Tennessee Tech's best player, which will more than likely be senior guard Maaliya Owens, who's averaging 14.8 points per game and finished with 18 in Thursday's victory over the Hawks.

"It's for sure a challenge guarding such different dynamic great players," Moore-McNeil said. "I respect all of them. I really embrace that role because it's such fun to just be able to take on that role and say, 'hey, I get to try to guard the best players in the country'."

Moren said Moore-McNeil is the most dependable player while Parrish added the team roots from Moore-McNeil as it steps in and helps her close the gaps while grabbing rebounds and pushing the ball.

"Sometimes you look at our team and it's like, we aren't the most athletic, fast, going to jump the highest, but we work really hard on the defensive end," Parrish said.

Off the court, Moore-McNeil described the chemistry as solid as it's ever been, which has been translating to in-game action the whole season.

"We were just listening to music, dancing around with each other not too long ago," Moore-McNeil said. "The chemistry, and I feel like the energy already is where it needs to be in terms of being prepared and ready for our opponent."

The team can't help but recognize how much attention it's getting from national media and even celebrities like former president Barack Obama, who has the Hoosiers playing in the title game versus South Carolina in his 2023 tournament bracket.

"We see these WNBA players and these famous celebrities coming out with their brackets, and some of them see us going to the Final Four or the championship game, and I'm just sitting there like 'wow, this is reality'," Parrish said.

It is reality, and while it might look like an easier first round matchup for the Hoosiers playing a 16-seed, Moren said they throw all the seeding out the window at this point with a tough but achievable road to the finish.

"We're certainly proud of what we've been able to accomplish," Moren said. "But we want our own banner. We want a banner that stands up in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall that's just for women's basketball."

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• HOOSIERS PREDICTED TO MAKE FINAL FOUR BY ESPN'S 'GET UP' Friday morning on ESPN's 'Get Up', analyst Monica McNutt was asked by Mike Greenberg who she thought would make the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four. She has the Hoosiers potentially going to the title game. CLICK HERE
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