What Teri Moren Said After Indiana's 73-62 Loss To No. 1 UCLA

Here's the full transcript of coach Teri Moren's postgame press conference after Indiana women's basketball lost 73-62 to No. 1 UCLA Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Indiana coach Teri Moren talks to an official during Saturday's game against UCLA at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's six-game win streak ended Saturday with a 73-62 loss to No. 1 UCLA at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Indiana played the nation's top-ranked team close for three quarters, but UCLA's 15-5 advantage in the second quarter created the separation. UCLA's Lauren Betts led all scorers with 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Yarden Garzon led the Hoosiers with 19 points.

Here's everything Indiana coach Teri Moren said in her postgame press conference.

Opening statement:

Moren: "Well first and foremost, thank you for – shoutout to Hoosier nation for coming out today and really supporting us and they were terrific. We really are grateful for them coming out. We're disappointed. Obviously we felt like we had a good game plan for how we were gonna go about winning today. Really proud of our group. I thought their effort, always, but today in particular, they were dialed in, was really good. We got really good shots. They didn't go down. As I said to them, those shots go down, I feel like it's going to be a different kind of game and a different outcome for us. So we're disappointed. I thought Chloe was terrific against Kiki, that's a big challenge for her and one she was, I know, excited about. Syd Parrish getting in foul trouble, that hurt us a little bit, couldn't be as aggressive, I think, as we wanted to be. Thought Jules came in and did a nice job off the bench, got a couple charges for us, hit the big three. There were times that – 15 points, I think, they scored off of our turnovers in the first half and you go in and you're down 12, you feel like, okay, we can chip away at this lead if we just take care of the ball. I thought we did that in the second half. We only had the two turnovers, but shots just didn't fall. Some of that had to do, especially in the first half, I thought the second quarter was really, really tough for us. And I thought part of it was UCLA, I thought they sped us up. I think we had four moving screens inside of that, so just things we gotta go back. But we'll continue to get better. Like I said, I loved out fight today, just I wish our shots could have gone down. We could have had a few more of those back that could have gone down for us."

On what Indiana could have done differently to defend UCLA center Lauren Betts, and if the way the game was officiated made that more difficult...

Moren: "Well first of all, I think Lilly and Strip were working their tails off. They did everything they could. We were trying to push her out, trying to keep her away from the low block, trying to get the leverage from our legs. We were trying to crowd her as much as we could off of other players. We call them our money spots, which were just opened up a little bit more and we were trying to deter the ball from coming inside. So yeah, it's frustrating. Yarden hit it on the head, [Betts] is a great player, no question about it. Do I feel like – I'll just leave it at that."

On what Moren has learned over time from her experience defending talented centers...

Moren: "We tried to throw, once at least, every one of our coverages at her. So we know moving forward, [USC center] Kiki Iriafen, there's some really good bigs here in the Big Ten, right, [Alexis] Markowski from Nebraska. And so we're gonna have to – maybe not fives of that size – but really good fives that we're gonna have to be able to guard much better. And so you just continue to look at different was we can use our coverages but be better in those coverages. We always feel like there might be one kid out on the perimeter that we feel like we can leave and help with. But I thought our scouting report, the kids really trying to execute the scouting report today, they did. They did everything we asked them. It's just she's an extraordinary five because of her size."

On if she learned anything new about her team after today's game after shooting 19% from three, 40% from the field, committing early turnovers and having foul trouble...

Moren: "I think we're still a really good basketball team in spite of those numbers. There's a fight to this group, a cohesiveness, they're connected. Because I've watched them shoot it better. I've watched them take care of the ball better. And give credit to UCLA, but we're still one of the best teams in the Big [Ten]."

On the value of playing against UCLA with a matchup against USC coming up soon...

Moren: "Well, they're all valuable. I don't know that one is more valuable than the other, because this is such a great league. We've been tested early with some early losses. That's tested us where we've had to try to figure out, as people have heard me say, play with this group because there are some new pieces out there. But I think every game gives you something that, one, you can improve on and get better at, but also you can look at it and say, 'Gosh, this was a great shot for us, it just didn't go down,' so we did a lot of really good things today. It's just that some of those open looks wouldn't go down for us."

On how big of a role the early and frequent whistles played in her team's confidence in defending in the paint the second half...

Moren: "It's frustrating. It is hard, because it's very physical. I thought we're usually tagged a pretty physical team, but I thought UCLA was really physical today. And once we settled into how the game was called, you go to look back and forth, the discrepancies in free throws are about the same. I mean, I could sit in here and – if it looked different. But I think that was a good crew that, look, officiating is hard. It's hard in a really good league that has outstanding players. So I don't know that the outcome had anything to do with the officiating today, even though there was some questionable calls that I thought that happened throughout that they tried to do their best to answer those. But you miss a few, that's just part of living with officiating, that they're not gonna get 'em perfect."

On if she thought the ball was moving around well enough offensively to beat UCLA, having just eight assists on 22 made field goals...

Moren: "Yeah, I did. It's just, I don't think we – and give UCLA credit for that, I thought they slowed us down in transition today. They really tagged us, and they know that's part of what makes us good, is our transition, playing in space and playing with pace, so I thought they did a really good job of slowing us down intentionally. I think it was intentional that they tried to, like I said, get somebody to the ball-handler quick. I thought I kept trying to get our game to try to run faster and harder, but again, UCLA did a nice job."

On Betts giving Meister and Striplin space to shoot, and whether Moren wants her front court players to be quicker and shoot or pass the ball...

Moren: "Yeah, I those moments, with what we were running, Betts was in a low plug, and what we wanted to do was get into some of our zoom action, some of those guard handoffs, where we could at least get a shot for our guard, and then she has to make a decision to come out of that deep plug, and then you got the roll, if not, then you certainly feel good about a pull-up jumper or a three with your guards. And yeah, that was a tough stretch for us because Strip was in there and, again, just took a couple ill-advised shots that once we go back in and show her that these shots aren't for you and Lilly, per se, and this is why. So a lot of that stuff is new stuff that we're doing, we've been working on, and it's just giving, I think, those post players a better understanding of what we're looking for in certain situations. So we'll fix that." \

On if those situations with Striplin and Meister are what Moren was referring to when saying they need to play better on offense...

Moren: "Right, and just understanding like, yeah, we know that [Betts] is not gonna come out and guard you, so we're not going to – she's gonna give you a handful of those, and we're not banking on you shooting every one of those or half of those are gonna go in. We need ball movement. So it's just clarity, that we have to make sure that Lilly and Strip understand."