“To say this group is ready is an understatement.”
Those were some of the first words that came out of Indiana women's basketball head coach Teri Moren when she sat down to speak to the media Wednesday afternoon. The offseason for the Hoosiers has been eventful, to say the least. With the addition of transfers junior guard Shay Ciezki and senior forward Karoline Striplin and the loss of Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia, not many people know what to expect this year from Assembly Hall.
Even with new faces joining the program, the team looks closer than ever. Moren and almost every player continued to mention the word “seamless.”
With two transfer players and three freshmen, they fit right in with the Indiana basketball culture and the team chemistry is strong.
It has been a seamless transition for the team. Moren is using the new faces and improvements to their advantage as she plans to change the Hoosiers' game style. Now, instead of playing through the paint, they will look to move the ball more and find players who can shoot.
Scalia was crucial to Indiana's scoring last season. She had a 42.7% 3-point percentage and averaged 16.3 points per game. Now, junior guard Lexus Bargesser is looking to fill those shoes as she has been working on a new shooting form this offseason.
“It's tweaked, and it looks really good,” Moren said. “She’s worked extremely hard, and there's a reason why we have a sign in Cook Hall that says, ‘Your confidence can only come in your work.’ She feels good about it. It's about her being ready to consistently catch and shoot from the arc.”
Along with Bargesser making strides, the Hoosiers also hit it out of the park with the recruiting of Ciezki out of Penn State. The recruiting for Ciezki was challenging for Moren and her staff as she was one of the nations best 3-point shooters last season while averaging 11.5 points per game for the Nittany Lions. But what stood out most to Moren was the juniors work ethic.
Moren and her staff were familiar with the skill of Ciezki from Big Ten play in the past years but they ended up learning through her recruitment is that she’s a “bulldog,” Moren said. She is a gym rat who is constantly working to get better. Her basketball IQ and high competitive character is going to be a big upper hand for Indiana.
Seeing an Indiana women's basketball team without Holmes is rare. But many Hoosier fans will need to get used to it this season. Junior forward Lilly Meister is the perfect player to fill that missing role in the paint. She has spent the last two years of her career going against Holmes day in and day out.
In addition they also added Striplin as a veteran role and to help out with the post alongside Meister. Coming from University of Tennessee, Striplin knows the pressure of a big school environment but when it came to her recruiting process in the transfer portal, she knew Indiana was the place.
Striplin announced her transfer at night and woke up to Moren being the first person to reach out the next morning. Since Moren did, she knew Indiana was the place she needed to be. Last season, Striplin averaged 7.2 points and 3.1 rebounds for the Volunteers.
Meister averaged 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10.4 minutes played per game last season behind Holmes. This offseason, she knew her role on the court was going to change drastically.
“We worked a lot on my perimeter presence and the main thing is my confidence. Keeping a study in mind that just because I am filling in for those bigger shoes, my game doesn't have to fully change,” Meister said.
Holmes is rehabbing from recent knee surgery and is still in Bloomington serving as the team's graduate assistant this season. Many of the players have expressed their gratitude for Holmes staying within the program and giving her best advice on and off the court.
“It's the best thing ever,” sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont said. “She could read all of us and having her on the sidelines you can talk her ear off. Getting her opinion about how practice went or whatever is great.”
Fifth-year guards Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish, who have been the heart and soul of the program, will be the leaders on the court this year. In the locker room and on the floor, the duo is likely to lead the team in any way possible.
They both combined to average 21 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 7.3 assists last season. Each of their roles on the team was huge, especially in the postseason, when the Hoosiers made a run to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. Now, this year, the two hope to fill in as the leaders of this team, which is looking to make a statement in the face-lifted Big Ten conference.
The season begins Nov. 4 for Indiana as they will host Brown University at Assembly Hall.
