3 Things Indiana’s Women’s Basketball Team Needs To Do To Beat Utah In The NCAA Tournament
COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the first time since 2019, Indiana’s women’s basketball team will not be at home sweet home at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Indiana earned a No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 seed Utah Friday in the first round of the tournament at South Carolina’s Colonial Life Arena.
Indiana advanced to the Sweet 16 all but one of the times they were a first-round host. The exception was in 2023, when the Hoosiers were upset by Miami.
Indiana coach Teri Moren would rather be at home, of course.
“I didn’t like having to pack,” Moren said Thursday during Indiana’s pregame press conference.
If Indiana can win away from Bloomington, it would be the 10th straight season Indiana has reached the 20-win threshold. To do that, here are three things Indiana needs to do to defeat the Utes.
Defend The 3-Point Line
Utah can absolutely burn a team from the 3-point line, both in terms of volume and accuracy. Utah ranks in the top 20 nationally in 3-pointers made (10 per game, ranked 6th), 3-pointers attempted (26.9, ranked 11th) and 3-point percentage (37.1%, ranked 14th).
Utah’s perimeter attack is balanced, too. Leading scorer Gianna Kneepkens (45% 3-point) is one of three Utes over 40% from beyond the arc. Fellow guards Maty Wilke (43.1%) and Kennady McQueen (42.7%) are also sharpshooters.
Indiana has been solid at defending the 3-point line as opponents shoot 31.8% from beyond the arc. Moren is confident Indiana will have an answer for Utah’s shooters on Friday.
“We feel like we have great defenders. We only gave up about 64 points this year. Our offense probably gets talked about more because of our shooters and our offense, how we can spread people out and certainly move the ball and all that,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said.
Moren also mentioned that Indiana has a plan for Utah’s multitude of 3-point shooters.
“There is more than just No. 5 (Kneepkens) out there. There are a lot of those guys that can shoot it,” Moren said. “We do feel like we have a sound scouting report, game plan, for how we have to guard them in order to give ourselves a chance to win the game.”
Get Karoline Striplin, Lilly Meister Going
While Utah is an excellent team on the perimeter, they are not a team that has much inside clout. Leading rebounder Maye Toure led the Utes at 6.8 rebounds, and she is 6-foot-2. Utah’s only big player – 6-8 Nene Sow – only plays two minutes per game.
That means more opportunities for Indiana’s post players – most notably Karoline Striplin.
Striplin doesn’t tower over anyone at 6-3, but between her and fellow 6-3 post Lilly Meister, Indiana should have an advantage in the paint.
More to the point? Indiana will run its offense through Striplin in a way Utah does not with its post players.
Striplin has had seven games where she took 10 shots or more. Included was a 12-for-12 shooting performance from the field in a 75-60 win at Penn State in December. Striplin scored 27 in that game.
It wasn’t her season-high. That came in a 70-67 loss at Michigan in February. Striplin had 28 points on 12 of 19 shooting. Overall, Striplin had 15 games where she reached double-figure scoring.
Meister can also take her share of shots, reaching 10 or more shots in four games. She reached her season scoring high of 20 points three times, most recently against Wisconsin in December.
Keep Utah Under 23 Defensive Rebounds
Game-by-game team statistics are rarely so stark as they are with Utah’s rebounding numbers.
When the Utes get 23 defensive rebounds or more, they are 16-1. When they’re held under 23 rebounds, the Utes are 6-7.
Is this something that’s realistic for Indiana to accomplish? Yes. The Hoosiers kept their opponent under 23 defensive boards in 13 games.
However, it won’t be easy. Indiana doesn’t put a high priority on offensive rebounds as they prefer to release defensively to avoid opposing transition opportunities.
Indiana only had double-digit offensive rebounding totals in two games – and none since December. Against Big Ten competition, Indiana only got to seven offensive rebounds twice.
However, Utah could be vulnerable on the glass. The Utes had five games where its opponent had double-digit offensive rebounding totals, including a high of 18 by Oklahoma State in February.
