New-look IU women's basketball dominates UMass Lowell, continues building chemistry

BLOOMINGTON — Back in September, IU coach Teri Moren was speaking about her somewhat new-look team. The 2022-23 roster features seven newcomers. It also features seven holdovers. Describing her team, which features old and new, Moren said this:

“Do we have enough pieces? I think we'll have enough firepower… And so it's going to be up to us in terms of how quickly we can build relationships with each other, how quickly our chemistry can be, once again, really, really, really good.”

Perhaps that’s the most intriguing question for IU women’s basketball early in the season. The puzzle pieces are there. Whether IU can reach its lofty goals this season might hinge on when — or if — they can fit together.

More IU women's basketball:Teri Moren has built something special. But she's not done yet.

The 11th-ranked Hoosiers drubbed UMass Lowell, 93-37 Friday night, a team that was clearly outmatched. There were mostly good signs but also some growing pains in the victory. IU is now 2-0, but it’s likely that we will learn a lot more about where this team stands after IU’s game at No. 4 Tennessee on Monday. But Friday was another opportunity to build chemistry.

“They are a great group,” Moren said. “They’re very enjoyable to coach. I do think they like each other. I think we’re on the right track as far as building our chemistry.”

Part of the challenge this season is filling notable departures. Aleksa Gulbe, Ali Patberg and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary are no longer playing for the Hoosiers. They each played crucial roles in IU’s recent success.

IU, though, returned two especially notable pieces —- Mackenzie Holmes and Grace Berger. That star duo has also been instrumental in IU’s rise. On Friday, Holmes played like a centerpiece, scoring 17 points and grabbing five rebounds. Berger didn’t put up eye-popping scoring numbers, but did stuff the stat sheet —- six points, four rebounds and three assists.

Finding a way to gell that duo, plus other returnees, with the newcomers is an important storyline to track this season. IU brought in three experienced transfers — Sydney Parrish (Oregon), Alyssa Geary (Providence) and Sara Scalia (Minnesota). Scalia, a talented shooter, was in IU’s starting lineup. On Friday, she showed flashes of her skillset, hitting 3-of-7 from deep.

Parrish and Geary came off the bench. Parrish, who won 2020 IndyStar Miss Basketball, looked like an indispensable spark on both ends of the floor. On Friday, she scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. Geary provided frontcourt depth, scoring four points and hauling in four boards.

There are also four freshmen added to the fold this season. The most notable is Yarden Garzon, a versatile 6-3 weapon who started for the Hoosiers. She had an impressive season-opening stat line earlier this week, though she didn’t replicate it Friday.

When building cohesiveness, the importance of those like Berger and Holmes extends beyond their tangible skillset. They’ve served as a bridge to their new teammates.

“For me personally, people like Mackenzie and Grace have really just kinda —- they’re like the glue of our team,” Scalia said. “They’ve kinda made sure everyone is together.”

On Friday, the Hoosiers played very good defense, holding UMass Lowell to shoot just 26.5% from the field and 19% from 3. Offensively, the Hoosiers dominated inside, outscoring UMass Lowell 60-10 in paint points. UMass Lowell had 25 turnovers.

One of the concerns to come out of Friday, though, was IU’s lack of efficiency from deep. The Hoosiers shot just 22.7% from 3. That area was a collective struggle last season. On Friday, IU left a handful of points on the board with misses from the stripe. The Hoosiers shot just 60% from the free-throw line.

“I thought we still got great looks (from three), it just didn’t go down for us, that’ll happen inside of a game,” Moren said. “But I am disappointed with our free-throw shooting. I’m not very happy with that category."

It’s not fair to draw too many big-picture conclusions from this game. But IU took care of business as needed. That’s a solid foundation to build off.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana women's basketball: Hoosiers blow out UMass Lowell