How to Watch Indiana Women's Basketball Versus Tennessee Tech in First Round of NCAA Tournament
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — One-seed Indiana women's basketball will take on 16-seed Tennessee Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.
The one-seed is the highest in program history for the Hoosiers who finished their regular season with a 27-3 record and a Big Ten regular season title for the first time since the 1983 season.
The Golden Eagles were the winner of the First Four game versus Monmouth Thursday night in the Hall as Tennessee Tech won 79-69 led by senior guards Maaliya Owens and Jada Guinn's 18 respective points.
Owens leads the Golden Eagles averaging 14.8 points per contest while freshman guard Reghan Grimes crashes the boards with 5.8 rebounds.
Tennessee Tech is on a hot streak right now as it's won the last eight games including the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship over Little Rock on March 4.
"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 in a Friday morning discussion with media.
"But we have all week been spreading out workloads from our staff in terms of covering all the teams we're playing. Our kids weren't here last night, but they were watching on TV. Our staff was certainly here. This is a hot team right now. They're not to be taken lightly."
Moren said at this point in the season, she throws the seeds out the window, and it's obvious it doesn't matter if you flip on the TV and witness the upsets that have already happened in March on the men's side.
"You want your team to be playing their best basketball," Moren said. "It's obvious that Tennessee Tech right now is playing their best basketball."
The Golden Eagles' offense is the best in the OVC as they average 69.4 points per game. Their defense ranks third as it allows its opponents to score 62.6 points.
Owens leads the conference with the best three-point clip at 41 percent as she makes about 2.8 triples per game. Overall, the team shoots 43.2 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from the three-point line. The big bugaboo for Tennessee Tech is its 16.1 turnovers per game.
Indiana is led by senior forward and reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Mackenzie Holmes' 22.3 points and 7.3 boards per game. She's one of four Hoosiers averaging double-figure scoring as the team shoots a combined 49.8 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three.
The Hoosiers haven't played a game since March 4, which gave them exactly two weeks to prepare for March Madness. Moren said she thought the break was good after a tough Big Ten schedule and gave them plenty of time to hone in on making improvements throughout practice.
"I want them playing with joy and freedom and fun," Moren said. "You try to take the pressure off of them and just remind them, 'let's just go out and be who we've been all year and do what we've been able to do all year without the pressure'."
The winner of the matchup will face the winner of the Oklahoma State, Miami game in the second round still hosted in the Hall on Monday, March 20.
How to Watch 16-seed Tennessee Tech vs. one-seed Indiana
- Who: 16-seed Tennessee Tech (23-9) vs. one-seed Indiana Hoosiers (27-3)
- When: Saturday, March 18, 2023, 11:30 a.m. ET
- Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall — Bloomington, Ind.
- Broadcast: ESPN 2
- Radio: WHCC 105.1
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