Indiana Women's Basketball Guard Grace Berger is a Quiet, Competitive Leader

She may not be that loud, but her competitive spirit says enough. The talented guard Grace Berger will return for her fifth year at Indiana next season, but until then Berger has more work to do and more players to lead deep into the NCAA Tournament.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana head coach Teri Moren didn’t even know senior guard Grace Berger was returning next season for her fifth year.

“Grace is such a funny kid,” Moren said. “Grace and I never even had a conversation about her returning. Basically she told our director of basketball ops that she was not going to be a part of the senior video.”

That’s how the more quiet and reserved Louisville, Ky native chose to break the exciting news. When the director of operations told Berger Coach Moren was sitting right next to her and asked Berger if Coach knew she planned on returning, Berger said, ‘okay, then you can tell her.’

“We were hopeful, keeping our fingers crossed that we would have the opportunity to coach her another year,” Moren said. “We were obviously excited and ecstatic.”

Grace Berger

IU Athletics

Moren will be losing senior forward Aleksa Gulbe and graduate student guards Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and Ali Patberg to graduation following this season. Combined, the three average 35.5 points per game, and Moren needs to fill that void.

Berger is an excellent place to start as she leads the team with 16.4 points per game and is third in line behind Gulbe and junior forward Mackenzie Holmes as the team’s best guard rebounder. Berger is known for her mid range jumpers, but her 6.2 rebounds per game don’t go unnoticed.

While Berger has referred to her jumpers as the money shot, she is conscious of shooting well beyond the arc and sharpening her craft before next season.

“I think one of the things that she's continued to work on is her outside, her three, becoming more consistent with that,” Moren said. “No kid gets more reps outside of practice than Grace Berger does with her three ball. She has to find her consistency. We know she can score at the other two levels.”

The three-time All-American award winner made a splash in the Big Ten tournament totaling 63 points across all four games. Her best performance was against Iowa in the Big Ten championship game where she led the Hoosiers with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Indiana fell short, falling to the Hawkeyes 74-67. Although they didn’t finish the job, it was the first time the Hoosiers played in the championship game since 2002. Berger would have been just two years old.

Since then, Indiana has advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round after defeating Charlotte 85-51 inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday. Berger put up 18 points, totaled six rebounds and also six assists. 

Grace Berger

Indiana's Grace Berger (34) scorees during the second half of the Indiana versus Charlotte women's NCAA First Round game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, March 19, 2022.

“Grace is a leader for our team,” Patberg said. “She may not be the loudest person on the floor or off the floor, but she leads by example every single day with her work ethic, with the way she approaches every drill, every rep. She's a competitor.”

Patberg has been around the program the longest at five years and has been termed the leader, but Moren says the pair leads in different ways. Patberg is a more emotional player that leads on the floor. Berger on the other hand is hard to pull emotion out of sometimes.

“I think Grace has grown in her leadership,” Moren said. “She just does it in a different way. She does communicate at a high level inside of practice with her teammates, and she does challenge them. That's again two different kinds of leadership but both really important for our team.”

The one word Patberg and Moren called Berger was competitive. She brings that spirit out of her entire team. She has expectations for herself and those around her, Moren said.

“I'm just thankful that she's been my teammate,” Patberg said. “She's pushed me to be a better person and better player.”

Berger leads by example, and sophomore guard Chloe Moore-McNeil is catching onto her tendencies.

Grace Berger and Chloe Moore-McNeil

Indiana's Chloe Moore-McNeil (22) gives a five to Grace Berger (34) after scoring during the first half of the Indiana versus Charlotte women's NCAA First Round game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, March 19, 2022.

“She might not say much, but I feel like her work says a lot,” Moore-McNeil said. “Even last year being a freshman, just let her teach me, and watch her, and she really sets a great example for me.”

The good news is Berger and the Hoosiers aren’t done setting examples just yet this season as they look forward to facing Princeton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at 8 p.m. on Monday.

No matter how far the Hoosiers get in the postseason, one thing is for certain: Berger is here to stay.

“I do think as Grace has been in our program, she's found her voice,” Moren said.

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• INDIANA CRUISES PAST CHARLOTTE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND: No. 3-seeded Indiana showed Charlotte what Big Ten basketball is all about, with the Hoosiers winning 85-51 in the first round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Junior forward Mackenzie Holmes led the Hoosiers with 19 points, her best showing since returning from knee surgery. CLICK HERE.
• HOOSIERS TO PLAY CHARLOTTE IN FIRST ROUND: For the first time in program history, No. 3-seed Indiana will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. First, the Hoosiers will face No. 14-seed Charlotte, the C-USA's regular season and tournament champions, in the first round. CLICK HERE.
• ALI PATBERG WILL BE THE KEY TO DEEP TOURNAMENT RUN: Indiana guard Ali Patberg has been a part of five NCAA Tournaments during her first two seasons at Notre Dame and her four seasons at Indiana. Her super seniority and postseason knowledge will be critical as the Hoosiers enter their third consecutive NCAA Tournament on Saturday. CLICK HERE.