Indiana Women's Basketball Season Wrap-Up: A Historic One to Remember
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana women's basketball had a historic season. It might have surprisingly been cut short by one off night, but one game doesn't erase all the other accolades the team built up in the 2022-23 season.
"These guys have been so good," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said.
"It's at times frustrating because I think it's human nature for us to always remember the last game, just like it was when we lost in the Big Ten Tournament to Ohio State. It was the last game, and everybody sort of wrote Indiana off, I felt like."
Monday night, Indiana saw its season end in the final seconds of the second round of the NCAA Tournament when Miami hit one last shot to win 70-68 and advance to the Sweet 16.
Before the heartbreak, the Hoosiers undeniably had the best regular season in program history. On Big Ten Media Days before the season, Moren said she had a lot of interesting pieces on her team.
At the time, nobody seemed to know what that meant or how four freshmen and three transfers would fit into the program that had just come off a Sweet 16 appearance and lost seniors Ali Patberg, Aleksa Gulbe and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary to graduation.
The Hoosiers showed what that meant early as they started off destroying their first three non-conference opponents. The first big test came with No. 11 Tennessee where the Hoosiers made the trip to Knoxville and beat the Volunteers 79-67 as five Hoosiers scored in double figures.
Tennessee forward Jasmine Franklin (14) tries to get around Indiana guard Sydney Parrish (33) during the NCAA women's college basketball game on Monday, November 14, 2022 in Knoxville, Tenn.
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Soon after was the Las Vegas Invitational, a not-so awesome event where Indiana saw its star point guard Grace Berger go down with a right knee injury in the Auburn game. The Hoosiers managed to win without her and only lost once to Michigan State in the six weeks the motor of their offense was out.
On Dec. 1 without Berger at the point, Indiana defeated No. 6 North Carolina 87-63 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge where 5,939 fans watched this milestone happen. That crowd would only get bigger as word spread about the fierce and talented program.
Finally, the first loss came on Dec. 29 when Indiana fell to Michigan State 83-78 in East Lansing. Still, senior forward Mackenzie Holmes recorded a career-high 32 points, which she later broke.
Indiana bounced back by consistently beating ranked Big Ten opponents like Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa throughout the season. A regular season record crowd of 10,422 fans showed up for the Hoosiers' win over Wisconsin on Jan. 15 and topped that total at the following home game versus Ohio State as 10,455 pans packed Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
On senior night, the crowd record for regular and post season was again shattered as a sold-out group of 17,222 fans came to see the Hoosiers whoop Purdue 83-60 in an emotional day for seniors Berger and Alyssa Geary. Once the buzzer sounded, Indiana became Big Ten regular season champions for the first time since 1983.
Indiana's Chloe Moore-McNeil (22), front left, Yarden Garzon (12), top left, Mona Zaric (24), front right, and Kiandra Browne (23), right pose for a selfie with their parts of the net after the second half of the Indiana versus Purdue women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023.
© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
Don't forget about Moren becoming the all-time winningest coach in nine seasons after the road win over Illinois marking win 189 where her team surprised her in the locker room with t-shirts of Moren wearing a crown.
Remember how the Hoosiers were consistently ranked No. 2 for weeks in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and earned nine wins over ranked opponents this season.
"There's been so many great things that have happened with our program," Moren said. "I choose to focus on all the great things instead of those four hiccups that we have."
The four losses Indiana recorded were only lost by a combined 12 points as the Hoosiers finished with a 28-4 season record, the best in program history, and a 16-2 conference slate, which ties the 2020-21 season for best Big Ten record.
"As we move forward...we're going to remember that 12 points," Moren said. "You're 28-4; that's a great season for a team that was picked third I think in the Big Ten and end up winning only the second Big Ten championship. You get a No. 1 seed, which has never happened here in the history of Indiana women's basketball."
Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes (54), third from the left, holds up three fingers along with the rest of the bench after a Yarden Garzon shot during the first round of the NCAA women's tournament at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, March 18, 2023. Indiana defeated Tennessee Tech 77-47 to advance to the second round.
© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
The first one-seed in program history for the NCAA Tournament had national and local media, fans and Hoosiers hopeful for the program's first banner. Indiana had a stellar 77-47 win over Tennessee Tech in the first round but was just two points behind a dream.
"It hurts right now, but it should," Moren said. "We work hard, and winning is hard. Those kids are upset. They're emotional right now. Their plans were to win a national championship, and we have no problems talking about that goal."
Moren still ended the season as Big Ten Coach of the Year, the second time she earned that award and the most of any Indiana women's coach while Holmes took home the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as the program's first honoree.
Indiana's Grace Berger (34) uses a screen by Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes (54) to get by Ohio State's Taylor Mikesell (24) during the first half of the Indiana versus Ohio State women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023.
© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
Both Holmes and Berger finished this season as a respective first team and honorable mention All-American and first-team All-Big Ten honorees. Junior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil and Holmes found themselves on the All-Defensive team as freshman guard Yarden Garzon was named to the All-Freshman team.
"We'll regroup, and then the goals will remain the same: to win another Big Ten championship, to get to a Final Four," Moren said. "We've just done so many great things this year, and it's really hard — I'm sad, but golly, when I look back, I'm very proud."
Related stories on Indiana women's basketball
- AMAZING GRACE BERGER Through tears and heartache, Indiana women's basketball teammates and coach Teri Moren had grace-filled words to say honoring guard Grace Berger's last game in the Hoosier uniform. CLICK HERE
- WHAT TERI MOREN SAID Indiana women's basketball fell to Miami 70-68 in the NCAA Tournament second round to end its season. Here's what head coach Teri Moren said in an emotional close to the season. CLICK HERE
- GRACE BERGER'S FOUNDATIONAL CAREER Grace Berger was instrumental in the growth of Indiana women's basketball, and her five-year career came to an end on Monday with a 70-68 loss to No. 9 seed Miami in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. CLICK HERE
