IU Athletics
What Teri Moren Said After Indiana Women's Basketball Earned NCAA Tournament One-Seed
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — On Selection Sunday, Indiana women's basketball earned the program's first one-seed in the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.
This means the Hoosiers will once again host the first and second rounds of the tournament in Bloomington, Ind. Head coach Teri Moren addressed the media following the reveal.
TERI MOREN: It's been a long week for us. It's been a great week for us because we've been able to sort of shut down a little bit mentally and physically and rest up, but we have practiced.
That has been kind of a weird week just because we've been really prepping for no one. I thought today our energy level had picked up just because tonight knowing that come tomorrow we're at least — we have an idea of potential teams that we may be playing and so we're once again grateful.
There's only 68 teams that get selected year in and year out and, you know, to be selected first, but also, to get that No. 1 seed, which has never happened in this program, is both thrilling but we're very humbled by it and just grateful for the opportunity that's ahead of us.
On refocusing this week and balancing stress...
MOREN: Well, there are certainly some things that we needed to identify going into this week's practice that we had to talk about and we had to wrap and we had to prep for and just really improve and that's coming off of the Iowa and certainly in even the Big Ten you know — things that are going down the road here that we expect we'll see.
And so it was a great week for us to work on things. Certainly, both offensively and defensively get some rest. They weren't near as long in duration. I tried to make it short and intense, and so that's sort of how we approached it all week.
But yeah, I'm not gonna lie. It was a challenge, I think for these guys to come in every day and get excited about, you know, just our improvements and what we were asking them to do, but they handled themselves in the right kind of way. And like I said, I thought today they were, you know, really, really good in terms of getting their focus on track.
On potentially playing in Greenville...
MOREN: Yeah, I think we're excited. You know, I think and again, nothing against Seattle. That's a long trip, you know, and so I think we're thrilled if we can play well enough here in Bloomington in front of our fans, and we can get to that second weekend.
I think we're very thrilled with the thought of, you know...don't know how these guys feel, but I think a great dose of sunshine [is] hopefully in our future — we hope so.
On the men's tournament...
MOREN: Are we excited about our men? Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, it's — this is what Indiana basketball is right? Or tradition is, you know, on both sides with men's and women's basketball and to have our men playing also in the field of 68 is certainly I know, it's the expectation for Hoosier Nation, for our fans.
And so, I think everybody should be excited about that. You know, both programs right now are delivering on what everybody expects us to do year in and year out, and that's to be playing in March. I love that, so we're excited.
On practicing...
MOREN: Oh, no doubt, you know, we talk about it all the time...and, you know, we go into every practice with a plan of especially the areas that we know we have to improve on, and there's a lot and so we try to really mix up what we do day in and day out.
You know, because we know there's a seat. There's no ceiling really. I mean, we just have whether it's, you know, on the defensive side of the ball, whether it's offensively, how we're going to attack pressure in the future because that's going to happen down the road.
We know that...and how we're going to handle ourselves against a gray zone team because now once you get into the field, you're playing different opponents, not that it's ever easy in the Big but you can, you know, share a little bit of tendencies when you're inside the conference play.
I've always said this about this group because of the balance, because of the talent because of their competitiveness, how business-like they approach each game that the sky's the limit for this group. It really is, they can accomplish whatever they set their minds to.
Our job as coaches and our staff — we just try to help them, prepare them as well as we can, but ultimately, we know that the resume that we put together is because these guys...they're responsible for the No. 1 seed.
On Virginia Tech earning a one-seed...
MOREN: Let's think back to 2018 when Virginia Tech was here right, and we played them in the WNIT championship and so you know, it's a different team just like Indiana's a different team that you don't really see, you know, as a No. 1 seed.
Yeah, I think it's so great for women's basketball, and I think it's great for fans that are women's basketball fans that I think have really been waiting for this moment in time where, and no offense to those other schools, the Stanford's and the South Carolina's that traditionally — and the UConn's that show up all terrific programs and just sustain and be able to do what they have been able to do is unbelievable, but I think it's really great for our game, that there are other teams now that are — I think it's changed everything. I can't tell you how good I think it is for our game as a whole.
Related stories on NCAA basketball
- HOOSIERS EARN ONE-SEED IN NCAA TOURNAMENT For the first time in program history, Indiana women's basketball has earned a one-seed, which means it will host the first and second rounds of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament in Bloomington, Ind. CLICK HERE
- 2023 NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS The field of 68 women's teams competing in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament will be announced on Selection Sunday night. Here is all the information you need to know about the tournament teams so far complete with a schedule, locations and game times. CLICK HERE
- MACKENZIE HOLMES EARNS ALL-AMERICA HONORS Hoosier senior forward Mackenzie Holmes has earned plenty of honors this season, and she can now add All-America first team to her resume. See her list of accolades inside the story. CLICK HERE
