“Entitled to nothing”: Indiana fully prepared to face Oklahoma in NCAA tournament second round
The last time Indiana and Oklahoma women’s basketball were in the same building, the two programs were in Fort Myers, Florida, for the Fort Myers Tip-Off in November. The Hoosiers and the Sooners were in the same four-team division but did not face each other over the weekend.
That will change Monday night as the two teams face off for the first time in history, fighting for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
“We know that we have a challenge ahead of us in a very, very good Oklahoma team,” Teri Moren said Sunday. “We’re in a great position to be at home and play in front of our home crowd, and understand that there’s a task at hand, business to take care of.”
Monday night’s game means a great deal to both teams for various reasons. For No. 4-seed Indiana, it’s a chance to finally be rid of the memories of losing to No. 9-seed Miami in the round of 32 last season and an opportunity to make Mackenzie Holmes, Ariella Wisne and Sara Scalia’s last game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall a good one. For No. 5-seed Oklahoma, it’s an opportunity to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2013 and hand Indiana its first home loss.
Oklahoma, the regular-season Big 12 champion, is no stranger to challenging road environments, playing against Texas and Iowa State in Big 12 play. The Sooners swept Texas — a No. 1 seed in the tournament — in the regular season, taking down the Longhorns 91-87 in Austin.
“I think that game is really preparing us for the game coming up,” senior forward Skylar Vann said. “Because when you’re playing great teams on their home floor, you’re down 10 points already.”
“This is what we play for all year,” senior guard Lexy Keys added.
Vann, a force under the basket, leads the Sooners in both points (15) and rebounds per game (6.9). Keys averages 8.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and is one of the team’s strongest perimeter presences. She shoots 40 percent from deep and has a team-high 57 3-pointers. She also leads the team with 51 steals.
The Sooners are known for scoring proficiently from multiple areas and moving quickly up and down the court, with 60 percent of their scoring coming within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock.
Indiana is coming off a fast-paced game Saturday afternoon against Fairfield, in which the Stags were able to control the pace in the first half before Indiana took control. The Hoosiers expect a similar effort from the Sooners but feel even more prepared after their win on Saturday.
“Whether it was in terms of their motion offense and playing five-out and all the cutting that we’re going to have to guard, I thought the preparation for Fairfield probably put us ahead of our preparation for Oklahoma,” Moren said.
Oklahoma enters Monday night’s matchup averaging 76.7 points per game to Indiana’s 79.8 points per game. On paper, the two teams match up well with strong presences both in the post and on the perimeter, which could mean the matchup outcome may be more determined by toughness and connectivity.
“You’re playing on someone else’s home floor in a big game that means a lot,” Oklahoma head coach Jennie Barancyzk said. “You’re playing a team that’s really hungry. You’ve got to not only match that, but you’ve got to get every loose ball, you’ve got to get every hustle play, you’ve got to play really free all at the same time.”
Moren and her team are taking a similar approach. They know the Sooners will come in ready to play hard and fast, and the Hoosiers are as mentally focused as possible. They, too, have outside noise, not about going up against an experienced team on their home court like Oklahoma, but with the fact that this is the last game at Assembly Hall for some of the greatest players to put on an Indiana uniform. That’s not on the Hoosiers’ minds right now, though.
“Just because it’s Mackenzie’s last game and Sara’s last game and Arielle’s last game, that doesn’t entitle us to wanting the script to be that they won their last game in Assembly, we’re not entitled to that,” Moren said. “We understand that we’ve got to work for that, we’ve got to earn it.”
Feelings can come later. Winning is the priority. For Indiana, that will start with setting the tone and pace of Monday’s game from the very beginning. That was something Indiana struggled to do against Miami last year, and it ended up costing the game and the season. The Hoosiers are determined that that will not be the case again.
“We try not to think much about last year, but I think it’s always in the back of our mind,” Sydney Parrish said. “We still have that chip on our shoulder and we never want to feel like we did after our loss last year.”
The Hoosiers have proven once they set their minds to something, they’re hard to beat. They haven’t lost at Assembly Hall all season, largely due to their ability to be fueled by their home crowd. But it’s called March Madness for a reason, and anything can happen. Indiana and Oklahoma are both as determined and focused as can be, and only time will tell who emerges victorious. Nothing is guaranteed, and everyone knows it.
“We’re working off just being grateful right now that we’re playing,” Moren said. “And understanding that we’re entitled to nothing.”
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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