No. 10 Indiana women beat Iowa after reaching new heights in poll

Indiana coach Teri Moren has guided her team to new heights this season.

The No. 10 Hoosiers achieved their highest ranking ever Monday and are sitting in second place in the Big Ten with one game left in the regular season. She’s proud of what they’ve accomplished in her seven years at the helm of the program, including a WNIT championship in 2018 and two NCAA tournament appearances.

“We’re grateful and it says a lot about our staff and the work we’ve done and how we’ve tried to go about our business in building this thing brick by brick and not miss steps along the way,” Moren said in a Zoom interview. “The players have embraced our vision of what we want Indiana basketball to look like.”

The team has come a long way from when Moren was a young girl, growing up in Southern Indiana. She was a diehard fan of the Indiana basketball team. The men’s one that is.

Back then the women’s team just wasn’t very good. Times have changed, as Moren has built the program into a blue- collar team that focuses on defense and is a consistent Top 25 team the past few seasons, appearing in the poll for 35 consecutive weeks. Before that, the Hoosiers had been ranked for a total of six appearances.

“We pride ourselves in our toughness and ability to be gritty,” said Moren, who has spent her whole coaching career in the state, at Indianapolis and Indiana State before arriving at Indiana in 2014.

The Hoosiers (17-4) have a balanced offense, and with 15 Big Ten victories after Wednesday’s 89-80 win over Iowa tied the school record set in 1983. Indiana has won eight consecutive games, 12 of its past 13.

Syracuse

Alan Griffin hit three consecutive 3-pointers to score nine of his 22 points in just under three minutes Wednesday, as Syracuse opened the second half on a furious 15-2 run to break away from Clemson for a 64-54 win. The Orange (15-8, 9-7 ACC) hit their first six shots of the second half, including three from distance, while Clemson (15-6, 9-6) was 1 of 4 shooting. The teams had ended a coldshooting first half with Syracuse ahead 25-22. Clemson closes the regular season against visiting Pitt on Saturday.