2023-24 Big Ten Women's Basketball Preview: Indiana
How far can these Hoosiers go in the final year of the Mackenzie Holmes era?
A quick aside before talking Hoosiers, the Big Ten released its full conference schedule for this women’s basketball season. There’s great matchups up and down the slate, which is to be expected in a conference so deep with talent.
Much of those excellent matchups are highlighted by these top three. I’m very excited to talk about the first team on my preseason podium.
Last Week’s Preview:
Overview
The rise of Indiana under Teri Moren has been something to behold.
The Hoosiers had some moments throughout their program’s lifetime, and Moren did take on a team that won 21 games in (current WNBA head coach) Curt Miller’s final year in Bloomington. But nobody has led Indiana to this level of sustained success before like Moren has.
Last year was Indiana’s eighth straight 20-win season, and the sixth straight year they were in, or going to be in (24-8 in COVID-canceled 2020), the NCAA Tournament. The program had six 20-win seasons in its history prior to Moren.
The 2022-23 campaign was, in some ways, the best in program history. The 28-4 record paired with a Big Ten regular season crown certainly speaks to that, as do the numbers: my goodness, look at these numbers.
You will have to look far and wide to find a more well-balanced team than Indiana was last season. These Hoosiers could score better than almost anybody, defended better than anyone in the Big Ten, could score at will from the interior and with the deep ball, and all while holding a sizable advantage on the glass.
With broad strokes, this was Teri Moren’s masterpiece, and watching Indiana was a true joy. But, of course, this 2022-23 team also comes with a major caveat.
The Hoosiers started the season 26-1. They had beaten Iowa at home, thoroughly dominated ranked Ohio State and Michigan teams, then beat in-state rival Purdue by 23 points. There was an argument to be made that they were the best team in the country.
Then Indiana went 2-3 in its final five games, each loss being by four points or less, each of them coming in agonizing fashion. First, a Caitlin Clark buzzer-beater loss to Iowa. Then, Ohio State’s historic second-half comeback in the Big Ten Tournament. Finally, Miami’s monumental upset, again on a buzzer-beater, in the Round of 32.
I apologize to the Hoosier faithfuls, and I don’t bring those up for no reason. This was a truly special team that caught three really, really tough breaks. If anything, I would expect losses like that to fuel this year’s roster, which is filled with players more than capable of redemption.
Departures
Here’s last year’s Indiana roster, sorted by Her Hoop Stats win shares:
Five players exit from last year’s Indiana team, three of which are through the portal. Some depth at forward is gone and will need to be replaced, but the major, major loss comes in the form of Grace Berger.
Nobody can truly replicate what Berger brought to Indiana, at least not entirely. Even after missing about a month due to injury, Berger was the heartbeat of this Hoosier team. She is an outstanding playmaker, a tremendous scorer and the type of player you run your offense through any chance you get.
There’s a certain level of poise that Berger brings, and she allowed Indiana to slow down the pace and still remain efficient on offense. She was also a terrific defender, a consistently clutch performer and an all-time icy shooter from midrange.
Berger played extremely well whenever the Indiana Fever were nice enough to give her the extended minutes she has deserved from day one. I’m excited to see her WNBA career continue forward as she *hopefully* turns into a full-time starter in year two.
Returnees and Transfers
There have been three key faces in the recent Teri Moren movement at Indiana, at least for me. The first was Ali Patberg, a terrific guard and current Hoosier recruitment coordinator who played with a certain level of passion and heart that was infectious for the entire roster. Then there was Berger, the old-fashioned, reliable guard who did everything and anything Indiana needed.
Finally, it’s Mackenzie Holmes, a bonafide superstar post player that can, has, and will continue to lead the Hoosiers to big things. This is her final year of eligibility, and it is set to be a special one, as she sits less than 600 points behind Tyra Buss for the program record.
As a scorer, Holmes is borderline unguardable in the post. She shot 69.1 percent from inside the arc, and is also terrific at getting the offensive board on the rare chance she does miss. Defensively, she was the best in the conference, earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Because of her two-way dominance, I heavily, heavily considered Holmes for Big Ten Player of the Year (I don’t get an actual vote, for the record).
Behind Holmes is four massive returnees at guard. Chloe Moore-McNeil remains extremely underrated for everything she does. She’s a solid scorer, but brings a whole lot more to the table as a terrific defender and passer. Her assist-to-turnover ratio was also sixth best in the nation, and I expect her to take on more of those duties without Berger.
Hey speaking of underrated, I’m still mad that Sydney Parrish missed the All-Big Ten teams. She’s another tenacious defender on the Big Ten’s top defense, and brought such a spark to Indiana with big-time threes in huge game-turning moments. Sara Scalia was also a great shooter for the Hoosiers off the bench, even in a year where her efficiency from deep dropped (41.3% in 21-22, 34.4% in 22-23). I think another year in the system for the Minnesota transfer will help dramatically.
The final returner with major production from last season is Yarden Garzon, who was beyond excellent as a true freshman for the Hoosiers. She was among the nation’s best perimeter shooters, and was a great rebounder as a guard. Garzon also hit one of the coldest shots of the season, even if it ended up being in a loss. We cannot let this shot be forgotten.
Year two Garzon is a scary thought for the rest of the Big Ten. The star potential was very clear, then Garzon had an offseason as a key contributor for the Israel national team at Eurobasket. She is 19 years old, by the way.
Those five returnees, plus Berger, all played at least 26.8 minutes per game. No one else on the roster, outside of Kaitlin Peterson in six contests, played more than seven minutes per game. That lack of depth may or may not have been a factor in Indiana’s losses late in the season, but regardless, I’m sure Moren would love to improve the bench production.
Lilly Meister and Lexus Bargesser are great candidates to do so. Both found small, but consistent roles for the Hoosiers as first-year players, and both shot the ball tremendously when called upon. Henna Sandvik is another second-year player who could carve out a larger role, especially if she seems improvement from deep.
Of the three, Meister especially has an opportunity to earn minutes to spell Holmes. Indiana’s superstar has gotten banged up over the years, including in the NCAA Tournament where the Hoosiers held her out of the Round of 64 for rest. Anything Moren can do to keep Holmes healthy for March will be massive, and Meister should be able to help more with that in year two.
Indiana’s lone transfer portal addition will also help in that regard.
Sharnecce Currie-Jelks is a tremendous find by Moren and co. Last year’s OVC Freshman of the Year already proved capable of taking over, and was UT Martin’s leading scorer and rebounder, doing so with the team’s best shooting percentage.
The transition to the Big Ten likely won’t be seamless or immediate, but Currie-Jelks’ ability to flash should provide Indiana exactly what it needs to help this team stay fresh all season. That, plus having three years of eligibility remaining, makes this a worthy solo acquisition through the portal.
Freshmen
Is signing two players considered the best in their states, good? In my opinion I would have to say yes, and both Lenée Beaumont and Julianna LaMendola appear talented and college ready enough to contribute right away.
LaMendola was a dominant presence inside throughout her high school career, and has already flashed her ability as a perimeter scorer in Indiana’s exhibition games overseas. There’s a lot to like with her game, and I expect we will get to see it throughout the year as a prominent reserve role.
The same can likely be said of Beaumont, who finished one of those exhibitions with 12 rebounds and eight assists. The shot wasn’t falling there, but it fell plenty during her time at Benet Academy. This feels like a dynamic duo that, along with Garzon, gives Moren an excellent foundation of underclassmen to build with past this season.
Outlook
Projected Starters
G - Chloe Moore-McNeil
G - Sara Scalia
G - Sydney Parrish
G - Yarden Garzon
F - Mackenzie Holmes
Projected Big Ten Finish: 3rd
Indiana was one of the best teams in the country a season ago, and three brutally close losses at the end of the campaign doesn’t change that. Even without Berger, this roster is absolutely build to remain among the nation’s best once again.
It’s hard to pick against the five returning players with by far the most experience in an Indiana uniform as starters, so I won’t! If Currie-Jelks or either of the freshmen impress enough, I could see Scalia being the primary scorer off the bench, but I love this starting five and how much terror it would bring to opposing defenses.
I already said a lot about Holmes, but she is the type of super weapon coaches dream of, and her skillset reminds me more of WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston that I think people give her credit for. They are not the same player, no, but Holmes is one of the country’s best interior scorers and defenders without question.
I’m buying up all the Yarden Garzon stock that is available, she seems primed for a big, big year two with more opportunity to be a primary option. Parrish and Moore-McNeil also should be able to take on a lot of the Berger responsibilities as crunch-time scorers and key facilitators, respectively.
This Indiana roster, in some ways, might be better than the one that won 28 games. It at least has the potential to be much deeper. Only time will tell how much Berger’s absence is truly felt, as she was a true “more than the box score” player by every definition.
That being said, the Hoosiers have all the weapons in the world to be as dominant as any Moren team we’ve seen yet. This team is filled to the brim with perimeter scorers, all of which should help Holmes find even more space inside.
No. 3 in-conference ranking aside, this team should have all the aspirations of a team that was just a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed. Here’s hoping that, come March, a revenge tour is in the making for the final season of the Patberg-Berger-Holmes era, a transformative and program-changing set of seasons for Indiana women’s basketball.
Photo Credit: Alex Paul Photo (@alexpaulphoto) Twitter/X
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