Indiana Hoosiers
Overall Rank: #7
Conference Rank: #2 Big Ten
Coach Teri Moren took over an Indiana team that had not won an NCAA Tournament game since 1983. It took her one season to rebuild to put an end to that drought. Since that 2016 season, the Hoosiers have kept crawling their way forward. All that effort came to fruition last season when the Hoosiers finished second in the Big Ten and reached the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. With all five starters back, the Hoosiers will be looking to take the next steps and win a Big Ten title and get to the Final Four.
2020-21 Record: 21-6, 16-2
2020-21 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Teri Moren
Coach Record: 148-80 at Indiana, 347-210 overall
Key Departed Players (starters in bold)
Jaelynn Penn, Guard, 9.5 ppg
Keyanna Warthen, Guard, 1.8 ppg
Danielle Patterson, Guard/Forward, 1.7 ppg
Key Returning Players (starters in bold)
Mackenzie Holmes, Junior, Forward, 17.8 ppg
Grace Berger, Senior, Guard, 15.4 ppg
Ali Patberg, Senior, Guard, 14.0 ppg
Aleksa Gulbe, Senior, Forward, 9.0 ppg
Nicole Cardano-Hillary, Senior, Guard, 8.5 ppg
Kiandra Browne, Sophomore, Forward, 2.1 ppg
Chloe Moore-McNeil, Sophomore, Guard, 1.3 ppg
Grace Waggoner, Junior, Guard, 0.6 ppg
Key New Players
Keyarah Berry, Freshman, Guard
Caitlin Hose, Senior, Guard, Transfer from Georgia
Kaitlin Peterson, Freshman, Guard
Mona Zaric, Freshman, Forward
Projection:
Throughout February and March, the Hoosiers relied very heavily on their starters. Nobody else averaged more than nine minutes per game on the season. IU may find themselves in a similar situation in 2021-2022, at least to begin the campaign. Forward Mackenzie Holmes is coming off a huge season and will look to keep it going this time around. She became the Hoosiers first All-American honoree, earning honorable mention accolades, and led the Hoosiers with 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. Holmes shot 60.7 percent from the floor and the offense will again work through the talented 6-3 forward in the paint. Aleksa Gulbe will start beside Holmes again. She is a very good defender too and can do a little bit of shooting from long range. Grace Berger, Ali Patberg and Nicole Cardano-Hillary form a superb senior trio in the backcourt. Berger had another huge junior season, averaging 15.4 points, and 4.6 assists. She is not a shooter, but there are few players in the country who are as effective attacking the basket as Berger. Patberg had a bit of a down year, by her standards at least, averaging 14.0 points and shooting just 28.8 percent from beyond the arc. She shot 39.4 percent from beyond the arc in 2018-2019 and 38.6 percent in 2019-2020. If Patberg can get back to those numbers, this will be a very tough offense to stop. Of course, the Hoosiers will need to find some depth. Kiandra Browne showed some promise as a freshman and should manage most of the frontcourt minutes off the bench. Caitlin Hose has some starting experience at Georgia and incoming freshman point guard Kaitlin Peterson has the talent to make an impact right away. If Indiana can find enough depth to give their starters a bit of rest without too much of a drop in production, this group could win the Big Ten.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 74.4 (35th in nation, 7th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 59.9 (63, 2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.4 (21, 4)
Field-Goal Defense: 37.6 (59, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 4.1 (300, 14)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 28.0 (273, 13)
Free-Throw Percentage: 71.8 (127, 7)
Rebound Margin: 3.6 (72, 3)
Assists Per Game: 14.3 (86, 10)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.1 (5, 1)
Madness 2022 WNBA Draft Rankings:
#20 Ali Patberg
Madness 2021 Women’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#73 Kaitlin Peterson
