BLOOMINGTON, Ind.  – The Indiana Hoosiers Women’s Basketball team opened up its season with an exhibition game against the McKendree Bearcats at home on Sunday and came away with a 109-43 victory. Sophomore Aleksa Gulbe led the Hoosiers with 20 points and eight rebounds behind seven players in double figures.
KEY MOMENTS
- Indiana set the tone early on as it opened the game up on an 11-0 run. Sophomore guard Grace Berger had four steals in that span that led to three coast-to-coast layups and two free throw attempts.
- Junior guard Jaelynn Penn gave the Hoosiers a 16-point lead at the 2:32 mark on a three-point attempt that was assisted by redshirt freshman Chanel Wilson and led to a McKendree timeout. Indiana led McKendree after the first quarter 27-6.
- In the second quarter, junior guard Keyanna Warthen put the Hoosiers over the 50-point mark with 4:02 remaining in the half as they outscored the Bearcats, 31-22, in the second and took a 58-18 lead at halftime.
- At the break, Indiana was paced by Berger’s 14 points with eight other players contributing in the first half.
- The second half was much of the same for Indiana, as it would outscore the Bearcats a total of 51-25. A 3-pointer from Gulbe put the Hoosiers over the 100-point mark with 4:05 remaining in the game.
- 12 Hoosiers saw action in the game behind all five starters scoring in double figures.
NOTABLE
- The Hoosiers are now 19-0 in exhibition games since the 2004-05 season.
- Indiana shot 57.1 percent in the first half from the floor while only allowing McKendree to shoot 17.2 percent from the floor.
- For the game the Hoosiers shot an even 56 percent from the floor while shooting 47.8 percent from behind the arc.
- The turnover battle was won heavily by the Hoosiers with the Hoosiers only committing eight to McKendree’s 24.
- Indiana won the rebounding margin 46-28.
- The Hoosiers moved the ball around efficiently recording 24 assists on 42 made baskets and only allowed six Bearcat assists.
- Berger had all six of her steals in the first quarter which led to seven of her nine first quarter points.
- The Hoosiers had seven players who scored in double figures, Gulbe (20), Jorie Allen (15), Warthen (15), Berger (14), Wise (12), Patberg (10) and Penn (10).
QUOTABLEÂ
Head Coach Teri Moren
“The season is here. We were excited about this afternoon and excited about the opportunity to get back out there on the floor and play together. I was pretty pleased with our effort and our energy level. I thought it was good. We knew going into it that we needed to have some patience especially with our young kids. I’m sure there were some nerves that they had to walk themselves through and work themselves out. I really liked our energy. The challenge was to just sustain that in the second half. I thought we did a pretty good job. Obviously, the scoring was spread throughout. One of the biggest goals I have for this basketball team going into the season is not being last. I don’t like being last in anything. Last year, we were last in the Big Ten in assists. The challenge is for us to do a much better job and improve in that area of sharing the ball and capitalizing when we are executing our offense at a high level and being able to knock down shots. I was excited to look down and see that we got our goal today. I wanted 15 or more and they exceeded that. I was happy for that group. I think today, you got to see a little bit of the depth that we have than we had a year ago which was very positive. We were able to play a lot of those young kids. Those kids that are probably going to be coming off the bench and play a lot of minutes for us in order for us to rest AP (Ali Patberg), (Jaelynn) Penn, and Bendu (Yeaney) when she gets back as well as Brenna Wise. I’m sure we will find some things that we will need to continue to work on and improve. Overall, I really liked our effort and the way that we managed the game throughout and how we ended it as well.”
UP NEXT
The Hoosiers will begin their regular season this Thursday, Nov. 7 when they host the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers at 7 p.m. Indiana has won their last six season openers.
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