Tonight, the #11 Indiana Hoosiers travel to Thompson-Boling Arena to play the #5 Tennessee Lady Vols for a 6pm match-up. This will mark the first time the two have played each other since the 2020-21 season, when Tennessee edged IU 66-58. Additionally, this will be Indiana’s fist challenge against a ranked team.
Tennessee is coming off of a big win against UMass after losing their season opener against #14 Ohio State, where the Buckeyes posted a 3rd quarter 18-0 run for a late game come back.
The Hoosiers enter the game 2-0, posting home victories over Vermont (86-49), and UMass Lowell (93-37).
Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren said, “[tonight’s game] will be a great test for us to see where we are.” Coach Moren discussed this year’s IU team, consisting of 7 new players, and returning only 2 starters to the line-up from last year’s Sweet Sixteen achieving squad.
“We are still trying to build our chemistry,” Coach Moren stated. “We’re going to be tested in every way against a great defensive team like Tennessee.”
The Lady Vols are led by the trio of Rickea Jackson, Jordan Horston, and Jasmine Powell, who are collectively averaging more than 40 points per game for UT.
Indiana will be continuing their starting line-up of All-American Graduate Guard Grace Berger, Senior Guard Sara Scalia, Junior Guard Chloe Moore-McNeil, Freshman Guard/Forward Yarden Garzon, and All-American Senior Forward Mackenzie Holmes.
“Why fix something that isn’t broken,” asked Coach Moren about using the same starters tonight as she had in the previous two games. “I like the way our rotation is looking right now.”
Tip-off is schedule for 6pm, and the game can be found on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+.
Other Notes
IU Forward Kiandra Brown is sidelined with a thumb injury.
The Lady Vols are scheduled to play 7 pre-season ranked teams this year, including 3 of the 4 teams who made last year’s Final Four. UT will host #1 South Carolina, #66 UConn, #11 Indiana, and #13 Virginia Tech; and hit the road to face #2 Stanford, and #16 LSU (already played #14 OSU).
Indiana is also scheduled against 7 pre-season ranked teams: #5 Tennessee, #12 North Carolina, #22 Nebraska, #17 Maryland, #14 OSU (x2), #25 Michigan (x2), and #4 Iowa (x2).
