Everything Indiana head WBB coach Teri Moren said after NCAA Tournament loss to South Carolina

Indiana head women’s basketball coach Teri Moren spoke to the media following the team’s 64-53 loss to South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Here’s everything she had to say.

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Opening statement

“Well, congratulations to South Carolina. (They’re a) terrific team, and we’ll be cheering for them as they move forward and advance.

“(They had an) outstanding crowd. This is the first time we’ve been here – at least, I’ve been here. It’s a tough place to play. They make it a tough environment, but it’s great for women’s basketball. So, we are grateful for that.

“(I’m) proud of our group. We’re disappointed. I thought we did a great job defensively. We wanted it to be a low-possession game. I thought we came out and really did a great job. This is a team that averages over 80 points; we held them to 64. They average 40 points in the paint; we kept them about 10 below their average. (They average) 13 second-chance points; we just gave them five tonight.

“It was the third quarter that did us in. 14 points, I think, they scored in the paint in the third. We had five turnovers. (It was) just costly coming out of halftime. Other than that – the first, second, fourth quarter – we were right there. So, if we could have any do-overs, it would have been that third quarter. Maybe, we would have got the outcome we wanted.

“But (I’m) really grateful for our effort from our team. I’m really proud of them. (I) love these two (Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish) that are up here with me that represent Indiana. Like I said, we’re disappointed. But as I said to them, there’s a legacy that they’ve created at Indiana, and not a lot of kids can say that.

“I know the portal opens tomorrow, and a lot of these kids are going to be hopping around doing different things, but Syd and Chloe have won a lot of games at Indiana. They’ve won a Big Ten championship and put us in positions during March that have been really special. There’s no doubt that the two of these guys have left a legacy at Indiana. That’s really all you want out of your career. I’m very proud of them.”

On Indiana’s struggles in the third quarter

“I think it was probably a little bit of both (South Carolina finding another gear, and Indiana not replicating what it did earlier in the game). I wasn’t in Dawn (Staley)‘s halftime, but I imagine she might have been a little spirited in there. She probably got after them a little bit, that they needed to pick it up because – I think Chloe alluded to it – that’s kind of how it felt, that their intensity did pick up.

“So, some of it was them. Some of it was careless mistakes, just not taking care of the ball the way we needed to. And so, like I said, I think it was a combination of the two things. But you just can’t do that against a team like South Carolina. You’ve got to hang with them each quarter.

“That’s, again, what’s disappointing – that we didn’t come out with the same sort of focus, probably, ability to take care of the ball that we needed to, knowing that they were going to come out with more intensity.”

On Moren feels after hearing Moore-McNeil and Parrish say how much they enjoy playing for her

“You know, it always feels good. None of us feel good right now, but it goes far deeper than just me. I have a terrific staff that pours into these players every single day, excellent support from the top, from Pam Whitten to Scott Dolson to the support staff that we have that care about women’s basketball, that support women’s basketball.

“It means a lot. But like I said, I’m most proud of what they’re leaving behind. They always say you want to leave it better than you found it. It was in pretty good shape – maybe, for Syd, a little bit better shape. Chloe helped with the build, with the climb. Like I said, they’re going to be able to walk away from here and feel good about what they did in their time at Indiana. That’s probably what I’m most proud of.”

On how Moren aims to use the transfer portal to plug holes in next season’s roster

“Well, I think we’re going to have a lot of holes to fill. With the portal opening, I think there’s going to be a lot of schools out there that are going to have some holes to fill. Trust me, we’ve already been in the process of figuring out what we feel like those holes are going to be and addressing those. And then, like the rest of the country, everybody will be in the portal.

“For us, it’s going to be really important because we don’t go into the portal. We’re very careful. You’ve followed us; you know that there’s certain types of players that have to fit Indiana and the way we do things in our program. We’ll have to address those and find out, but I think we’ll have probably several holes to fill.”

On how Indiana’s players have fought against the nation’s top teams throughout the season

“Well, it always goes back to making sure that we’re recruiting winners. They’re coming from places where they’ve won. They’re competitive. They love to work. They love to be a part of the process. Chloe said it – if you’re going to come here, you’re going to be about the team. It’s the team, the team, the team. It’s not about you when you come to Indiana.

“Now, we are going to help you. We’re going to help you with your player development. We’re going to help you thrive in our culture. Whether it’s defensively, offensively, you leave Indiana a better player.

“I talked about the standards the other day. There’s a certain standard that we’re going to live up to. From the best player to the player that may not see a lot of time, eventually, they will. You’ve got to stick with the process. That’s why I’m so proud of Chloe. Those Chloes are gone. They’re not saying four years. They’re not staying five years. So, she’s somebody that you write about as far as sticking with the process, being loyal. I think that’s real important.”

On Moren’s biggest takeaways from Indiana’s 2024-25 season

“I think some of the things that you learn is, ‘We have to make sure we have the right pieces in our program.’ So, I think that’s where it starts. We will always be a team that is going to play a certain way. We will always hang our hat on the defensive side of the ball. That’s just what I believe.

“I get it; we’ve got to score. But there’s just certain things that, in the way that we’ve built this, we’ve really been the gritty, the tough, no-nonsense team. Being able to find those kinds of kids that are going to come in and want to be a part of something that’s going to be hard every day because winning is hard. I say that a lot around Cook Hall.

“I know that we’re going to have a lot of work to do as we push ahead and we lose the kids that we lose, and they were so instrumental. It has been a season of change. But it’s also, I think, made me a better coach. I think it’s made our staff a better staff. We move forward from here and find the players that are going to thrive in our environment, thrive in our culture, and look forward to what’s next.”

On how Indiana showed it could win without some of its greatest players in program history

“Well, I think my players are pretty dang good. You alluded to some of those greats (Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes), but we have some really good players that are on this team now. We’ll go out, and we’ll recruit, and we’re excited about the ones that are coming in to join us.

“Like I said, the standards are the standards. They’re not going to change what we’re going to do. We want to continue to win at a high level. We want to continue to be a part of March Madness, and it’s hard. But you just have to find the right kinds of kids that want to be a part of the grind and the climb every single day.

“It is still the team, the team, the team. Yes, would you like to have five All-Americans? No doubt. Two All-Americans? Okay, that would be great, too. But we’re going to recruit the kids that fit us. That’s the most important thing to me. The wins, the success, are important, yes. But there’s another piece to this – that we’re developing student-athletes, and we’re preparing them for life after Indiana.

“There’s still student-athletes that want that. They want to come in; they want to have success. They want to play in March Madness, but they want a great degree from a great institution like Indiana.”

On Moren’s message to Indiana’s traveling contingent of fans

“I appreciate that question because that’s so important. I was remiss in talking about the crowd here at South Carolina, but also, I should have included Hoosier Nation.

“It’s what we’ve built at Indiana with our fans – our women’s basketball fans that show up night in and night out for our players and our program. They make Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall a very difficult place to win. They give us great energy; they give us great juice. And we’re so grateful, whether they’re in the Hall or whether they travel to Columbia, South Carolina. So, again, I appreciate that question.”

On how Moren matches her coaching philosophies with tactical profiles of players in transfer portal

“I think, with the addition of the four new teams from the West Coast, there’s no doubt, when I look at our team, we’re going to have to get bigger. We’d like to get more athletic, for sure. But the intangible things are still really important to me, and that’s the high-character piece. That’s being about the team, not being about myself or yourself.

“We want competitors. We want kids that want to come in and work every single day. The willingness and the commitment that our staff has and pouring into those players and helping them develop as players is off the charts. We’ll continue with that recipe because I feel like it has worked for us. But as the game has grown and continues to grow, we’re going to have to grow with it. So, those are things that, in my mind, come to me in terms of the direction that our team needs to go in.”

On what it will take for Indiana to reach another level of success

“Well, there’s no doubt that it comes down to matchups. I think I got asked a couple days ago about playing at home, and I had to be really careful because I’ve had the luxury of playing at home and how important that is. But, going to neutral sites, would that help? The parity is so great right now, does that matter? I think it does. I think we’ve got to get to a point where we mirror what the guys do and have those neutral sites because matchups matter.

“But home-court advantage matters. Again, I’ve been a recipient. I’ve been on the other side of this where players have had to come into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and play in such a daunting place with our fans. So, I think that’s going to be something that may change as we move forward with women’s basketball. But there’s going to be other things that are going to have to change inside of our program. We’ll address those as we leave here.

“I don’t want to get lost and take anything away from the achievements that – especially this year, because this year was tough. Again, you don’t replace an All-American. You don’t replace somebody like Sara Scalia and think you’re going to be the same team. It just doesn’t happen.

“So I’m really grateful, really proud of the group that wore the Indiana jersey this year. In spite of all the ups and downs, we still had some really special moments, great moments that we will take from this. Hopefully, it will serve as motivation as we move forward.”

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