NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - CHARLOTTE VS INDIANA

March 18, 2022

Grace Berger

Nicole Cardaño-Hillary

Teri Moren

Indiana Hoosiers

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for joining us here today. We have Grace Berger and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary from IU. With that we will open it up to questions.

Q. You thought you might have days off during the week once you find out when you're going to play. So what's the practice schedule looked like, and have you had those days off? And how's everyone feeling before the game tomorrow?

GRACE BERGER: Yeah, we had a couple of days off after the Big Ten tournament, got some much needed rest. Kind of a mental break and physical break obviously.

Then once we found out who we played, we had a couple practices after that to kind of scout them and get some initial things done, then we got a day off on Wednesday.

So we felt good. We had a good practice yesterday, watched a lot of film. We're going to have another good one today, and we feel rested, and we feel ready to go.

Q. You guys have towards the end of the season, regular season, and then obviously the Big Ten Tournament, you guys had a lot of games in not a lot of days. It seems like that just heavy play load, heavy time played in games culminated in being worn down. How has that rest prepared you, I guess going forward, looking ahead to having to play a bunch of games in not a lot of days again?

NICOLE CARDAÑO-HILLARY: I think like Grace said, having those couple days off and also being able to focus on us as well and not so much just the opponent, I think that definitely helps. But I know that we're all ready to get back out on the court and play our hearts out.

The rest is nice, but we're also ready to get going again.

Q. Talk about the matchup for tomorrow. How do you guys think you all match up against the competition?

GRACE BERGER: We know they're a really talented team. They have the Conference Player of the Year on their team. They have a lot of really dynamic guards, so it's going to challenge us specifically as guards to really guard them. They're athletic. They're quick. It will be a good challenge for us.

We know they're a really good team. They run a lot of good sets, and they have a lot of Power Five transfers, so they've been here before. They're not scared to play us or anything like that.

We're just going to have to come and really focus on the defensive end stuff and their action and keeping their guards from getting all the way to the rim.

Q. For either of you, how much is last year's run to the Elite Eight going to help you as you start off tournament play now?

NICOLE CARDAÑO-HILLARY: I think having the experience that we have just also being a veteran team is very helpful, and getting to where we got last year is as well helpful.

But I think that not only just last year but what we've dealt with this year as well as in, like you said before, having so many games in not that many days has just really prepared us to kind of keep our heads down and do what we do.

I think, like I said, having a veteran team also helps a lot.

Q. This is for either of you. How important was it to get as far as you did in the Big Ten Conference Tournament after the end of the regular season was a little bit up and down? How important was it to just reinvigorate yourselves, having gone so far in the conference tournament, to get back to playing Indiana basketball?

GRACE BERGER: I think it was good in the sense that we beat several of the top teams in the country, top 15, top 10 teams. So we certainly proved to ourself -- not that we didn't already know, but we did go on a little losing streak to end the year.

So I think just proving to ourselves that we belong in that conversation with those teams and that we can compete with anybody in the country. But at the end of the day, we also didn't finish our goal at the Big Ten Tournament, and we still fell short. So I think we learned a lot of really good things, more so from that loss than in the wins, and just what we need to get better at. So that next time when we face a really good team like Iowa, hopefully we'll be better prepared and can come out on top.

Q. You mentioned all the adversity and things that you faced throughout the season. Obviously one of the biggest hurdles you faced was Mackenzie getting hurt. In those couple months that you were without her, how important was Aleksa and her role on the team in making up the production that you didn't have from Mack?

NICOLE CARDAÑO-HILLARY: I think Aleksa's role on the team is incredibly important every season, every year, every game. I think more people noticed her in that sense because of Mackenzie being out. But I think Aleksa is such a huge part of our team, and she brings so much energy offensively and defensively. Like I said, I think just more people have noticed.

She's kind of one of those players that does the little things every time, and maybe it doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but without her we'd be a very different team.

So, yeah, I think obviously Mack being out was kind of like this hurdle that we had to get over, but I also think in a sense it kind of showed people how important everyone else on the team is, even the bench coming in. Yeah, like I said, Aleksa has always been such an important player and such a big part of our team.

THE MODERATOR: We are back, and we are pleased to be joined now by Indiana head coach Teri Moren. Coach, if you want to start with an opening statement, and then we'll take questions.

TERI MOREN: Well, it's the best time of the year, as you guys know. We're excited, first and foremost, to host such a terrific tournament. This is historic for our program here at Indiana. We look forward to having a great weekend, growing our women's basketball game with four terrific teams.

And for the Hoosiers, it feels like there was a moment there where it seemed like all we were doing was playing, practicing, traveling, playing, practicing, and so forth. So it was kind of nice to have a little bit of a break after the Big Ten Tournament and once again hit the reset button and look forward to a new season here in the NCAA Tournament.

Q. As you dove into Charlotte game planning specifically, I guess what are you looking for in this matchup, and what are some of the key specifics of this matchup going to be?

TERI MOREN: We liken this team a lot to Ohio State in the Big Ten, in terms of they're very guard oriented, have some transfers also on the roster, have the Player of the Year in the conference, of course, in Jett-Wilson.

So a terrific guard oriented basketball team that's going to challenge us specifically off the bounce and challenge us in transition.

So we have to be really good on that end, but we also have to take advantage, we think, offensively of our size going into this matchup.

Q. You mentioned how this is the best time of the year, March Madness, obviously anything can happen in any game. How do you avoid being one of those early round upsets early on here?

TERI MOREN: I don't know that you -- our kids -- obviously, if you're a basketball player, you're paying attention to our men's, what's going on right now with all the upsets that happened yesterday on the men's side. So before we watched film, just in talking with our guys, the message was this is the best time of the year, but it's also a brand new tournament and seeding doesn't matter. You throw that out the window.

If you were paying attention yesterday to what was happening on the men's side, that obviously was true with some of the higher seeds getting beat.

So we don't worry about that. Right now we're just worried about the Charlotte 49ers being in here. Our sole focus all week has been, just like it always has been, the one-game mentality, what's ahead of us. We're just looking forward to being back on the floor tomorrow.

Q. Talk about the experience that this team brings after making that deep run last year in the tournament.

TERI MOREN: Obviously we -- I don't think it's a secret to anybody that we're experienced. We have a veteran group. I think Ali Patberg is only two of seven-year players that have had this opportunity. So we're led by a super senior in Ali.

I think the experience in San Antonio was really good for us. It obviously gave us some experience, but I think one of the things that happened was we understand the magnitude and the importance of every game. The first game, as I've always said, in tournament play is the most important because it can give you momentum going into the second and the third round and so forth.

So I think our kids understand that, but they understand it because they've lived it, they've gone through it, they've experienced it. Our leadership that we have in that locker room has been incredible throughout the season. I think we've had to go through some adversity, but I think it's only made this group stronger and more connected.

So I think you're going to see a team tomorrow that plays with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, love for one another, and they're certainly connected. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that they're old.

Q. You've talked about, obviously, having a crowd here, and now you're going to get to play in front of them in an NCAA Tournament game, but where do you kind of draw the line between soaking in the crowd and the environment and also focusing on what's on the court and telling your players to focus on the game?

TERI MOREN: The great thing is we've been sort of spoiled all year with great crowds in the hall. We've had some -- from Kentucky to NC State to all the terrific teams in the Big that have been big games for us. Hoosier Nation has continued to turn out for us.

I don't know that our kids will be caught up in that. I think that they're more caught up in the fact that -- or looking forward to the energy that will be in the building, and that's what they talk about, whether they're talking to a recruit, a recruit's parents, they're talking amongst each other, it's just the energy that's always in the building each night that we've played.

And I think because of the success that we've had starting when we did win the NIT Championship and we were gaining more fans, our fan base has grown since we've been here. I think it's more of just an excitement that we know what to expect now because of the crowds that have been in here.

Q. When you talk about the NIT Championship drawing crowds, the historic nature of having games here, what is the significance of having the games here, and what does that do for your program?

TERI MOREN: I think the significance is in our second year when we were sent to Notre Dame, when they were hosting the first round, and beat a really good Georgia team but then got into the final game against Notre Dame, there's clearly a home court advantage when you have this opportunity to host, and that's what we have here. So that's one of the things we're looking forward to.

I think, again, we've had a lot of historic moments since we've been here in our eight years in Indiana. It's just another thing that we can add to what we're building here, what we've been able to accomplish, understanding that our job is still far from being complete in terms of what we want to do here and accomplish here.

Like I said, I think it's just another thing for us to be able to say in the recruiting process especially that we're checking off a lot of things that we said that we wanted to accomplish, but yet humbly knowing that we still have a lot of work to do.

Q. She may not get all the accolades that players like Grace or Mack sometimes get, but I guess how important of a role does Aleksa play on this team, and how mentally tough has she had to be, I guess, to thrive so far from home?

TERI MOREN: First of all, you're absolutely right. She should have been on the All-Defensive Team when the Big Ten honors came out. She was on the Second Team, which was great, All-Conference.

She's so terrific. The things that she does -- you heard me say this before -- don't show up on the stat sheets. They never do. In terms of how integral, how important she is for us defensively, in terms of our rotations, in terms of being able to switch ball screens, her ability to protect the room, her ability to alter shots. Then offensively, her ability to stretch you out, knock down shots.

This has certainly been a breakout year for her in terms of her productivity on the offensive side of the ball.

So it may not -- she may not get the accolades from media and outside people, but she's certainly been -- I don't know if MVP for us is the right term, but right up there with she's been so significant this season in particular to why we've had the success that we've had. I wish I could keep her around another year. I just don't know that we're going to have the ability to do that.

Q. A follow-up from earlier about Ali's leadership. She's been a part of five NCAA Tournaments in some shape or form even at Notre Dame. How valuable is her leadership and just her postseason knowledge, and how is that going to carry you throughout the tournament?

TERI MOREN: Well, I hope it will carry us far. As I mentioned, as good of a player that Ali Patberg is, she's even a better person, better teammate, and I think that's what makes her so special. She truly believes in relationships, not only with me and our staff, but also with her teammates.

I think that's what separates her from some of the best leaders is she walks the walk and she talks the talk. It's by example in the work that she does outside of practice, but it's also in how she pours into her teammates in the locker room, on the floor, when they need encouragement, they need challenged.

She's been so terrific in that space for our players, so it's going to be really important, but it will be also important that Grace Berger shows her leadership and Nicky shows some leadership and Aleksa. All of them are going to have the opportunity to step up and be leaders this weekend.

Q. Just coming off of the Big Ten tournament, it did seem like you all were able to get things back on track despite the final result obviously. Is there anything that you're hoping that the team takes from that tournament and bring it over to the NCAA Tournament?

TERI MOREN: I hope we continue to play as well as we did in that tournament. Coming into it, we hadn't faced Rutgers in two years. So that was going to be a tall task for us because normally you've had the -- at least the opportunity to see a Big Ten opponent at some point during the season, and we didn't have that. So that was a challenge that we stepped up to. Then obviously beating Maryland and then Ohio State, just playing really good basketball.

Yes, we didn't finish the job against Iowa. We could chalk that up to Iowa's terrific, but I think maybe fatigue set in a little bit for us in that fourth game. We're not about excuses, but I think we learned that we have to be able to approach every game -- and especially in this tournament. We understand that -- and it was a lot like the Big Ten Tournament. You don't get past the first one, you go home, you're done.

So we understand the significance of tournament play, whether it's in the Big Ten or NCAA. But my hope for our group is that we continue to play good basketball, and that's certainly what we did last week in Indianapolis.