‘Does it fuel them? I hope it does’: Indiana women’s basketball heads into massive showdown with No. 1 South Carolina with ‘underdog’ mentality

No matchup is easy at this point in the season. But, as the Indiana women’s basketball program steps on the floor on Friday night, it’s about as difficult an opponent as anyone in the sport could face.

The Hoosiers enter Friday’s matchup with No. 1 South Carolina as a massive underdog. 15.5 points to be exact. But, that’s almost to be expected. The Gamecocks are undefeated this year, sitting at 34-0. In fact, over the last three years they are 105-3 and won an NCAA Title in 2022 and made a Final Four last year.

So, it’s a massive challenge for Indiana — yet at the same time, a massive opportunity.

And for Indiana women’s basketball head coach Teri Moren, she wants her team to understand the task at hand, while also living in the moment — a moment that may never come back for some of the current players on the roster.

“For us, I do think that — I always think there’s something good with pressure. I think we all athletes, we’re all competitors, we want to win the game as much as South Carolina. We know it’s going to be a tall task because they’re so terrific and so not just well-balanced but they really have 10 starters, the way I look at it, when we’re preparing for them,” Moren said on Thursday. “But I think you’ve got to make sure that you can separate the pressure from also — I want our kids to enjoy this, as well. I want them to play with not just enjoyment but joy, and they realize it. These kids aren’t — they know how good South Carolina is.

“We feel like we’ve been tested throughout the season, and our charge is just to come in here and put our best foot forward and play as well as we can.”

South Carolina has been the staple of the women’s basketball game for the majority of the last decade. It has won two National Championships and advanced to three Final Fours in that span, It has six years of three or less losses.

This year, South Carolina isn’t just beating opponents, it is humiliating them on the court. Its average margin of victory this year is 30.9 points per game. It is coming off of a 47-point thrashing of No. 8 North Carolina in the second round.

So, while there is no doubt Indiana will be entering this matchup as an ‘underdog’, it’s a mentality that Teri Moren wants Indiana to use to its advantage.

“Well, yeah. As I said to our kids, I think, yes, we’re the underdog, but I think everybody else except for South Carolina right now is the underdog because of their perfect record. I don’t know that anybody believes that South Carolina can be beat,” Moren said. “You can certainly use that. Like I said, our kids, as I mentioned earlier, they read. They know that we are not expected perhaps to win this game. But does it fuel them? I hope it does. I hope it motivates them.”

“Yeah, we really don’t feel any pressure at all,” Indiana senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil added. “We know everybody expects South Carolina to win. They’re a great team, and obviously they’re undefeated.”

Indiana isn’t going to shy away from the big stage, however. This is its third Sweet Sixteen in the last four years. Three years ago it went down to the wire against Arizona in the Elite Eight — the eventual national runner-up.

Indiana has also played at Stanford this season. At Iowa. At Ohio State. All top 10 teams. Last year it was at Tennessee. The year before, Indiana played UConn in the Sweet Sixteen.

Indiana is as battle-tested as they come, so there will be no backing down to the challenge come Friday night.

“I think being aggressive and give everything we can on the court,” Indiana sophomore forward Yarden Garzon said. “Obviously execute the game plan will be a big part of the game, and be aggressive is the main thing of this game.”

Despite all of the tests that Indiana women’s basketball has gone through over the last few years, this will by far be the toughest. South Carolina has the second-best scoring offense and the 11th best scoring defense. They are fundamentally sound in nearly every area.

“We’re not unlike any team in the country that really feeds — our offense feeds us defensively, so when we can put points on the board, that helps us on the defensive side with not just our intensity but I think the connectedness that you have to play with in order to guard a team like South Carolina that has so many threats on the outside,” Moren said. “I do think you’ve got to string together some stops, but you’ve certainly got to put points on the board, too, or it can get away from you really quick.”

At the end of the day, Indiana women’s basketball’s underdog mentality knows there is a certain magic in March. Upsets happen. Teams struggle in uncertain times. Pressure mounts.

So, they have nothing to lose … and everything to gain.

“I do think there is an aspect of that that you can use it to your advantage. You’re playing with house money. You have nothing to lose,” Moren said. “I just want our kids to come in and play loose and together, which they have throughout the season, and again, just put forward our best effort because we know it’s going to take a great effort.”

“It’s March Madness, so you kind of have to throw all those things out of the window and just focus on yourself and winning,” Moore-McNeil said. “Obviously you see things like that on social media, but I think, yes, they are a great team, but any and everybody is beatable in the NCAA Tournament.”

Indiana women’s basketball and South Carolina tip at 5:00 pm ET on EPSN.