3 Takeaways: Indiana women’s basketball well past the 24-hour rule at Big Ten Media Days

MINNEAPOLIS — Indiana women’s basketball players have faced a barrage of questions in recent weeks about moving on from last year’s disappointing loss in the NCAA tournament to Miami.

The Hoosiers were upended in the second round as a No. 1 seed after putting together the best regular season in program history.

"When we lose or something bad happens, we kind of have a 24 hour rule, we think about it and the next day we have to get over it and look at the steps ahead,” guard Chloe Moore-McNeil said, at Big Ten Media Days on Monday.

Did the rule apply for a season-ending loss?

"I think when your season is done for good I think it extends longer than 24 hours,” Moore-McNeil said, with a laugh. “But the sun shines the next day, you got to look forward."

Moore-McNeil represented Indiana at the Target Center in Minneapolis alongside Mackenzie Holmes.

They both steered the conversations about last season away from those final moments in the round of 32 during their 30-minute session with reporters.

"I think it's important to reflect on all that we did accomplish last year, and use that as motivation as well,” Holmes said. “We did something that hadn't been done at this school in 40 years, I think that's a really special thing. I don't think that one loss in the tournament defines us. It can't take away from everything else."

That’s how coach Teri Moren has framed the conversations she’s had with the team as well.

"My job is to remind them what they were able to accomplish and we don't want to forget that because it's hard to win a Big Ten championship in a year where we were the best conference in the country,” Moren said. “I want them to remember that.”

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IU’s new sharpshooter?

Holmes laughed when asked if she was going to add 3-point shooting to her tool box this season.

“I work on it everyday, I'm in the gym working on it. We'll see,” Holmes said. “I get this question every year, maybe this year will be the year. I got one last chance."

The fifth-year senior hasn’t struggled to score without it.

Holmes averaged a career-high 22.3 points per game last season and her career average (16.5 points per game) ranks fourth all-time in IU history, but if she improved her shooting range it would certainly put more pressure on opposing teams.

“Every year we sit down and try to collaborate with everyone of our players in terms of improvement and development, but also what do they want to add to their game,” Moren said. “Mac the last few years has talked about being consistent beyond the arc.”

Holmes is 8 of 30 (26.7%) from 3-point range during her career aftering going 2 of 9 (22.2%) last year. She’s only attempted multiple 3-point attempts in six games over the last four years (115 games).

The conundrum for Holmes is that the rest of her arsenal is so efficient that she’s reluctant to lean on 3-point shooting when she’s much more effective in the paint and can get open looks for IU’s true shooters.

For now, Holmes’ 3-point shooting remains a work in progress.

More: IU women's basketball: Teri Moren not alone in hyping up Big Ten Conference

Sold out: ‘You want to be part of the conversation’

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder is looking to take advantage of the surging popularity of her team by trying to set a new national attendance record for a women’s basketball game. The Hawkeyes are hosting DePaul on Oct. 15 at Kinnick Stadium, the school’s football stadium.

The event is called the “Crossover at Kinnick” with all proceeds going to The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

“We have sold out every single game, every single ticket, so we're excited about having — we want to get that national attendance record,” Bluder said. “...We've sold about 48,000 tickets to play in Kinnick Stadium."

There was a lot of excitement at the Target Center on Monday about the increasing popularity of women’s basketball in general, and the popularity of the sport within the Big Ten specifically and Bluder wasn’t the only coach talking about ways to take advantage of that momentum.

“I think there's a real excitement around Big Ten women's basketball,” Moren said. “I think that's one of the things the new people, UCLA's, USC's, Washington's and Oregon's are going to be struck by that this league plays in front of bodies, spectators and fans, and excitement. It's been so special for me to watch. I never thought I would see Assembly Hall filled with fans and have a sell out (for the women’s team).”

While coaches compete on the court, they are competing off it as well. One topic that came up a lot during the coaches press conference on the main stage was Nebraska’s volleyball team setting a world record for women's sports attendance in August in a match against Omaha they played in front of 92,003 fans.

Big Ten women’s basketball coaches want their programs thinking outside the box like that.

"It puts pressure on other schools, marketing, and all your sports information are really trying to up their game as well, right?” Moren said. “We all want to be one of those teams that the outside media talk about…You want to be part of the conversation, teams that are at institutions that are drawing fans.”

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on Twitter @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: What we learned from Indiana women's basketball at Big Ten Media Days