BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Indiana women’s basketball season starts on Friday, Nov. 4 with an exhibition game versus Kentucky Wesleyan at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Before the 7 p.m. ET tipoff, here is what each position looks like for the Hoosiers. A picture of each player along with a couple sentences of opinion are added.

Guards

This is where the starting lineup will get tricky as there are eight talented guards on the roster including two starters from last season in Grace Berger and sometimes Chloe Moore-McNeil, two transfers in Sara Scalia and Sydney Parrish, three freshmen and one other returning Hoosier.

Let’s break it down.

Grace Berger – Graduate student – 6’0″

Berger, the calm and collected guard from Louisville, Ky., returns to the Hoosiers for her COVID bonus year. Last season, she was the team’s leading scorer with 535 total points for 16.2 points per game. Nobody else on the roster was even close to these numbers.

Head coach Teri Moren always stresses the importance of defense and that if you want to play for Indiana, you better guard. Berger is great on that side of the ball too and was second in total rebounds with 205. One-hundred eighty-six were defensive rebounds.

While she’s not the loudest player on the court, her composure and leadership will be needed after the graduation of former guards Ali Patberg and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary. Berger will most likely be the engine for the Hoosiers this season at guard.

Chloe Moore-McNeil – Junior – 5’11” 

The Sharon, Tenn. native Moore-McNeil is a scrappy defensive player totaling 90 rebounds even though she only started two games last season. Moore-McNeil has some game beyond the arc swishing 22 threes on the season, especially in high-pressure moments.

Moren has given Moore-McNeil more opportunities to lead including being one of two athletes chosen to speak at Indiana Basketball Media Days. Moren said she has a chance to officially start this season after the great summer workouts she had.

Sara Scalia – Senior – 5’10”

Scalia is the queen of threes, ranking second in the Big Ten with 111 three-pointers last season while at Minnesota. As a Golden Gopher, Scalia led the team with a career-high 17.9 points per game while starting all 33 games.

Moren said Scalia is definitely comfortable shooting threes in the Hall as she proved when Indiana defeated Minnesota 80-70 last season, and Scalia went 7-for-12 from three.

Scalia could be that player that takes over from downtown giving the Hoosiers an offensive edge with the opportunity to score more points. There could be room for her in the starting lineup with the absence of graduates Patberg and Cardaño-Hillary.

Sydney Parrish – Junior – 6’2″

Indiana native and Oregon transfer Parrish adds some height to the guard position as she’s the second tallest guard on the team. While at Oregon, Parrish played in 23 games making a pair of starts and perhaps most impressively shot 81.2 percent from the free-throw line, a huge get for the Hoosiers who are often fouled when opposing defenses fall behind.

Parrish could be a good sub or even a starter for the Hoosiers allowing for Berger to rest her legs. I could see her rotating in and out of the game with a couple players until she gets the feel for Indiana basketball.

Yarden Garzon – Freshman – 6’3″

Garzon brings more height to the Hoosiers as a fresh face at guard. She’s a bigger guard at 6’3″ with a strong basketball IQ. Garzon is rated as a four-star recruit by Premier Basketball Report after averaging 14.9 points per game in Israel.

Plus, Garzon has international basketball experience when she was on Israel’s Senior National Team for the EuroBasket 2023 qualifiers. Friday’s exhibition game will be a good chance for Moren to see where Garzon will best fit in at with the Hoosiers, starter or reliable bench player?

Kaitlin Peterson – Sophomore – 5’9″

Peterson from Eufaula, Ala. is entering her sophomore season with 21 games of college basketball under her belt. She averaged 5.5 minutes per outing and hit a season-high 11-points versus Illinois after nailing three three-pointers.

Peterson now has the experience to be a good sub at guard.

Henna Sandvik – Freshman – 6’0″ 

From Finland, Sandvik also has international basketball experience on the Finland Senior National team in the 2023 EuroBasket Qualifier where she scored seven points and had three rebounds against Ukraine.

Whether or not she plays often, it’s always good to have a young player with international experience on the team.

Lexus Bargesser – Freshman – 5’9″

Bargesser hails from Grass Lake, Mich. and led her high school team to a 2021 state championship averaging 23.6 points. 8.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists fitting Moren’s mold as being both a strong offensive and defensive player.

Unfortunately, Bargesser missed her senior basketball season with an MCL/ACL tear. She said Moren and staff were extremely supportive of her and the recovery process during such a difficult time.

Forwards

There are less forwards to choose from, but the group is still loaded with talent. Senior Mackenzie Holmes is at the top of the list as she enters the season healthy and ready for a banner. 

There’s also another starting position open after the departure of Aleksa Gulbe due to graduation.

Mackenzie Holmes – Senior – 6’3″

Holmes is back after suffering a left knee injury that required surgery last season. She missed eight games but was still the team’s fourth leading scorer (with only eight points from second place) with 381 points.

Homes led the team with 42 blocks always eager to defend as much as she she likes her dominant offensive role in the paint.

If she can stay healthy this season during tournament play, it’s possible the Hoosiers could add a Big Ten championship and NCAA banner to their resume.

Kiandra Browne – Junior – 6’2″

Browne from Montreal, Quebec, Canada played in 30 games last season making eight starts when she replaced the injured Holmes. 

Naturally, it took Browne a few games to warm up to her starting role, but her 58.9 field goal percentage is one of the best on the team. She also shot a 69 free throw percentage. 

While it’s uncertain if Browne will start with Holmes and Providence transfer Alyssa Geary in the race, Browne is a reliable forward off the bench who also defends well. She tallied 97 rebounds plus eight steals and six blocks on the season.

Alyssa Geary – Graduate student – 6’4″

Elmhurst, Ill. native Alyssa Geary was the only player to start all 30 games at Providence last season. She averaged 9.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game reaching double scoring figures 16 times.

She left Providence with 854 points 462 rebounds and 128 blocked shots. My guess is Holmes is locked in as a starter at forward and Geary and Browne will compete for that second forward spot all season long.

Lilly Meister – Freshman – 6’3″

Meister comes from a basketball-loving family as her parents both played at South Dakota State, and her brother Lincoln plays at Minnesota-Duluth.

In high school, she became only the second player to score over 2,000 points averaging 22.3 points per game her senior season. Friday will be a good opportunity for her to show Moren what kind of force she’ll be in the paint. 

Mona Zaric – Sophomore – 6’2″

Last season Zaric saw action in 10 games with limited minutes. She scored her first bucket on a big stage against Charlotte in the NCAA Tournament First Round.

Zaric mostly likely will have a similar role this season.

Center

Arielle Wisne – Redshirt junior – 6’5″

The lone player at center is Wisne, the tallest on the team. She appeared in 17 games last season and totaled two boards against SIU and also Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament. Although, she was never in the game longer than five minutes, she could be a great player in the paint when the starters need to rest their legs.

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