Indiana Insight: Three Questions Heading Into IUWBB Practice And More

Every Sunday, TheHoosier.com will take a look around the world of Indiana University Athletics to catch you up on the top stories from the previous week that was and look ahead to the week to come.

This week was a light one around the athletics world, which opened the door for football to shine with its Old Brass Spittoon win.

Reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year Teri Moren and her women's basketball program get back to work Monday afternoon with their first practice of the season.

The Hoosiers return virtually their entire team from a year ago, sans early graduate Lyndsay Leikem. The leaves the projected starting lineup looking identical to last year's point guard Tyra Buss, Karlee McBride, Alexis Gassion, Amanda Cahill and Jenn Anderson.

Here's three things we're looking for early on:

1) What will the guard rotation look like?: One of the long awaited stories to follow early on in the season is how senior guard Amber Deane, a Dayton graduate transfer, and redshirt sophomore Tia Elbert, a Marquette transfer, work their way into the guard rotation. Buss was virtually a lock to play the entire game if it mattered down the stretch last season, but Deane and Elbert may be able to take some of the stress off. The only problem is that there's only one ball to go around, and this is Buss' team. Those two will need to develop their own complementary roles.

2) Does Kym Royster make a jump?: Royster, a sophomore forward, showed signs of being an All-Big Ten caliber forward as a freshman in spurts. The problem, as it so often is with first-year players, was consistency. She ended the year averaging 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game, but expected an increased work load as Moren's staff begins to trust her more.

3) Which of the freshmen are legit?: IU added three freshmen to the roster in guard Ria Gulley and forwards Darby Foresman and Bre Wickware. The Hoosiers' seniority at guard won't put an immediate strain on Gulley to pick up early minutes, but the front court is a different story for Foresman and Wickware. If any of the three can carve out a role like Royster did a year ago, the Hoosiers will be in solid shape in terms of depth.

Indiana jumped back into a miniature scoring funk Friday in a 1-0 shutout loss to Nebraska on the road.

The Hoosiers failed to convert on six shot attempts and conceded a goal to Nebraska's Jaycie Johnson in the 53rd minute of the match. Freshman goalkeeper Sarah L'Hommedieu registered four saves.

Through five Big Ten games, IU sits in a tie for eighth place in the conference standings with Michigan State. Only the top-eight teams will advance to the Big Ten Tournament.

Currently, only seven points separate the three teams tied for third place and the three teams tied for 11th place in the standings, making the current outlook tight.

That makes this weekend's home matches against Penn State and Rutgers all the more important for Indiana as it looks to move up the table. The Nittany Lions rank second in the Big Ten with the Scarlet Knights not far behind in a tie for third.

Any momentum working in Indiana's favor went away over the weekend.

The Hoosiers suffered one-goal overtime losses to Iowa (2-1) and Miami of Ohio (4-3) in what was a disappointing weekend for head coach Amanda Janney's team.

The loss to Miami doesn't hurt as much apart from an opportunity to build confidence slipping away, but the loss to Iowa won't help IU's standing in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes were previously losers of three in a row against conference teams, and now IU is just 1-2 thus far.

Freshman Kelsey Giese scored Indiana's lone goal in the 61st minute off a rebound. IU senior Kate Barber failed to score, snapping a streak of nine consecutive games with a goal.

Indiana (6-6, 1-2) will get a chance to rebound at 3 p.m. Friday in Bloomington against Northwestern before playing Boston College at home Sunday to wrap up the weekend.

The IU men's and women's cross country teams made each picked up wins in Lawrence, Kansas, Saturday in dominant fashion.

The men, who are ranked No. 14 in the nation, scored 23 points to beat Kansas (42) and Rice (98) by wide margins. Redshirt senior Jason Crist led the way in third place overall and was followed by teammates Matt Schwartzer (fourth), Ben Veatch (fifth), Mark Chandler (seventh) and Bryce Millar (10th).

The women, who are ranked No. 26 in the country, upset host Kansas for the win with 36 points, followed by Rice (45) and the Jayhawks (46). Redshirt sophomore Katherne Receveur (second) led the way with Brenna Calder (sixth), Haley Harris (eighth), Maggie Allen (ninth) and Chanli Mundy (11th) rounding out IU scoring.

For Indiana, the team champion of the event, it was the third consecutive meet in which both the men and women won.

Indiana volleyball failed to win a set between losses to Minnesota and Wisconsin over the weekend in Bloomington.

The No. 2 Golden Gophers beat the Hoosiers (12-5) in straight sets 25-17, 25-15, 25-17. The No. 3 Badgers won in straight sets 25-19, 25-21, 25-15.

The immediate road won't get any easier with a trip to play top-ranked Nebraska on tap Friday before heading to play Iowa on Saturday.