Indiana Women’s Basketball vs Georgia Preview

Game info:

Indiana Hoosiers (20-11, 12-6 Big Ten) vs Georgia Bulldogs (21-9, 9-7 SEC)

Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, Indiana

When: Saturday, March 19 at 9:00 pm ET on ESPN2

Line: Georgia -2.5

Coach Teri Moren, Tyra Buss, and the rest of the Indiana women’s basketball team are certainly excited to be in the program’s first tournament since 2002, but the Hoosiers aren’t satisfied with simply making the field of 64. Indiana wants to win some games while it’s in the Big Dance, and it will start off against Georgia.

Georgia is a great transition team, something forward Amanda Cahill and Moren both noted in comments to the media. “They’re great in transition. (The SEC) is an athletic conference. They have a tremendous point guard in (Marjorie) Butler,” Moren said. “This is a veteran basketball team. They have a fantastic high-low game, and it’s going to put a ton of pressure on us defensively.”

More from Indiana Basketball

• Indiana Basketball: Which teams have the Hoosiers never beaten?
• Indiana Basketball: Examining the All-Time Bob Knight Team
• 10 biggest Indiana basketball NBA Draft busts of all time
• Kent State vs. Indiana prediction and odds for NCAA Tournament First Round
• FanDuel and DraftKings Promos Expire Sunday: Bet $25, Get $400 TODAY

A few things that Georgia does particularly well is defend the perimeter and take care of the basketball. The Bulldogs hold teams to a 24.2 percent clip from beyond the arc, which is the second best defensive rate in the country. It will be important for Indiana to move the ball to ensure that shooters like Buss, Cahill, and Karlee McBride get clean looks, or it could be a difficult day for the Hoosiers offensively. Georgia’s 15.5 assists per game and assist/turnover ratio of 1.00 were both second in the SEC. Like Indiana, Georgia likes to play at an up-tempo pace and share the basketball, so a lot of points should be scored in this game.

Georgia will be without First Team All-SEC selection Shacobia Barbee, who has been out since suffering an ankle injury February 21 against Florida. Instead, the Bulldogs will rely heavily on senior guard and Second Team All-SEC selection Tiaria Griffin. Griffin averages 14.6 points per game, and also leads Georgia with 72 made three-point field goals.

Indiana and Georgia share one common opponent–Michigan State. Georgia suffered its lone nonconference loss in a 66-45 defeat to the Spartans, while Indiana beat Michigan State at Assembly Hall 81-65. Ultimately, I think Buss and the Hoosiers will edge Georgia in what looks to be a high-scoring affair.

Prediction: Indiana 75, Georgia 71