Indiana women’s basketball coach Teri Moren took issue with the conditions the Hoosiers and the rest of the teams in the Las Vegas Invitational were forced to play in over the weekend.
The Las Vegas Invitational featured 10 teams playing at The Mirage Hotel & Casino just off the famed Las Vegas Strip, but the games were actually held in a ballroom with almost no seating. Moren specifically pointed to the lack of on-hand medical personnel and security at the event.
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Indiana Hoosiers head coach Teri Moren shouts instructions to her team during a women’s college basketball game between the Vermont Catamounts and the Indiana Hoosiers on Nov. 8, 2022 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, in Bloomington, Indiana.
(Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Moren said she considered not playing in Saturday’s game after Auburn freshman Kharyssa Richardson fell hard to the floor and left the game against Colorado State. There was a 50-minute delay in the game while waiting for medical personnel to arrive, and it pushed back the start time of Indiana’s game against Memphis.
Moren said she did not have a problem with the playing surface or the event being held in the ballroom. She added she received an apology from site coordinator Ryan Polk.
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“I think there are other people that probably need to apologize as well for wanting us to come and play in this event,” Moren said. “This is not what was described to us as far as what the venue was going to look like, what the setup was going to look like.”
Moren said she spoke with Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson to decided whether it would be safe enough for her team to play. The Hoosiers eventually beat Memphis 79-64.
Indiana head coach Teri Moren yells at her players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Tennessee, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
(AP Photo/Wade Payne)
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“It’s not a fan-friendly environment,” she said. “As I said to the site coordinator, as women’s basketball coaches, we are trying to move our game forward. It felt like because it got so many ticks on social (media) that we had taken a couple of steps backwards in this moment, and I shared that with the site coordinator. We have an obligation to grow our game, and we completely missed on this opportunity because you have a lot of really good teams here.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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