INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s women’s basketball players and coach Teri Moren walked a very fine line on Friday in the wake of an 84-79 loss to Big Ten regular season champion and second-ranked Southern California.

Was there disappointment in the loss? Of course. Opportunities to compete and beat the No. 2 team in the country don’t come around every day.

However, there was also plenty of pride in the effort and in the general performance of the Hoosiers at the Big Ten Tournament in its two-game stint.

“Really proud of our group. I know this about these guys. They can play with anybody in the country, and we’re disappointed that we don’t get to play another day, but as a staff, we’re really happy, not that we’re disappointed that we lost, but I’m really happy with our effort and our toughness today,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said.

“We’re not happy that we lost. But looking at it from the back end? We got to the free throw line a lot, which we wanted to do. We never let them get a huge lead. We didn’t let them get away from us, and we showed that fight continuously,” Indiana guard Sydney Parrish said.

Moral victory territory? Some might say so, but Indiana won more victories in its two-day sojourn to Gainbridge Fieldhouse than it endured losses – and that was not assured going into the tournament.

The loss to USC represents a battle lost. A hard-fought battle and one that cemented Indiana’s worthiness as a NCAA Tournament team. Indiana has lost to No. 2 USC by seven and five points – that’s not a claim many teams would make if they played the talented Trojans twice.

So in that sense, Indiana lost the battle but won the eye-test war.

And don’t forget that Indiana did have something to prove in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers were on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Indiana was on the right side of the bubble, but any slip-up would have put the Hoosiers in jeopardy of having to play one of the First Four games, or if a combination of events really went against Indiana, of missing the NCAA Tournament entirely.

Indiana no longer has to worry about that – as Moren emphatically noted in her press conference when she stated there is “no doubt” in her mind that the Hoosiers will be in the field.

She has cause to feel that way. Indiana won their head-to-head game against fellow bubble team Oregon, and they dispatched the Ducks in convincing fashion in Thursday’s 78-62 triumph.

As mentioned, Indiana looked good against a Trojans team that stormed their way to the Big Ten regular season championship with a season-closing seven game win streak. Nothing Indiana did on Friday will be counted against them by the committee. Their effort will likely work in their favor.

In addition to all of that, Indiana got good fortune in other games at the Big Ten Tournament that could have caused them problems.

With Indiana and Oregon on the bubble from the Big Ten were Iowa, Minnesota and Washington. During the regular season, Indiana lost to the Ducks and Golden Gophers but won at Iowa and Washington. Indiana needed to win the head-to-head against Oregon and get good results from those other three teams to do the Hoosiers good.

All of those prayers were answered. Minnesota, the other potentially problematic team for Indiana, was dumped in the first round by Washington. The Huskies were beaten on Thursday and Iowa remains alive as of when this column was written. The Hawkeyes play No. 3-seeded Ohio State on Friday night.

No one from the Big Ten is going to pass the Hoosiers in the NCAA Tournament pecking order. The Hoosiers no longer need to look over their shoulder in that respect.

More importantly, Indiana played well in Indianapolis. It was a tough draw, and the Hoosiers did about well as could be expected. All of Indiana’s primary contributors – Yarden Garzon, Shay Ciezki, Sydney Parrish, Chloe Moore-McNeil and Karoline Striplin – had good moments in Indy. So did Lexus Bargesser, Lilly Meister and even Faith Wiseman against Oregon on Thursday.

In an uneven season where focus and performance hasn’t been consistent, the two Big Ten Tournament games were played at an even keel of quality. That should do the Hoosiers good as they wait until they find out their NCAA Tournament destination.

“I’m just really content right now. I’m proud of this team. I’m proud of the growth we’ve had over the past few games,” Moore-McNeil said. “It’s been a lot of up and downs, and inconsistencies have been our trouble and issues. But I have no doubt that we’ve been better these past few games, and we’ll continue to get better during the tournament.”

Perhaps the most important thing that Indiana can take away from its Big Ten Tournament experience: This team gained confidence and feels good about itself going into the NCAA Tournament. That also wasn’t assured, but it’s a welcome development for the Hoosiers.

“We showed it yesterday against Oregon. We showed today against USC. If we can just put together a full 40 minutes. We’re good,” Parrish said.