After its losses to Harvard University on Nov. 7 and Butler University on Nov. 13, Indiana women’s basketball needed a hard look in the mirror. The new pieces needed a chance to mesh.
The pieces are starting to form for Indiana after beating Colombia University on Saturday. The Hoosiers are riding a three-game winning streak heading into the Battle 4 Atlantis championship after beating No. 18 Baylor University on Sunday 73-65.
Hoosier teams coached by Teri Moren in recent years thrive because of efficient shooting. Whether it was Ali Patberg, Grace Berger or Sara Scalia, Indiana is not itself when its guards can’t score.
Scalia graduated and the team's search for a new scoring guard commenced. Junior guard Shay Ciezki was the choice –– an experienced point guard whose first strength is scoring.
Patberg, Berger and Scalia finished with 33.6%, 40.7% and 42.7% 3-point percentages in their final seasons at IU. In her final season at Penn State, Ciezki shot 36% from long range –– from the sample size, a perfect fit.
With the proven track record for Ciezki, her start in Cream and Crimson was not great.
In the Hoosiers' 1-2 start, Ciezki was 1 for 9 from 3-point range.
“Those shots are going to go,” Moren said Nov. 17 postgame against Stanford. “You just got to believe it, and if you miss, you got to come back and take the next one.”
In the past three games, not only has Ciezki made more shots, but she has been shooting more shots, as Moren hoped.
“At any day, any time, any game, someone can have one of those special moments for us — and today it was Shay’s time to shine,” Moren said postgame.
Safe to say Ciezki did that, and the mentality that games will always go in the Hoosiers’ favor, pays dividends for the squad. It showed Sunday when Ciezki had 34 points on 9 of 16 shooting, including four 3-pointers
“I don’t think we have any doubt that we weren’t going to win these games,” Ciezki said. “We are going to go on and keep pushing and have a championship game tomorrow and win that one.”
Ciezki hit two 3-pointers in the Hoosiers’ win against No. 24 Stanford on Nov. 17 and had four 3-pointers in a true coming-out party to prove her consistency against No. 18 Baylor in the Battle 4 Atlantis semi-finals.
When Ciezki scores at least 15 points in a game, Indiana is 2-0.
Ciezki’s versatility as a scorer expands beyond, or closer than, 3-point range.
The Buffalo, New York, native’s ability to make dynamic moves toward the basket, around the basket and in the paint –– much like Berger and Scalia –– gives Indiana a huge advantage as an offensive unit.
In addition to scoring from the field, Ciezki can get to the charity stripe, and most importantly, not leave points on the board. Ciezki has shot 20 free throws so far this season, missing two. Of Indiana’s 73 points Sunday, 12 were made by Ciezki from the free throw line, providing the experience and skill she was recruited to do.
If Ciezki continues the consistency from the free throw line to the field, Indiana is not only going to score, but win. It’s proven that Indiana does when she makes an impact.
Indiana will take on the University of North Carolina at noon Monday on ESPN2. Regardless of the winner, loser or score, Ciezki's production, or lack thereof, could be the difference between a Battle 4 Atlantis championship or an empty-handed flight back to Bloomington.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
