The last time Indiana women’s basketball played a contest in front of fans was its NCAA Tournament Round of 32 loss to the University of South Carolina on March 23.
However, the new-look Hoosiers took the court again Monday for their lone exhibition match against Missouri University of Science and Technology at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers dominated the Miners in all aspects en route to their 100-32 victory.
Of the five starters from a season ago, only one remains — senior guard Shay Ciezki. Twelfth-year head coach Teri Moren and her staff opted to slot redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont, sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen, sophomore guard Valentyna Kadlecova and freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey.
Indiana won the opening tip off. After troubles with the play clock stopped play momentarily, Socka-Nguemen opened scoring with back-to-back baskets for Indiana. Defensively, Indiana held Missouri S&T to just 5 points in the first quarter compared to the Hoosiers’ 26 points.
Sophomore guard Pheonix Stotijn and freshman forward Maya Makalusky were the first Hoosiers off the bench. They replaced Beaumont — who missed the entirety of last season after knee surgery — and Kadlecova with just under five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
At the halftime break, Indiana held a 47-19-point advantage over Missouri S&T, with Ciezki leading the Hoosiers with 12 points, five rebounds and one assist. Eleven of Indiana’s 13 rostered players saw time on the court in the first half. The only two who remained on the sideline were junior forward Jade Ondineme and redshirt freshman forward Syndey Fenn. The latter will be unavailable to play this season as she is recovering from a second knee surgery after another kept her sidelined all of last season.
The Hoosiers continued their dominant play through the remainder of the exhibition contest. In the third quarter, they once again held Missouri S&T to just 5 points and scored 29 points of their own.
Despite being tagged with four fouls with just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Socka-Nguemen was perfect from the field and recorded 8 points and nine rebounds.
Ciezki led all scorers with 21 points in the contest, going 5 for 8 from 3-point range. She also added five assists and one rebound. Kadlecova recorded 13 points, while Beaumont and Makalusky both scored 11 points for the Hoosiers. Ondineme played just two minutes in the contest and was the only Hoosier to not score a point, but she recorded two rebounds.
Missouri S&T had a 19% field-goal percentage compared to Indiana’s 52%. The Hoosiers notched 15 3-pointers compared to the Miners zero off 13 attempts.
The Hoosiers will start their regular season with a contest against Lipscomb University at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The game will be available to stream on Big Ten+.
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to clarify the status of Sydney Fenn's recovery.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Max Schneider (maxschn@iu.edu) and columnist Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
