After Indiana women’s basketball lost nine players this offseason due to graduation and the transfer portal, 12-year head coach Teri Moren had to rebuild the program. Moren tapped into the portal to bring in players with varying amounts of experience and on-court backgrounds.
“I do think we have some interesting pieces of how we’ll all gel together and when that’ll happen,” Moren said during the team’s opening press conference on Sept. 30. “I do think we’re more athletic than we were a year ago.”
Last season, Indiana lost to the University of South Carolina 64-53 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a nine seed. Now, Moren’s six transfer portal recruits will try to continue the Hoosiers’ streak of making six consecutive postseason appearances.
Zania Socka-Nguemen
Socka-Nguemen joins the Hoosiers for her first season in Bloomington in 2025, however, she had known about the program years before. Coming out of Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., Moren and her staff heavily recruited Socka-Nguemen. Despite the coaching staff’s efforts, the 6-foot-3 forward ultimately chose UCLA over the Hoosiers on Oct. 27, 2023.
The sophomore's decision to join the Bruins proved unsuccessful, only leading her to appear in 16 games during her freshman season. Socka-Nguemen averaged 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 5.1 minutes per game. Her strongest performance came against Wisconsin on Feb. 26. Socka-Nguemen went 4 for 5 from the field for eight points in her seven minutes of action.
Playing behind Lauren Betts — who was the 2025 Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year — Socka-Nguemen did not see much playing time in her future and entered the transfer portal on April 9. Her familiarity with the Indiana program brought Socka-Nguemen to the Cream and Crimson after only three days in the portal.
She also worked with Moren this summer, as a member of the USA Women’s Basketball U19 team. Socka-Nguemen finished the gold medal campaign averaging 3.1 points and 3.0 rebounds in Czechia.
Chloe Spreen
The 2024 Indiana Ms. Basketball returns to the “Hoosier State” after taking a one-year detour to the University of Alabama. The Bedford, Indiana, native played in 20 games for the Crimson Tide last season. Spreen averaged 1.1 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game.
She saw most of her action in decisive wins on the Alabama schedule. Spreen’s only double-digit minute performance against Southeastern Conference competition came in the fourth quarter of an 88-49 dominant win over Texas A&M University on Feb. 17. Her highest scoring game last season came in a 98-49 win over Georgia State University on Dec. 2, 2024. Spreen finished the contest with 5 points on 2 of 5 field goal attempts.
She only made 26.9% of her shots, but Spreen has shown potential during her four-year stint at Bedford North Lawrence High School. The 5-foot-10 guard scored 1,869 points — averaging 20.9 points per game in her senior year — and earned first-team All-Hoosier Hills Conference selections all four years for the Stars.
Phoenix Stotijn
Moren also brought in Stotijn from the SEC during the offseason, after she spent two seasons in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She played in 21 games and started in 12 for the University of Arkansas in the 2024-25 campaign. Stotijn finished her redshirt freshman season, averaging 7.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
The 5-foot-9 guard saw over 30 minutes of action in seven games last season. Stotijn exploded for a season-high 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting in an 80-71 win over Texas A&M on March 3. However, that hot shooting was not there for much of the season. Stotijn tallied 31.7% from the field and 26.0% on 4.6 attempts per game from 3-point range.
The Amsterdam, Netherlands, native has seen action for her national team in the past. In the 2024 Division B FIBA women’s U20 Eurobasket, Stotijn averaged 10.2 points plus 1.7 steals per game.
After entering the transfer portal on March 26, Stotijn committed to the Hoosiers on April 6. She will try to help produce a better record than a 10-22 campaign for the Razorbacks last season, as Stotijn looks to find playing time in a crowded guard group of new and returning faces.
Edessa Noyan
Noyan was the fourth transfer portal player to commit to Indiana this offseason. After spending two seasons with the University of Virginia, she declared her intention to play for the Hoosiers on April 15.
Noyan played in 28 and started in three contests during her freshman season. During her sophomore year in Charlottesville, Virginia, Noyan’s minutes jumped from 13.7 to 25.3 per game. Starting in 23 out of 26 games she appeared in last season, Noyan averaged 5.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
The 6-foot-3 forward had season-high scoring performances of 16 points against the University of North Carolina and Coppin State University. Noyan only averaged 0.9 blocks per game, but did produce four block stat lines against solid opponents in North Carolina State University and Duke University.
The Botkyrka, Sweden, native has also seen action for her national team. As a member of the Swedish U18 Junior National Team at the 2022 Nordic Championships, Noyan averaged 18.8 points per game.
Jerni Kiaku
Kiaku was the most experienced transfer portal addition for Indiana this offseason. The senior will use her final year of collegiate eligibility after spending the 2022-23 campaign at North Carolina Central University and the last two years at Duquesne University.
At North Carolina Central, the 5-foot-7 guard averaged 10.7 points, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals on her way to earning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year. Kiaku entered the transfer portal and found her way to Pittsburgh.
In her sophomore season, she appeared in all 34 games for the Dukes, averaging 6.6 points in 19.1 minutes per game. Her patience paid off last season, as she started in all 33 games for Duquesne and saw her minutes jump up to 27.1 per contest.
The Garner, North Carolina, native finished the season averaging 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists on 47.1% of her field goals. The mark ranked fifth in the Atlantic-10 Conference in field goal percentage for the season.
Jade Ondineme
Ondineme will take a step up in competition this season after spending the last two years at Northwest Florida State College. The Lady Raiders won the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I championship last season.
Ondineme contributed 6.0 points, 1.1 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game for the title-winning squad in her sophomore season. She started in 29 out of 35 games last year, shooting 51.1% on her field goal attempts.
Ondineme was the last portal addition for Moren this offseason after she announced her commitment to Bloomington on May 4. The Orleans, France, native played for Toulouse Métropole Basket, a professional team in the southwest of France, before coming to America.
The new look Hoosiers start their 2025 campaign against Lipscomb University on Nov. 4. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and the game will be streamed on Big Ten+.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the spellings of Zania Socka-Nguemen and Phoenix Stotijn
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.
