When redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont walked off the floor at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Nov. 11, Indiana women’s basketball had just escaped Marshall University 57-51.
For Beaumont, it was a 10-point performance — tied for her season-high — with 4 assists and 6 rebounds. However, the performance didn’t land her on Indiana head coach Teri Moren’s good side.
“’Beau’ has to get outside of her head,” Moren said postgame after Marshall.
The Hoosiers’ trip to Tallahassee, Florida, to play Florida State University on Sunday was a chance for Beaumont to clear her head and get back to playing her style of basketball with confidence.
“I think going into the game, I had a different mindset,” Beaumont said postgame.
The switch was shown on the court, as Beaumont shot 8 of 12 from the field and knocked down all three of her 3-point attempts to finish with a team-high 23 points. The performance helped Indiana knock off the Seminoles in a close 76-72 victory.
“Beau has to have nights like tonight for us,” Moren said postgame. “I’ve been waiting for Beau to show more aggressiveness ... offensively for us. We're counting on her to help us, not just defensively, but certainly offensively.”
In her first three games this season, Beaumont was shooting 45.5% from the field and an ugly 0 of 7 from 3-point range. Additionally, she produced 12 turnovers — including seven in the win over the Thundering Herd.
With that previous production, it was an impressive improvement for Beaumont on Sunday, especially during crunch time.
After Florida State sophomore guard Tatum Greene gave the Seminoles their first lead of the game with 6:31 remaining, it didn’t take long for Beaumont to show her presence on the court.
She buried a 2-pointer from the short corner off a baseline out-of-bounds play. Then, Beaumont made an open three off the fastbreak from the right wing to give the Hoosiers a 66-61 lead.
The five-point lead and Beaumont’s leadership helped put the game away for the Hoosiers. Even after senior guard Shay Ciezki fouled out and Florida State reduced Indiana’s lead to 72-70, Beaumont was able to calm her teammates down as the primary ballhandler.
“After the Marshall game ... we all did kind of established our roles,” Beaumont said postgame.
Beaumont’s role won’t normally be as the lead ballhandler, but she showed flashes that need to be sustained if the Hoosiers want to continue winning this season.
Offensively for Indiana, the Hoosiers will rely on Ciezki and sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen. Ciezki finished Sunday’s game with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while Socka-Nguemen had a season-low 11 points.
The pair have been the top two in scoring for Indiana in the previous three games. It was the third option on offense that had not been solidified.
Beaumont did have a best-of-the-rest 10 points against Lipscomb University on Nov. 4 and Marshall, but a 4-point performance against the University of Illinois Chicago on Nov. 7 showed that Beaumont still had problems that needed to be addressed if she wanted an upgraded role in the offense.
However, after Sunday’s game, it’s hard to understate the importance of Beaumont’s breakout performance. The Hoosiers needed an extra facet of an offense that looked stagnant outside of two players.
Especially when no other player on Indiana’s roster has scored double-digit points to start the season, sophomore guard Valentyna Kadlecova and freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey came the closest with 9-point performances.
But for Beaumont, the scoring came easy on Sunday, particularly in the second quarter. She scored 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting and hit two 3-pointers. The second 3-pointer surpassed her career-high of 11 points against Northwestern in her freshman season and gave her 12 points heading into the locker room.
“I'm in the gym every day, like, I don't miss a day,” Beaumont said postgame. “So, there's no reason why I shouldn't have the confidence going into games and being ultra-aggressive on that side.”
The newfound confidence was needed for Indiana to overcome its toughest opponent to start the season. Now, Beaumont must continue to produce high-level scoring outputs and show that her confidence can be sustained.
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.
