Indiana women’s basketball travels to Tallahassee, Florida, on Sunday for its first away game of the season against Florida State University.
The Hoosiers started the season 3-0 with wins over Lipscomb University, University of Illinois Chicago and Marshall University. While Indiana had a 34-point victory over Lipscomb, it had to grind for wins in the following matches against UIC and Marshall.
Indiana found itself down 34-27 at halftime to UIC, only for senior guard Shay Ciezki to score 25 second-half points as the Hoosiers rallied to win 72-56. Ciezki’s performance in game earned her Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 10.
The game against Marshall was even rougher. Indiana struggled with shooting and turnovers but escaped with a 57-51 victory. The Hoosiers tallied 28 turnovers, their highest number since Dec. 6, 2016, against the University of North Texas.
Indiana shot 40.8% from the field against Marshall, which marked its lowest of the season. However, the Hoosiers held the Thundering Herd to just 28.6% shooting from the field.
Indiana struggled to cope with the full court press that Marshall ran all game, leaving the Hoosiers on the court tired while the Thundering Herd constantly rotated their lineup. Marshall had 11 different players touching the court in the first quarter alone, while Indiana only played three bench options all game long.
Freshman forward Maya Makalusky and sophomore guard Phoenix Stotijn were the substitutes who saw the most action so far this season, yet both are a combined 0 for 12 from 3-point range. Junior forward Edessa Noyan was the only other bench player to receive minutes against Marshall.
Indiana matches up against Florida State at 5 p.m. Sunday. The Seminoles started their season 3-1, winning their opening two games against Florida A&M University and Georgia Southern University, respectively.
Florida State was subjected to its first loss against No. 1 University of Connecticut 99-67 on Nov. 9, before bouncing back with a victory against Nicholls State University three days later.
Head coach Brooke Wyckoff is in her fourth season at the helm of Florida State, reaching the NCAA Tournament in each of her first three seasons. The Seminoles suffered first round losses to the University of Georgia and Alabama in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
In 2025, however, Florida State won its first-round matchup against No. 11-seeded George Mason University 94-59 on March 22, before losing to Louisiana State University 101-71 in the second round March 24.
Junior guard Solé Williams leads the Seminoles with 17.5 points per game, with senior guard Jasmine Shavers and junior center Pania Davis averaging 13.2 and 11 points, respectively.
Davis stands at 6 foot 6, 2 inches taller than Indiana’s tallest player — sophomore forward Faith Wiseman. Sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen, who is 6 foot 3, will have to keep Davis at bay.
Indiana’s game against Florida State tips off at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida. The game will be available on the ACC Network.
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.
