After its first power-conference win of the season, Indiana women’s basketball returns home to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington for a bout with Butler University.
The Hoosiers notched a 4-point win over Florida State University on Sunday in Tallahassee, Florida, to improve to 4-0 on the year in their first road contest of the season. Despite the close margin of victory, Indiana head coach Teri Moren said she felt better about the Hoosiers’ victory over the Seminoles compared to her squad’s previous wins over Lipscomb University, the University of Illinois Chicago and Marshall University.
Senior guard Shay Ciezki and sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen have taken charge of Indiana’s offense this season, as Ciezki averages 23 points per game and Socka-Nguemen averages 15.5. However, against the Seminoles, the Hoosiers saw increased efforts from the supporting cast, including a career-high 23-point performance from redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont.
Indiana led for most of the contest until Florida State took the lead in the third quarter, which grew to 9 points with a minute and a half in the third. The Hoosiers had to play from behind in the final frame and eventually took back the lead about midway through.
Jerni Kiaku — who only saw a combined five minutes on the court through the first three games — scored the game-sealing basket for Indiana with 15 seconds left in the contest. The senior guard took just one shot from the field, but the layup proved to be an important one for Indiana.
“This feels a little bit different for us tonight,” Moren said postgame. “You know, I think maybe because we had to fight to come back and win, and it's a win, but it feels differently for us, and I think they feel it, which is a really, really good sign.”
A season ago, Indiana fell to Butler 56-46. The Hoosiers’ 46 points scored was tied for the fewest in Moren’s tenure in Bloomington.
Indiana was plagued by inopportune turnovers and a low shooting percentage, shooting just 34% from the field with 16 turnovers.
However, both rosters look much different than they did on Nov. 13, 2024.
Indiana returned five players from its 2024-25 roster, and Ciezki was the only one of those to average more than four minutes per contest for the Hoosiers last season. Indiana’s roster now consists of those five returners, two freshmen and six transfers.
Butler went through a similar roster reconstruction. The Bulldogs returned just three players from a season ago — redshirt freshman forward Mckenzie Swanson, sophomore guard Lily Zeinstra and senior forward Lilly Stoddard.
Zeinstra is the only returner to make a significant impact on the court this season. The 5-foot-11 guard has averaged 14.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and one steal per game this season.
Behind Zeinstra is the twin duo of redshirt sophomore guard Saniya Jackson and junior guard Nevaeh Jackson. Each of the Valparaiso University transfers averages 9.5 points per game. Saniya has 11 steals through Butler’s first four games, while Nevaeh has six.
Butler head coach Austin Parkinson is in his fourth season at the helm. He’s led the Bulldogs to a 2-2 record to start the season with wins over Wright State University on Nov. 3 and Northern Kentucky University on Nov. 16.
The Bulldogs’ two losses this season have come at the hands of Columbia University and Central Michigan University. Against Columbia on Nov. 7, Butler suffered a 5-point loss in overtime to the Lions. It failed to contain Columbia junior guard Riley Weiss, who recorded 27 points with five rebounds in the contest.
Tipoff between Indiana and Butler is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The contest will stream on Big Ten+.
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.
