Coming into the 2025-26 season, Indiana women’s basketball head coach Teri Moren had high expectations for freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey.
Caffey has taken on an important role for the Hoosiers to begin the season. She has started and played over 30 minutes in both of Indiana’s first regular season games, proving to be a dominant force on the defensive end.
However, the transition to college basketball has proven difficult at times. Moren trusts her freshman in tough situations on the court, but from an offensive standpoint, Caffey has been underwhelming to start the season.
Caffey — a 5-foot-10 guard — has done more for Indiana than just scoring the ball. Her defense and aggressiveness were reasons why Moren believed Caffey could be a leader from game one and beyond.
“She's a competitor, she's relentless, she wants to win,” Moren said postgame Tuesday after an 80-46 win over Lipscomb University. “She's super aggressive, offensively, defensively, sometimes too over-aggressive offensively, but we'll help her with that.”
Caffey has played 31 and 34 minutes in Indiana’s first two regular season games for Indiana to start the season. But shooting at a 31.3% mark isn’t what the coaching staff wants to see. She missed four close shots during Friday’s comeback 72-56 win over the University of Illinois Chicago and finished the game 2-of-7 from the field with only five points.
Reading college-level defenses has not been difficult for Caffey, as she finished with five assists against UIC. The trouble on Friday came in the form of her being too aggressive around the basket, something that Moren also noticed.
“If Neveah’s gonna continue to try to be aggressive at the rim, she's gonna have to learn how to make contact with her defender and get herself to the free throw line,” Moren said postgame. “Somehow she has to be rewarded.”
Caffey started the game 0-of-4 from the field in the first half. She had bad misses, including hitting the front rim on a layup attempt from the middle of the paint in the first quarter and airballing a contested driving attempt in the second frame.
In addition to her poor shooting start, Caffey missed both attempts from the charity stripe Friday and has only attempted four free throws to start the season. Caffey’s offense will come in time and experience, but she’s already shown her value on the defensive side of the court.
Moren gave Caffey the assignment to defend UIC senior guard Jessica Carrothers. The 5-foot-7 Carrothers is coming off a season at Indiana University Northwest where she led all of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in scoring with 31.4 points per game.
Caffey found it difficult to defend Carrothers’ unconventional jump shot in the first half. The Highland, Indiana, native started 7-of-9 on her field goal attempts, but Caffey limited her to a 1-of-6 mark in the second half.
One possession that stood out from the rest was with 5:50 left in the third quarter and Indiana down 37-35. Caffey picked up Carrothers for all 94 feet. The Indiana defender stuck to the UIC ball handler like glue, leading to Caffey stripping Carrothers and forcing a shot clock violation.
Possessions like that are why Caffey has been inserted into the starting lineup.
“It's not scoring the ball that keeps you on the floor for us,” Moren said postgame. “It's guarding, defending, rebounding. That's what keeps you on the floor for us.”
Caffey will continue to start if she’s a plus defender for Indiana. Playing winning basketball isn’t something new for Caffey — while playing at Incarnate Word Academy in Missouri, she won 139 straight games to set a national record.
However, Caffey will need to settle in on the offensive side of the court if she wants to turn into a great player at Indiana — something Moren believes will happen eventually.
It’s only the second game of the season, but the growth will have to happen sooner rather than later. Indiana wants to return to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season, and Caffey has the power to make or break that goal.
“By the end of this,” Moren said postgame Tuesday, “she's going to be one of the best guards to ever play here.”
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.
