A season ago, Indiana women’s basketball lacked a dominant inside presence. Forwards Lilly Meister and Karoline Striplin showed flashes of powerful play in the paint, but the duo largely struggled to be physical consistently, especially in conference contests.
Over the offseason, Striplin graduated from the program while Meister transferred to the University of Kansas. In response, the Hoosiers brought in Zania Socka-Nguemen from UCLA.
On Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, the sophomore forward showed Hoosier fans the type of inside power she can be.
Socka-Nguemen scored 19 points in the Hoosiers’ 80-46 win over Lipscomb University. She missed just one of her 10 total shot attempts from the field — a jumper almost three and a half minutes into the second quarter. She also recorded six rebounds and one steal in the contest.
After her performance, Socka-Nguemen shook off the impressive stat line like it was an expectation for herself.
“I was just playing basketball,” Socka-Nguemen said after the win. “There’s not really much that I have to say. I’m just happy to be in this position, very grateful. I went 9 for 10, sadly I missed that one.”
Indiana head coach Teri Moren noted that confidence — which stems from the work she has put in — as one of the aspects of Socka-Nguemen's game that allowed her to be aggressive and score for the Hoosiers on Tuesday. Moren said even when Lipscomb started to double team Socka-Nguemen and put more pressure on her, she handled herself “beautifully.”
The 6-foot-3 Socka-Nguemen displayed a similar accuracy in the Hoosiers’ lone exhibition contest against Missouri University of Science and Technology on Oct. 27. She recorded 8 points on a perfect 4 for 4 from the field.
However, Socka-Nguemen's minutes were limited after she found herself in foul trouble less than halfway through the third quarter. That was an area Moren and the staff worked on with Socka-Nguemen leading up to Tuesday’s contest, and it paid off.
Socka-Nguemen picked up one foul with just under eight minutes remaining in the first quarter, but she didn’t record another. After the contest, Moren stressed how important having an aggressive Socka-Nguemen on the court was and will be for the Hoosiers, especially in contests later in the season.
Throughout the offseason, Moren has complimented the athleticism of her team — especially Socka-Nguemen. She’s played an important role in Indiana’s ability to get up and down the court with more tempo and intensity.
The UCLA transfer saw limited playing time during her lone season with the Bruins. She played in just 16 games last season, partly because of an injury that kept her sidelined for eight of UCLA’s early season games. She also saw little action because of the players she was under, like center Lauren Betts, who was the 2025 Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year.
While the Silver Spring, Maryland, native’s performance Tuesday was against an Atlantic Sun Conference team, which is different compared to the likes of the Big Ten opponents Indiana will face later, it was a glimpse at what she might be capable of come bigger, more physical opposition.
“We’re very grateful that ‘Z’ (Socka-Nguemen) picked Indiana, and tonight was just a little bit of what she could do,” senior guard Shay Ciezki said. “There’s a lot more, and it’ll be exciting to see as we get to it, but just her ability to run the floor, grab boards, finish at a high level. You don’t see every post doing that, so we’re grateful she’s 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.
