Indiana women’s basketball looked far from impressive in the first half but was still outshooting Minnesota from the field and 3-point range. Coming out of halftime, the Hoosiers were only down 34-28 with 20 minutes left in the game.
Then, the problems started for Indiana.
On the Hoosiers’ first possession in the second half, senior guard Shay Ciezki lost the ball while driving into the lane. Turnover number one.
Indiana’s next time on the offensive end, the ball slipped out of Ciezki’s hands. Turnover number two.
Finally, junior forward Edessa Noyan was called for a traveling violation in the paint. Turnover number three.
The three turnovers in three possessions for the Hoosiers to start the third quarter encapsulated Indiana’s problems on the offensive end of the court in Monday’s 71-48 blowout loss to Minnesota.
“Turnovers have been, you know, part of our issue for some time,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “And trust me, you guys have been around me long enough, it’s a hot button for me.”
Indiana finished the game with 21 turnovers — the second most in a game this season. The Hoosiers had a season-high 28 giveaways against Marshall University on Nov. 11. However, the Thundering Herd have averaged 22.6 turnovers forced per game this season, a mark that ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference and 20th in the NCAA.
Minnesota, on the other hand, has forced opponents to give up the ball 19.3 times per game this season, a mark tied for 94th in the NCAA. But that number drops to 18 turnovers per game in the Golden Gophers’ four games against high-major opponents this season.
For Indiana, the turnover woes start with their best player: Ciezki. She entered the Hoosiers’ second Big Ten contest of the season averaging the 10th most turnovers per game in the conference at 2.8.
On Monday, Ciezki finished the game with seven turnovers.
The number marked a career-high for the four-year Big Ten starter. It was an outing to forget all around for the 5-foot-7 Ciezki, as the conference’s leading scorer only produced 16 points — she had 17 last game against Western Carolina University, ending her streak of seven games with 20-plus points — and the turnovers counteracted a nine-assist performance.
Along with Ciezki, seven of the eight Hoosiers that saw action in Monday’s contest had at least one turnover.
“It has to be important to those guys when they come in, but not just when they come in and play,” Moren said postgame. “It’s every day. It’s every day in practice ... that's where we have to grow.”
Junior forward Edessa Noyan has stepped up in sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen's absence since the Nov. 30 showdown against then-No. 10 Iowa State. Noyan boosted her average of 3.3 points per game to 8.5 in six games without Socka-Nguemen.
However, the 6-foot-3 Noyan looked outmatched for most of the game against Minnesota graduate center Sophie Hart and graduate forward Finau Tonga. Hart and Tonga stand at 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-2, respectively, and were able to force a season-high four turnovers for Noyan — who finished the game with only two points.
Junior forward Jade Ondineme has also had to play a bigger role for Indiana with the reduced depth in the post, but she had three turnovers, without even attempting one shot in her 13 minutes on Branch McCracken Court on Monday.
Sophomore guard Phoenix Stotijn contributed two of the Hoosiers’ nine first-half giveaways, and freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey tallied two of Indiana’s 12 second-half turnovers. In total, Minnesota translated its 21 takeaways into 21 points off turnovers.
The trend of Indiana in the turnover department during its two Big Ten games has been worrying. The Hoosiers totaled 20 turnovers in their Dec. 6 showdown against Illinois, a mark that helped the Fighting Illini blow out Indiana 78-57.
But some of this sloppy play can be traced back to the inexperience of the Hoosiers.
“A lot of these kids are still learning,” Moren said postgame Monday. “As I mentioned to them, the Illinois game wasn't a one off, that is the Big Ten every night.”
Coaching her 12th season in the conference, Moren knows how to coach against the physicality that Big Ten teams bring to the table.
However, her team hasn’t shown they know how to play against conference opponents. Only four of Indiana’s 13 rostered players have played a full season in the Big Ten.
Indiana is 14 games into the 2025-26 campaign, and its 11-3 record is better than a good chunk of teams in the nation. But the Hoosiers haven’t looked confident as of late. Yes, injuries have plagued the team this season. But Indiana doesn’t have many more chances to pick up easy confidence-boosting wins.
The Hoosiers stay at home against No. 24 Michigan State to open the new year on Thursday, and that game marks the start of six consecutive contests Indiana must play against a team that is either ranked or receiving AP Poll votes.
Then, the Hoosiers must go on the road to play Purdue in Mackey Arena on Jan. 25: a place that will be loud for an in-state showdown, even if the Boilermakers are having a down season.
The turnovers for Indiana have snowballed into other problems that have caused the Hoosiers to start 0-2 in the Big Ten. And their road to gaining wins will become harder in January.
“Our window is so small that the margin of error is so little for us,” Moren said postgame. “If we don't do all these things almost dang near to perfect and a little extra, then we're going to have performances like this.”
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.
