During the offseason, Indiana women’s basketball lost its two primary post players. Former forward Karoline Striplin graduated after one season with the program, while forward Lilly Meister transferred to the University of Kansas.
The Hoosiers combatted the losses via the transfer portal. They brought in sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen from UCLA and junior forward Edessa Noyan from the University of Virginia.
The addition of Socka-Nguemen proved to be impactful for the Hoosiers early on. The 6-foot-3 forward averaged nine rebounds and 13 points throughout the first seven games of the season, but injury struck.
Socka-Nguemen sat on the bench sporting street clothes and a boot on her right foot until she returned against Maryland on Jan. 4. But less than a month later, Socka-Nguemen again wore a boot — on her opposite foot — and was ruled out of Indiana’s contest against Purdue on Jan. 25.
Noyan has slotted into the starting lineup when Socka-Nguemen has been injured, but she hasn’t been as productive. The 6-foot-3 Noyan has averaged 4.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this season.
Indiana's post presence — or lack thereof — was apparent in its 95-67 loss to No. 9 Michigan on Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Hoosiers surrendered 54 points in the paint to the Wolverines.
“It's really hard to run a good offense without a low post presence,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “And we were hoping that ‘Z’ (Socka-Nguemen) was gonna be the answer for us. It doesn't look like she's going to be.”
Along with the lack of interior defense, Noyan contributed only seven points and no offensive rebounds to the Hoosiers' offensive efforts in her 26 minutes.
Moren has criticized Noyan throughout the season, and Thursday’s performance created more displeasure from the Hoosiers’ 12th-year head coach. Moren said she wanted her team to be more physical when attempting to grab rebounds and specifically called out Noyan.
“And I'm speaking particularly about Edessa. She has to make that second effort,” Moren said. “Those are the things I'm talking about. The second effort plays that you have to make in order to get that defensive rebound for us."
Aside from Socka-Nguemen and Noyan, there aren’t many players to reinforce the Hoosiers’ interior. Sophomore forward Faith Wiseman saw 12 minutes on the floor against the Wolverines. She recorded two points, two rebounds and two blocks in while on the court.
But even Wiseman has missed time due to injury this season. After playing three minutes against Illinois on Dec. 6, Wiseman was ruled out of the Hoosiers’ next four contests. Moren said Wiseman got hit in the jaw and was experiencing side effects from that. Thursday marked her first time on the court since Dec. 6.
Moren and the Hoosiers have also brought in junior forward Jade Ondineme at times this season. Ondineme, who transferred to Indiana from Northwest Florida State College during the offseason, played a season-high 21 minutes against Purdue, but recorded just three points and five rebounds, and didn’t see time on the court Thursday.
In select situations, Indiana has even played freshman forward Maya Makalusky in the five position, despite it not being her typical role.
Without a steady presence inside, the Hoosiers have struggled to generate offense. They were outrebounded by Michigan 37-25, including 14 offensive rebounds from the Wolverines.
The inability to grab rebounds — along with 23 turnovers — limited Indiana’s attempts at the basket, as the Wolverines had 21 more shot attempts than the Hoosiers.
The lack of a reliable interior player has plagued Indiana this season and will continue to cause problems if the Hoosiers’ pieces don’t improve. Moren said she doesn’t foresee Socka-Nguemen returning soon, so without its starting forward, Indiana will have to work around Noyan, Wiseman and Ondineme.
The Hoosiers will continue to face premiere interior players against Big Ten opponents, especially when it travels to the West Coast to take on UCLA and the reigning Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year in senior center Lauren Betts on Feb.15.
Indiana has four games until its contest against the Bruins and will look to steal its first conference win before then. Its next opportunity is Northwestern at 2 p.m. Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
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.
