With three Big Ten contests under its belt, Indiana women’s basketball is still searching for its first conference win this season.
The Hoosiers fell to No. 24 Michigan State 80-60 on Thursday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. It marked the first time since the 2017-18 season that Indiana has started conference play with three straight losses.
Senior guard Shay Ciezki led the Hoosiers with 16 points. Redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont recorded 14 points with seven rebounds for the Hoosiers.
Indiana struggled to contain Michigan State senior guard Jalyn Brown in the first half, allowing her to score 11 points off 3-for-3 shooting from the 3-point line in seven minutes on the floor. The Hoosiers combatted the hot start from Brown and the Spartans with a 10-point first quarter from Ciezki.
A 3-pointer from Ciezki with just under two and a half minutes in the first period gave the Hoosiers a one-point advantage, but a scoring drought followed. Indiana didn’t score again until about two and a half minutes into the second quarter, when freshman forward Maya Makalusky scored her first points of the game with a basket from long range, which tied the contest at 21.
The Hoosiers fell seven points behind the Spartans with just over four minutes to go in the half. A basket from Beaumont and six points from junior forward Edessa Noyan pulled Indiana back within one point with 53 seconds left in the second period, but Michigan State scored two more times to regain a five-point lead at the break.
While Brown had 18 points in the first half, going 7 for 10 from the field, Spartan senior forward Grace VanSlooten recorded 10 points and eight rebounds before halftime. Ciezki’s production slowed down after her hot first quarter, as she scored just two points in the second period.
Michigan State went on a 7-2 run to start the third period, granting the Spartans a 10-point lead. Indiana was able to chip away at Michigan State’s lead, but the Spartans ultimately grew their lead to 14 points by the end of the third quarter.
The Spartans continued to extend their lead in the final period en route to their 20-point victory over the Hoosiers.
Indiana, now 11-4 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten, will look to No. 7 Maryland to get its first conference win of the season. Tipoff between the Hoosiers and the Terrapins is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland, and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
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.
