After two losses in Los Angeles and a week-long break from in-game action, Indiana women’s basketball returned to the court for a contest against Oregon.
The Hoosiers defeated the Ducks 72-65 on Sunday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The win lifted Indiana to 15-13 overall and 4-12 in the Big Ten. Senior guard Shay Ciezki led the Hoosiers with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Entering the game, Ciezki needed just seven points to reach 1,000 in her career with the Hoosiers. It took Ciezki, who is only in her second season at Indiana, until the 1:34 mark in the second quarter to score those seven, making her the 34th player in program history to achieve that feat.
Indiana started the contest with an 8-0 run through the first two and a half minutes of action before Oregon sophomore guard Katie Fiso recorded two points for the Ducks, who began chipping into the Hoosiers’ lead.
A 3-pointer from freshman forward Maya Makalusky put the Hoosiers ahead by nine points, but Oregon responded with a basket. Freshman guard Neveah Caffey drained two free throws just under halfway through the first quarter, but Oregon went on a 6-0 run to pull within three points.
Junior forward Edessa Noyan made a layup with just over 30 seconds left in the quarter to end Indiana’s four-minute scoring drought. A basket from senior guard Jeri Kiaku at the buzzer gave the Hoosiers a 17-10 advantage headed into the second quarter.
Indiana extended its lead to 13 points midway through the second period, with five points from Makalusky and four from Noyan. However, the second half of the second quarter was more back and forth, as Oregon cut into Indiana’s lead and made the score 37-28 at halftime.
The Hoosiers’ first points of the third period came from two free throws from Ciezki at the 7:18 mark. Indiana didn’t score a basket from the field throughout the entire third quarter, as all seven of its points came from the free-throw line.
The Hoosiers’ stagnant offense caused their lead to shrink to just one point before the final quarter.
Indiana’s field goal drought was broken by junior forward Jade Ondineme when she scored a layup 16 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Oregon scored a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 46.
The Ducks made another basket nearly a minute later, but a 3-pointer from Ciezki on the next possession gave the Hoosiers the lead back.
Caffey fouled out of the contest with 7:47 remaining in the game. She picked up her first foul about five and a half minutes through the second period but recorded three fouls in 13 seconds midway through the third period. After that, she sat on the bench but notched her fifth personal foul of the night just seven seconds after reentering the contest.
Oregon took back the lead with 3:36 left in the fourth quarter, but Ciezki made another 3-pointer and redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont made a layup and a 3-pointer to give Indiana a 64-57 advantage.
Back-to-back buckets from Oregon sophomore forward Ehis Etute allowed the Ducks to cut Indiana’s lead to three points with 45 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the Hoosiers’ seven-point victory.
The Hoosiers have just two more regular season contests before the Big Ten Tournament, which Indiana is on the bubble of making. If the Hoosiers want to secure a conference tournament berth, they’ll have to take care of Rutgers and Penn State, which are below Indiana in the Big Ten standings.
Indiana faces Rutgers at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey. The contest will stream on Big Ten+.
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.
