Coming off two losses in Los Angeles, Indiana women’s basketball could’ve lost steam heading into its final three games of the season. From the outside looking in, a 92-48 loss to No. 2 UCLA on Feb. 15 felt like a reset of Indiana’s strong mentality built over the previous four games.
Yet, the mentality inside Cook Hall was a different story. A story of optimism.
“It was a big loss by the numbers, but look back on film and look at the things that we could’ve done better, helped us for this game,” Indiana senior guard Shay Ciezki said postgame Sunday. “We were definitely focusing on our defensive side of the ball.”
An improved defensive effort held Oregon to 38% from the field and 3 for 11 from 3-point range. Stats like that were enough to push the Hoosiers past a 42.3% shooting performance and defeat Oregon 72-65 on Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
During Indiana’s nine-game losing streak between Dec. 29 and Jan. 29, a 44-point loss to the Bruins would’ve been par for the course. A same old 2025-26 Indiana women’s basketball performance.
But since the Hoosiers rattled off three consecutive wins over Northwestern on Feb. 1, Wisconsin on Feb. 4 and Purdue on Feb. 8, Indiana has looked like a different team on the court. A collection that has been playing relaxed, more disciplined and improved compared to last month — even if the games resulted in losses.
“I do think we’re playing better,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said Sunday. “We have to have nights like this, though. And, I look at the stat sheet, and there’s four of us that are in double digits.”
On her and fellow senior guard Jerni Kiaku’s Senior Day, Ciezki led the Hoosiers with 20 points. It’s not surprising to see the second year Indiana player on top of the team’s scoring totals, as she’s accomplished the feat in 20 of the Hoosiers’ 28 games this season.
In Ciezki’s absence — due to an ankle injury — against USC on Feb. 12, other Indiana players stepped up, allowing the Hoosiers to only lose 79-73. Freshman forward Maya Makalusky produced a career-high 29 points to lead a group that had four double digit scorers. It was a result that signaled the Hoosiers’ resurgence back into being a serviceable team in the Big Ten.
The loss to UCLA showed that there is still work to do, not only with this team, but for the future. Yet, the uphill climb against the Bruins was thought to be helped by Ciezki’s return to the court. However, an awkward fall with 3:13 left in the first quarter ended Ciezki’s game after only seven minutes played.
Already facing a tall task of upsetting the Bruins, the injury sank the Hoosiers for the rest of the game. The Hoosiers’ health improved with no game this week, and it showed on Branch McCracken Court on Sunday.
Junior forward Edessa Noyan chipped in 18 points and eight rebounds, her best game since donning an Indiana uniform at the start of this season. Noyan drained a 3-pointer on her first shot of the game, giving her confidence the rest of the way.
The 3-point shot is an aspect of Noyan’s game that Indiana fans haven’t seen a lot this season. The Botkyrka, Sweden, native didn’t attempt a 3-pointer in five games during the losing streak. But the wins gave Noyan confidence from beyond the arc. She’s attempted at least one 3-pointer in Indiana’s last five games.
“I just feel like I've found my place in the team,” Noyan said postgame. “It took a long time, but I just feel like everybody's trusting me more. I trust myself more.”
Redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont poured in 15 points, and Makalusky rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10.
For a team that last month seemed like they wouldn’t win one game in the Big Ten, Indiana has become a team that could make noise come the conference tournament on March 4-8 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Hoosiers still have two games on their schedule: Rutgers on Feb. 25 and Penn State to close out the regular season Feb. 28.
It would be easy to overlook the two opponents. The Scarlet Knights have only won one game since Dec. 28 — 76-72 against Penn State on Jan. 18 — and are 9-18 overall and 1-15 in the Big Ten this season.
The Lady Lions have won two straight games — Northwestern and Rutgers — and deploy a dangerous scoring duo in sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller (21.6 points per game) and redshirt junior center Gracie Merkle (19.3).
Last month, these contests felt like the end-all, be-all this Indiana season — which they still are, but not to that extent. Now, BartTorvik projects the Hoosiers to win by eight points in both contests.
If Indiana were to win both contests, the Hoosiers could jump to No. 12 in the Big Ten standings. A difference that would see Indiana play 13-seed Nebraska — who defeated the Hoosiers 78-73 on Jan. 8 — rather than 11-seed Oregon.
I guess the Oregon matchup might be more winnable, but that mentality shouldn’t be in the players’ heads. Indiana still doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room in these last two games. Penn State and Purdue could still bypass the Hoosiers, sending them out of the conference tournament.
However, this Indiana squad knows they have something to work towards and goals to achieve.
“They really have been resilient,” Moren said postgame. “They've stayed together, and they've continued to show up with enthusiasm. One of the things that people need to know about this group is, they never packed it in.”
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.
