Despite having the Big Ten’s leading scorer in senior guard Shay Ciezki, Indiana women’s basketball suffered a nightmare start to its conference campaign for the 2025-26 season. Entering Sunday’s matchup, the Hoosiers held an 0-10 record, good for second worst in the Big Ten.
However, off the back of a typically bright Ciezki performance, redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont and freshman forward Maya Makalusky both went off for more than 20 points. Through their offensive efforts, Indiana defeated Northwestern 89-75 on Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Heading into Sunday’s game, the story of Indiana’s season had been its consistent poor performances in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers hadn’t won a conference match since defeating Oregon 78-62 in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament on March 6, 2025.
Indiana finished its nonconference schedule relatively unscathed, losing a single game to Iowa State University 106-95 on Nov. 30. However, the Hoosiers faceplanted upon the start of conference play, losing 10 straight Big Ten games.
Indiana became increasingly dependent on Ciezki, who continued to put up impressive numbers despite the team’s struggles. As Ciezki scored 20 or more points in five of the Hoosiers’ first ten conference games, the only other players to match were Beaumont and Makalusky, who both had reached 20 points once.
This dependence on Ciezki became most pronounced in an 80-69 defeat to rival Purdue on Jan. 25. Ciezki notched 37 points on 11 for 18 shooting from the field, which accounted for more than 50% of Indiana’s points and field goals against the Boilermakers.
Beaumont, Indiana’s second-highest scorer at 13.5 points per game, was the only other Hoosier to reach double-digit points in that game, with 13. Despite Beaumont often being recognized as the Hoosiers’ second-best player behind Ciezki, the redshirt sophomore had often been called upon by Indiana head coach Teri Moren to be more aggressive.
Against Northwestern, Beaumont gave Moren the aggression she sought. As Indiana romped to a 30-3 lead after just one quarter, Beaumont led the Hoosiers with 12 points on a perfect 6 for 6 shooting.
Ciezki, Makalusky and Beaumont led the offense, with the Wildcats unable to stop the trio in the first half. At halftime, they had 17, 16 and 15 points, respectively.
All three players continued to produce offensively into the second half. Ciezki ended the night with 33 points, dropping her sixth game of 30 or more points on the season. Beaumont had a crucial momentum-restoring bucket with less than four minutes remaining, finishing with 24. Makalusky also finished with 21 points on the night.
With big performances from Beaumont and Makalusky, the Hoosiers finally added to their Big Ten win-column, much to the relief of Moren.
“Those guys are so competitive and they’re just so stinking tired of coming up short,” Moren said postgame. “I do think for our team, when Beau’s aggressive, we’re a much better team offensively.”
Moren was generous with praise for Beaumont, acknowledging that she had taken the next step.
“She’s become more aggressive,” Moren said. “And it’s paid off for her, but it’s really paid off for us. Because I just feel like now, without ‘Z’ in the mix, we put so much pressure on Shay. Other people have to get involved, and when Beau’ is as aggressive as she is tonight, I think that helps Shay.”
Beaumont and Makalusky stepped up against Northwestern, and the scoreline reflected as much.
“Give those kids credit,” Moren said. “They really did what we needed to do.”
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.
