For many games during the 2025-26 season, senior guard Shay Ciezki has been the main buoy keeping Indiana women’s basketball afloat. Entering Wednesday at second in the Big Ten with 23 points per game, Ciezki carried many Hoosier offensive performances, win or lose.
Against Rutgers on Wednesday, she received major help from the rest of her teammates as Indiana came from behind to defeat the Scarlet Knights 79-69 at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Ciezki led Indiana in points with 21, shooting 7 for 17 from the field and 50% from 3-point range. However, freshman forward Maya Makalusky nearly matched her, notching 19 points of her own. Makalusky took nine shots over the course of the contest, all of which were from beyond the arc. Her seven remaining points came from the free throw line.
Makalusky and Ciezki were not alone in their offensive contributions, as four of Indiana’s starters reached double figures. Freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey and redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont tallied 14 and 12 points, respectively.
The only starter to not reach double-digit points was junior forward Edessa Noyan, who made major contributions in other ways. Noyan pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds against Rutgers, five of which were offensive — also a season-high.
Noyan collected five rebounds in the fourth quarter alone, helping the Hoosiers ride out their late lead.
“It’s been nice to see Edessa have some success, particularly rebounding,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “Because, if there’s one thing that I bark at her the most about, it’s rebounding.”
Noyan’s rebounding, especially on the offensive side, gave Indiana extra shot opportunities it usually does not receive. While teams usually attempt more shots than the Hoosiers, Rutgers had four more shots on the night compared to them.
Indiana used its bench sparingly against the Scarlet Knights, with just 15 minutes split between senior guard Jerni Kiaku and junior forward Jade Ondineme. Kiaku’s 11 minutes were impactful, however, as her five points played a major part in the Hoosiers’ victory.
Down 64-61 with just under six minutes remaining, Kiaku drove inside for a layup, sinking the shot and drawing a foul. Kiaku’s and-one swung momentum in the Hoosiers’ favor, as they would retake the lead soon after and never relinquish it.
“I thought Jerni came in, and she was probably the most important player of the game, to be honest with you,” Moren said. “I just felt like she just did some really, really good things for us in the short amount of time she was in there. But they were critical moments and gave us some life.”
Indiana was mainly still competitive in the first half due to its outside shooting, going 53.8% from 3-point range in the first half. That percentage dipped to 30.8% in the second half, but the Hoosiers made up for it with increased drives inside. Indiana shot just two free throws in the first half compared to 17 in the second half.
Ciezki was her usual self against the Scarlet Knights, coming just two points shy of her season average. However, another Ciezki-centric performance would have likely resulted in a loss for the Hoosiers. Indiana managed to win against Rutgers as a team, and will need to do so again Saturday against Ciezki’s former team in Penn State in order to clinch its spot in the Big Ten Tournament.
“There’s still a lot of basketball to be played,” Moren said. “And we’re going to approach every game like it’s the most important game and that’s how we’re going to go about whatever’s next for us, and the next most important game is Penn State.”
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.
