Nearly a day after its historic comeback win over Nebraska in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, No. 13-seeded Indiana women’s basketball readied for a rematch with No. 5-seeded Ohio State.
The Hoosiers fell to the Buckeyes 83-59 on Thursday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Freshman forward Maya Makalusky recorded a team-high 21 points, while senior guard Shay Ciezki had 12.
Neither squad could generate offensive momentum in the first half of the opening quarter. Makalusky notched a 3-pointer nearly a minute and 15 seconds into the contest to put the Hoosiers on the board first. But the next basket didn’t come for nearly two minutes, as Ohio State senior guard Chance Gray recorded a layup.
The Buckeyes recorded another layup about a minute later, but the Hoosiers followed with a 7-0 run to take a six-point lead. They held that advantage until just over a minute and a half remained in the first period. Ohio State then went on a 6-0 run to tie the contest at 12 at the end of the quarter.
Ciezki opened scoring in the second quarter with a midrange jumper nearly a minute into the frame, and Ohio State notched two free throws to knot the game at 14. A 3-pointer from Gray gave the Buckeyes their first lead with 7:36 remaining in the first half and led Indiana head coach Teri Moren to call a timeout.
Ohio State scored seven consecutive points after the 3-pointer to cap off a 12-0 run and take a 10-point lead. Indiana junior forward Edessa Noyan stopped the Buckeyes’ scoring run with a fastbreak layup midway through the second quarter.
The two squads traded baskets through the rest of the second quarter, but the Hoosiers fell into foul trouble. Redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont picked up her fourth personal foul of the contest with 2:40 left in the period. Freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey recorded three in the half, while three other Hoosiers collected a personal foul.
Eight of Ohio State’s first-half points were from the free-throw line. Each came from sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge, leading the Buckeyes to a 36-24 halftime advantage.
Indiana opened the third period with a 3-pointer from Makalusky and a layup from Noyan to cut Ohio State’s lead to seven points. The Buckeyes responded with a 10-0 run to regain a 17-point advantage with just over six minutes left in the quarter.
Ohio State extended its lead to 21 points before the fourth quarter and continued to do so throughout the final frame en route to its 24-point win over Indiana.
Barring a trip to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament or the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, the Hoosiers finish their 2025-26 campaign 18-14 overall and 6-12 in the 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.
