3 Takeaways From IU Women's Basketball 86-78 Win Over Utah In Their NCAA Tournament Opener

Hoosier Reach 20 Wins For 10th Straight Season By Knocking Off The Utes In The NCAA First Round

Colonial Life Arena In South Carolina Where The Indiana Women Beat Utah In Their NCAA Tournament Opener On Friday

Hoosiers Use Late Run In Second Quarter To Take Control After Halftime

Columbia S.C.-The Hoosiers offense got off to a slow start. They trailed 28-22 midway through the second quarter, and very few shots fell. However, Indiana gritted out the early struggles and got the score even at 31 by halftime.

This late momentum there allowed IU to come out of the locker room and seize control as they built a double figures lead of 52-41 late in the third quarter. It would stay that way well into the fourth quarter as the advantage ballooned to 62-49 with 7:27 left in the contest.

Junior Shay Ciezki who scored 16 points said the momentum carryover into the break was indeed a decisive factor.

“It was really important to us,” Ciezki said. “I think there was two minutes to go (in the second quarter) and we got together in a huddle and said we need to bring it back; we need to tie this game up going into halftime so we have momentum to come out. And that's what we did. So, no, it was really important to us.”

Utah made a late run from there with a four-point play and then a loose ball scramble leading to a three-pointer to carve the deficit to six points. However, the Hoosiers held the Utes at arms length after that with a few big shots down the stretch to hold on for the 76-68 victory.

Lily Meister Has Her Best Game Of The Season In Victory

Junior Lily Meister was expected to take a leap this season as the primary post player and replace program legend Mackenzie Holmes down low. Unfortunately, this has not quite worked out for Meister as she has struggled for most of 2024-2025 and lost her starting spot to Tennessee transfer Karoline Striplin during Big Ten play.

However, Meister finally showed why she was thought to be the heir apparent to Holmes on Friday. After a year where she missed many easy shots down low, it all came together against Utah going 5-5 from the field (all coming down low) and scoring 11 points in just 15 minutes of action. She also had a rebound, an assist, and a block, while doing a solid job defending down there.

IU coach Teri Moren praised Meister for her play.

“I think we're all so happy for the way Lilly showed up today,” Moren said. “When Lilly is confident, Lilly is a really good basketball player, and I think throughout the season she kind of lost that throughout.”

This performance was especially critical on a day when the team’s bread and butter of torrid three-point shooting was not working. Her performance also helped to somewhat offset the play of Utes’ big Maye Toure who kept her side in the contest all afternoon with 18 points.

Interestingly, both squads make a living from downtown generally but neither used that much for scoring on Friday afternoon. The Hoosiers were just 5-17 from three-point range and went inside for points much of the afternoon making Meister’s performance all the more important.

Their opponent was just 9-32 from there with many of those makes and attempts coming late as they tried to rally. In the end, going inside was the choice of the day for everyone.

Utah coach Gavin Petersen said the flow and emphasis here dictated the strategy for how this played out.

“I think for them they did a great job in that third quarter getting downhill, getting to the paint, getting some high-percentage shots,” Petersen said. “ But, yeah, I think, you know, we were trying to emphasize getting the ball inside. That's part of basketball. You kind of gotta take what the defense gives you, and we were trying to protect the three-point line, as they were as well.”

IU Hits 20 Wins For 10th Straight Season By Reaching Sixth Straight NCAA Tournament

Arguably the most important thing to occur on Friday was keeping Indiana’s long streak of 20-win seasons alive. Since 2015-2016 IU has hit this mark each year and with the victory is now 20-12 overall. It was also their sixth straight appearence in March Madness after just five times making it in school history prior to this run.

By prevailing against the Utes, the Hoosiers get top-seed South Carolina on the road in the second round which will be a very tall task. The contest will also be a rematch of 2024’s Sweet 16 matchup where Indiana gave the Gamecocks their toughest fight on the way to the national title.

However, given the personnel and imperfect roster, keeping this one close again will be an even bigger ask. However, no matter the result, Moren has maximized a flawed squad into yet another NCAA Tournament appearance and for that, every fan should be confident in this program’s leadership.

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