Three Takeaways From IU Women's Basketball's Victory Vs. Penn State

Hoosiers Make Improvements Down Stretch To Close Season Strong

Assembly Hall, Where The Hoosiers Played Penn State On Saturday Afternoon

Hoosiers Shred Penn State Defense By Taking Advantage Of Gracie Merkle’s Lack OF Speed

Bloomington-As she has done many times in the past, Hoosier coach Teri Moren is liable to find an opponent’s strength and turn it into her opposition’s biggest liability. On Saturday, against Penn State, Moren used Nittany Lion star Gracie Merkle as her side’s biggest strength.

While Merkle is one of the better post players in the league due to her sheer height and physical presence, she also does not run the floor quickly, which can cause her to also be slow to switch on defense. These traits are why PSU possesses both an elite offense and a defense that struggles mightily.

Moren took full advantage of this conundrum the Nittany Lions have, shredding them for easy baskets by running the floor for layups and finding the open shooters in rotation. While Merkle finished with 22 points to lead her squad and was a force inside on offense, her lack of speed also allowed IU to find unguarded players when trying to score.

As a result of this, Indiana raced to a 31-8 lead after one and never looked back in a 93-59 win. By the end, Penn State seemed to be attempting to sub Merkle in on every dead ball for offense, and out on every dead ball for defense as much as they could.

While the bottom five teams in the league have struggled mightily, PSU is the only one of them that has massively underachieved, given the talent of its roster. With Merkle and top guards Moriah Murray and Kiyomi McMiller, this should have been an NCAA Tournament Squad if everything clicks. However, they are not close to that, given their lack of discipline and chemistry, and when IU punched them from the start, it was over quickly.

The Hoosiers showed that despite their own struggles, they are still miles ahead of the group of five squads at the bottom of the league nearly annually (Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin), finishing 5-1 against them. While Indiana has played much better as of late, they got the misfortune of playing all these teams late in the year, but to their credit took advantage.

Shay Ciezki Finally Getting Help And Its Led To Massive Improvement

For much of the year, the personnel on this team were young and inconsistent, and there was only one sure thing on this squad that made IU as good as it even was. That one elite player is senior Shay Ciezki, who by necessity has had to carry the vast majority of the scoring load this season.

Ciezki, despite being the smallest player on the floor a lot of the time, makes up for it with her skill. She is both an elite shooter from the outside and can drive to the basket for points as well. She is amongst the top of the conference in scoring at around 23 points per game and finished above that on Saturday afternoon with 29 points.

However, the difference now is she is finally getting help in the Hoosiers recent hot streak (winning six of eight games) from top-prospect freshmen Nevaeh Caffey and Maya Makalusky. While it has led to many growing pains, it also makes the future much brighter down the road with Ciezki graduating. Teaming them with a healthy Lenee Beaumont in future seasons, and the sixth-ranked recruiting class for 2026-2027, gives much reason for hope going forward.

Makalusky is starting to grow into the all-around scorer Ciezki is with her jump shots and ability to shoot 3’s. Meanwhile, Caffey’s driving ability and running the point guard spot have come around. On the day, Caffey finished with 18 points, while Makalusky added 15 points.

Meanwhile, Beaumont scored 18 points, giving Indiana four double-figures scorers. With Moren now able to put four offensive threats on the floor again in her best lineup, like past seasons, the Hoosiers are a much more dangerous team now.

Indiana Still Has Much To Play For

While this season has not gone as hoped, IU still has a ton to play for. Saturday’s victory in their regular season finale was critical as it clinched the Hoosiers a spot in the Big Ten Tournament, which only the top-15 teams make.

Also, while the NCAA Tournament is out of reach, Indiana is above .500 overall at 17-13 (6-12 in conference) and makes them eligible for the second-tier postseason WNIT and WBI Tournaments. While these carry very little prestige anymore, a chance to play a few more games together for this young squad, and a shot at 20 wins (which has happened every year since 2015-2016) should not be overlooked. However, whether the team excepts a bid to one of them though is an open question.

While this season as a whole didn’t quite go as planned, it could be much worse, as Saturday’s opponent is living proof of. Also, Hoosier fans should be reminded how 2017-2018’s WNIT title propelled the squad to the top levels of College Basketball over the next half dozen years should Indiana take a spot here.

This run included six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, four times being a top-four seed, three times hosting early round games, three Sweet Sixteens, an Elite Eight, and a Big Ten Title. With the pieces there for the future, IU can hope to be closer to that level in the next half-decade with some players added around the edges rather than the struggles of 2025-2026.

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