Indiana Women's Basketball Update: Outlook on Teri Moren's team before B1G play resumes

With the new year quickly approaching, Indiana women’s basketball sits with an 11-2 (0-1) record, as we’ve seen this team experience an up-and-down start to the 2025-26 season despite racking up a lot of wins.

Yes, 11-2 is a solid record in itself, but those 11 wins aren’t against the best of competition. A neutral-site victory over 8-5 Gonzaga is the Hoosiers’ most impressive win, with the other 10 coming against teams that have no shot at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Transfer forward Zania Socka-Nguemen has missed the last six games after a very promising start, while another former starting forward, Valentyna Kadlecova, left the program entirely to return to her home in Czechia. It hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing, and with a lack of quality wins, it’s an uphill battle ahead.

With nothing boosting its resume in non-conference play, Indiana will need an impressive showing during the 17 remaining games to secure a bid to the tournament, but it won’t be easy. Per BartTorvik.com, the Hoosiers are projected to lose 13 of their 17 remaining conference games, with the month of January being particularly daunting after Big Ten play returns tomorrow at Minnesota.

Six of Indiana’s eight matchups in the month are against ranked teams, and while a few losses wouldn’t hurt all that much, if Indiana finishes January with only a couple of wins, that could be catastrophic for its at-large chances.

Getting to the tournament was always the ultimate goal for this team. They have a few talented players, but the Hoosiers were never going to contend for a conference title, or even a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is a transition year with several new pieces, and by simply getting to the Big Dance, you can call it a success.

With that said, here are a couple takeaways from the first 13 games, with analysis on how Indiana can get back to the tournament for the seventh straight time.

FOOTBALL: Despite four-week layoff, Indiana embraces first-round bye before Rose Bowl

Rest of Indiana’s schedule:

Monday, Dec. 29 — vs. Minnesota
Thursday, Jan. 1 — vs. No. 24 Michigan State
Sunday, Jan. 4 — at No. 7 Maryland
Thursday, Jan. 8 — at No. 20 Nebraska
Sunday, Jan. 11 — vs. No. 14 Iowa
Wednesday, Jan. 14 — vs. Washington
Thursday, Jan. 22 — at No. 19 Ohio State
Sunday, Jan. 25 — at Purdue
Thursday, Jan. 29 — vs. No. 6 Michigan
Sunday, Feb. 1 — vs. Northwestern
Wednesday, Feb. 4 — at Wisconsin
Sunday, Feb. 8 — vs. Purdue
Thursday, Feb. 12 — at No. 17 USC
Sunday, Feb. 15 — at No. 4 UCLA
Sunday, Feb. 22 — vs. Oregon
Wednesday, Feb. 25 — at Rutgers
Saturday, Feb. 28 — vs. Penn State

Ciezki and Beaumont can’t remain the only focal point on offense

Having two players like Shay Ciezki and Lenee Beaumont can be a blessing, but when they’re your only offensive weapons, things can get ugly. Against weak non-conference competition, Ciezki’s dominance was enough to secure wins, especially when Socka-Nguemen was in the lineup.

But without the forward, Ciezki and Beaumont alone weren’t enough to lead Indiana to victory against Iowa State in Fort Myers or on the road at Illinois. The latter of the two featured an embarrassing point differential, as Ciezki and Beaumont combined for over half of IU’s points, with the rest of the team playing poorly.

The obvious fix to this problem is to get Socka-Nguemen back, but there’s no indication that she’ll return before Monday’s game at Minnesota. Edessa Noyan has stepped in just fine, but she hasn’t been able to replicate the offensive success that Socka-Nguemen saw early on.

Ciezki has scored 20-plus nine times, and her 24.3 points per game is fourth-best in the entire country, as she’s become an elite scorer both inside and from beyond the arc. With over 15 more points per game coming from Beaumont, the two have formed an incredible duo, but Indiana needs more from everyone else.

Freshman Maya Makalusky has come alive of late, while guards Naveah Caffey and Phoenix Stotijn have shown flashes from time to time. Ciezki and Beaumont need help during the gauntlet that will be Big Ten play, and the difference between making or missing the NCAA Tournament may lie in whether the supporting cast can step up.

Indiana is undefeated at home, and it might have to stay that way

Both of the Hoosiers’ losses have come away from home, as IU has taken care of business at Assembly Hall thus far. In an increasingly tough Big Ten, home-court advantage is key, and going on the road will present extreme challenges moving forward.

Especially against ranked opponents, you can’t go into their arenas and get wins, so taking care of business at home becomes just that much more important. The Hoosiers have nine home games and eight away games remaining, so winning all at home and none on the road would result in a 20-10 (9-9) record.

This is obviously unlikely, as Indiana will probably win at least one on the road, but winning all its home games isn’t too far-fetched. It’s definitely a lofty goal, but one that would almost certainly secure the Hoosiers a tournament bid.

No. 6 Michigan, No. 14 Iowa and No. 24 Michigan State come to Bloomington, but other than that, all of Indiana’s tough games will be played away from home. More importantly, the non-ranked games present must-win matchups if the Hoosiers want to find themselves playing in the postseason.

Indiana lost four home games a year ago and finished with a 10-8 conference record, but I don’t think the Hoosiers will fare as well on the road this time around. And with two losses away from home already, they’ve shown weakness against top competition outside of Bloomington.

Win at home, and Indiana will be in the tournament. Lose a few at Assembly Hall, and things get extremely dicey.

Final thought

The Hoosiers aren’t a bad team by any means, with an 11-2 record to back that up, but things could go south very quickly if they don’t execute in Big Ten play.

With a weaker non-conference schedule, Indiana doesn’t have much room for error moving forward, and it’ll need to stack quality wins if it wants to make the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers need production from players not named Ciezki or Beaumont, meaning that the rest of the team must step up on the offensive end.

Defensively, Indiana has been solid all season long, but if it doesn’t improve on the other end, it could be a rough go in conference play. The Big Ten is stacked, and IU could become one of the doormats of the league if it doesn’t improve as a cohesive offense.

It can’t rely too much on the 3-pointer, but it also needs an efficient 3-point game to be successful. Ciezki needs to score but can’t be the only option, as everything needs to be done in moderation with this team.

It’s young but talented, and Teri Moren is always a phenomenal coach. They have the tools to make the tournament, and the next 17 games will tell the tale of whether the Hoosiers can get it done.

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