Preview: Nebraska Women’s Basketball vs. Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament with Breakdown

Indiana Scout

Head Coach

• Teri Moren | 11th season at Indiana; 22nd as HC
• 263-124 (.680) at IND; 462-254 (.645) Career Record
• 7x NCAA Tournament Apps., 1x Elite Eight, 2x Sweet 16, WNIT Champions (2018)
• 1x B1G Regular Season, 1x MVC Regular Season, 1x GLVC Regular Season & Tournament
• Kay Yow Award (2023), AP Coach OTY (2023), 2x B1G Coach OTY, Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (2014)
• Previous head coach at Indiana State and Indianapolis
• Previous assistant at Georgia Tech, Northwestern, and Butler

2024-2025 Record & Awards

• Record: 20-13 (10-8 B1G, T-8th)
• Finish: L, 64-53 to No. 2 South Carolina in NCAA Tournament Round of 32
• All-B1G: 1x Second Team, 2x Honorable Mention

All-Time Series

• Indiana leads 13-7
• Jan. 8, 2026, last matchup, 78-73 NU

Key Returners

• Shay Ciezki | G | Sr. | Entered the year as IU's leading returning and has lived up to that billing with 23.2 PPG (2nd in B1G) in her senior season. 
• Lenée Beaumont | G | R-Soph. | Redshirted last season to rehab a knee surgery and has returned to produce 13.6 PPG and 4.8 RPG while shooting over 43% from downtown.

Key Departures

• Valentyna Kadlecova | G | Left Team | After starting in 10 of her 11 appearances during the season, the Czech Republic native left the team in December to return home. 
• Sydney Parrish | G | Graduated | 2024-2025 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention, who collected 11.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in her final college season. 
• Karoline Striplin | G | Graduated | Part-time starter last season and was the last of four double-digit scorers for the Hoosiers with 10.1 PPG. 
• Chloe Moore-McNeil | G | Gr. | Program pillar that departed Bloomington as the all-time career leader in games played (153), second in all-time victories (119), and fifth in assists (510).
• Lilly Meister | F | Transfer | 6-foot-3 forward who made starts in 17 of her 35 appearances last year while averaging 6.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game; transferred to Kansas.
• Lexus Bargesser | G | Transfer | Appeared in 29 games as a junior before transferring to Colorado State over the offseason.
• Julianna LaMendola | G | Transfer | Added a couple of points per game off the bench as a sophomore and ended up at Grand Canyon after transferring.
• Henna Sandvik | G | Transfer | Another depth piece transfer as the Finnish native now plays at Wyoming.

Impact Transfers/Newcomers

• Zania Socka-Nguemen | F | Soph. | UCLA transfer that was averaging 11.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game before being knocked out for the season in December.
• Neveah Caffey | G | Fr. | First-year college guard that's putting up 8.3 PPG and 3.5 RPG in her debut season in college basketball. 
• Maya Makalusky | F | Fr. | In-state native and 6-foot-3 forward that's adding 9.3 points per game while starting in 20 of her 30 appearances this season.
• Edessa Noyan | F | Jr. | Transfer from Virginia who has started in 19 of 30 games this season, while adding over five points and rebounds per contest. 
• Phoenix Stotijn | G | Soph. | Averaged seven points a game off the bench last season, but has seen her production plummet with only 2.1 PPG in 24 games off the bench.
• Jerni Kiaku | G | Sr. | 5-foot-7 transfer from Duqense averaging 14.4 minutes per game in 24 appearances off the bench.

Outlook

It has been a trying season for the Indiana women's basketball team and head coach Teri Moren, but the Hoosiers may be peaking at the right time. On paper, a 17-13 overall record and a 6-12 mark in the Big Ten is a disaster. The 13th-place conference finish is the worst for Moren in her head coaching career, with Indiana not reaching 20 wins for the first time since a 15-16 debut campaign for Moren in 2014-2015.

Part of that comes from two key departures in the middle of the season. Czech Republic native Valentyna Kadlecova left the team to return home after starting in 10 of the first 11 games of the season, which was shortly followed by leading newcomer Zania Socka-Nguemen being knocked out for the season. The UCLA transfer was providing a big boost behind the returning stars of Shay Ciezki and Lenée Beaumont, nearly averaging a double-double with 11.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. It sent the Hoosiers reeling with a 0-10 start to Big Ten play, which included its loss to Nebraska in early January.

However, Indiana has turned the corner by going 6-2 in the month of February to salvage its season and give itself a fighting chance with a Big Ten tournament berth. The wins weren't entirely impressive as only one of the six came against a team higher in the conference standings, but a 93-59 drubbing of Penn State to end the regular season will send the Hoosiers to Indianapolis on a high note.

Being on their own home turf will certainly help Indiana, but they'll need to do a better job of shooting the three-point ball. In their first matchup, the Hoosiers went a lowly 4-for-13 from beyond the arc while allowing five more turnovers. Shay Ciezki was electric with a game-high 31 points, but the Hoosiers will be without the services of Socka-Nguemen, who added a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double in the five-point loss.

There’s plenty of pressure on both teams in this matchup, and I expect it to be a tight game from start to finish. While each side has found some late-season momentum, I like the Huskers to come out on top, especially considering Indiana will be without one of its top players.