Indiana Hoosiers guard Yarden Garzon (12) dribbles as North Carolina Tar Heels guard Indya Nivar (24) defends during the first half at the Atlantis Resort Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Best Indiana Women’s Basketball Players Of The 2020s So Far: No. 5 Yarden Garzon

Originally posted on Indiana Hoosiers on SI
By Todd Golden | Last updated Jun 11, 2025 11:16 AM ET

Yarden Garzon’s departure from Indiana to Maryland is still a fresh wound for the Hoosiers and women’s basketball coach Teri Moren. She told the Indianapolis Star that Garzon’s departure “stings,” but this is just part of the deal in the transfer portal and NIL era.

Moren no doubt meant that on a personal level as much as from a basketball context. But Garzon’s exit does leave a sizable hole. When Indiana needed help in a certain area, the versatile Garzon had the talent to fill in.

By default, Garzon was a second forward for the Hoosiers, but very much a stretch forward as Indiana typically played with four players spread out.

However, Garzon could also run the point if needed. On a few occasions with either Mackenzie Holmes or Lilly Meister hurt, the 6-foot-3 Garzon could hold her own in the post.

Garzon could do a little bit of everything, and that was evident almost immediately upon her arrival from Israel in 2022.

Moren immediately inserted Garzon into the starting lineup – she would go on to start all 97 games she played for Indiana. Garzon pumped in 19 points in her Indiana debut against Vermont as she helped Indiana roll to a 12-0 start in the 2022-23 season.

Garzon maintained her level of production as Indiana was one of the top teams in the nation. From Nov. 21 onward, the Hoosiers never fell out of the Associated Press top six.

After an 83-78 loss at Michigan State on Dec. 29 snapped the 12-game win streak, the Hoosiers reeled off 14 consecutive wins. The final victory over Purdue clinched the regular season Big Ten championship with a game to spare.

Garzon was the fourth-leading scorer on that team at 11.1 points per game and the third-leading rebounder at 5.3 rebounds per game. Indiana was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and seemed destined to achieve the highest goals. All of which made Indiana’s 70-68 loss to Miami at Simon Skojdt Assembly Hall that much more of a shocker.

Going forward, Garzon continued to shine while the stalwarts of that era – Grace Berger, Mackenzie Holmes, Sara Scalia – each ran out of eligibility. Garzon averaged 11.7 points in 2024 – though some of her shooting numbers went down. Still, Indiana advanced to the Sweet 16 and suffered a close loss against eventual national champion South Carolina.

In 2025, Garzon was the first scoring option. She converted 40.7% of her 3-point shots, improved her free throw shooting by an impressive 24 percentage points from 66% to 90.1%, and averaged a team-best 14.4 points per game. This time, Indiana bowed out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, once again losing to South Carolina.

In the 2020s, Garzon ranked fourth among all players in starts and major honors earned. Garzon ranked fifth in win share average and win share total.

She earned her spot in the top five of the 2020s and it would have been interesting how high she could have climbed if she finished her career with the Hoosiers.