IU women’s basketball dominates season opener while showing room to grow

IU women's basketball guard Shay Ciezki celebrates a play.

The saying may be “practice makes perfect,” but nothing beats genuine game action. It’s a sentiment Teri Moren — now in her 12th season as the Indiana women’s basketball head coach — knows all too well.

It wasn’t until the Assembly Hall scoreboard displayed fewer than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter that she removed her starters in an 80-46 blowout win against Lipscomb on Tuesday night.

“It takes time to learn to play with one another,” Moren said postgame. “It was intentional. We wanted to give those guys those reps to figure out some things defensively. We wanted a bigger fight.”

That’s especially true for an Indiana roster that added six transfers and a pair of freshmen this offseason. The Hoosiers’ starting lineup featured one of each, with UCLA transfer Zania Socka-Nguemen and true freshman Nevaeh Caffey making their debut starts in the cream and crimson.

Both newcomers played key roles in a 15-0 run midway through the first quarter that broke a 6-6 tie and gave Indiana a comfortable lead. Socka-Nguemen’s physicality in the post meshed with Caffey’s speed in transition and sparked the Hoosiers’ fast-paced burst.

Moren credited her team’s ability to channel high-intensity defensive stops into quick runouts as the catalyst for Indiana’s early run.

However, while the first quarter showed what the Hoosiers’ aggressiveness can produce, a sluggish second half showcased what their complacency will permit.

“We got off to a good start,” Moren said. “As the game went on, though, I did think that we lost some of our energy that we had started off playing with, which was a little bit disappointing.”

Indiana allowed 19 points in the third quarter, 10 of which came in the paint. While the Bisons didn’t necessarily score often, they scored easily. Lipscomb’s guards attacked the interior of the Hoosiers’ defense and routinely earned high-percentage looks close to the basket.

Offensively, Moren similarly critiqued her team. She highlighted a tendency to settle for attempts early in the shot clock, passing up on chances in the post that were successful in the first half.

Her messages had a common theme: aggressiveness. It’s why Moren kept her starters on the floor late in the fourth quarter with a 30-point lead. She wanted to see them keep fighting.

“I thought in the third quarter and fourth quarter in particular, we stopped running,” Moren said. “Got to keep our foot on the pedal.”

When Indiana did have its foot firmly planted on the pedal, the product was encouraging.

Socka-Nguemen served as the centerpiece, netting nine of her 10 shots for 19 points. The former Bruin was a mismatch nightmare, too physical for smaller defenders and too quick for bigger ones.

Shay Ciezki, IU’s leading returnee, one-upped her new teammate with a team-high 22 points on a less efficient 8-for-17 from the field. Perhaps as an apology, she made sure to praise Socka-Nguemen’s promising debut after the win.

“Her ability to run the floor, grab boards, finish at a high level, you don’t see every post doing that,” Ciezki said. “We’re very grateful she’s here.”

After Moren finally pulled her starters off the floor, the highly touted transfer walked alongside Ciezki toward the Indiana bench while being serenaded by applause from the Hoosier faithful.

Moren’s decision to keep her starters in was a result of something she didn’t see: intensity and focus in the second half. The curtain-call cheers that rang through Assembly Hall as they left the floor in the closing minutes were a result of something the fans did see — potential.

“There’s something exciting about putting together new pieces, a young team, and watching them grow,” Moren said. “With that comes patience on our end. We got to grow with them.”

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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