The Indiana Hoosiers (1-0) opened up the 2025-26 season with a 80-46 win over the Lipscomb Bison (0-1) behind a 15-0 first quarter. With the score tied 6-6 the Hoosiers used good defense and a quick run out game to rattle off 15-straight points over a 3:40 span of the first quarter.
“I thought in the first quarter that 15-0 run was because we got stops, we were able to hit that thing ahead. I thought as the game went on, though we weren’t getting near as many clean stops for that to happen.” Moren explained.
The Hoosiers were led by senior guard Shay Ciezki’s 22 points. Ciezki got off to a cold start missing six of her first eight shots, but rallied in the second half to finish 8-17 in 30 minutes.
“I just think it goes to show with my teammates, their support for me and their belief for me really helped me out of that slump” Ciezki said.
New Hoosier Zania Socka-Nguemen poured in 19 points on 9-10 shooting and added six rebounds.
“She was a highlight.” Moren said of Socka-Nguemen. “There’s no doubt about it. And we felt like, you know, going into the contest, that that was going to be a advantage for us. You know, Z has continued. She’s in here every day, has continued to work on her game. She’s playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Moren was not happy with her team’s performance despite the strong first quarter. Citing a let down in energy on the defensive side of the ball that affected the whole team’s performance.
“I did think that we lost some of our kind of, you know, energy that we had started off playing with, which was a little bit disappointing.” Moren said.
Moren specifically pointed at the third quarter as an area of concern. The Hoosiers took a 43-20 lead into the break, but Lipscomb came out and nearly matched their first half scoring output in the third quarter.
The Bison scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting including 4-5 at the free throw line. IU’s offense turned the ball over three times and committed seven fouls.
“We didn’t get the stops, enough stops, especially in that third quarter, in some of the fourth, which was a little bit disappointing and frustrating” Moren said, “I thought was a really good lesson for us as we move forward, because I do think that this is a group that’s still, you know, learning to play with each other, learning to build chemistry, but I think we’re going to be faced with how we’re going to have to guard and do some things differently defensively, as you can see tonight.”
The Hoosiers closed out the game with a stronger fourth quarter outscoring the Bison 15-7.
“All in all, it’s a good first step, you know, in the right direction. You know you want to get off to a good one, and hopefully we’ll learn some of the lessons and take them be able to take them into Friday night’s contest against UIC.” Moren said.
Other Notes (Provided by IU)
- Indiana won its 13th-straight season opener including all 12 under head coach Teri Moren.
- The Hoosiers finished the night with 11 assists and 33 made field goals with a game high of nine by Socka-Nguemen.
- Socka-Nguemen goes in for a total of 19 points for her first official game as an Indiana Hoosiers, also setting a career-high.
- A 50 percent field goal clip led IU to victory in the season opener, with Socka-Nguemen leading the charge with a 9-for-10 effort from the floor.
- Ciezki’s 22 points were the most in a season opener by an IU player since Nicole Cardaño-Hillary had 29 points against Vermont (2022-23 season).
- Redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont finished with 10 points and tied a team-high three assists (Ciezki).
- Junior forward Edessa Noyan came in off the bench to tie Socka-Nguemen for a team-high six boards on the night.
- 56 of Indiana’s 80 points were scored in the paint.
Up Next: Indiana vs. UIC November 7th at 7pm ET