When Indiana Women’s Basketball practice began in late September, it marked not only the start of a new season but also the beginning of a fresh team. Indiana coach Teri Moren and her coaching staff have been busy in the offseason, stringing together the perfect mix of veteran and new talent. With five incoming freshmen and four transfer portal additions, Indiana is full of fresh faces, and the returning core already feels the difference.
“We are excited for the product that we’re going to put out in front of Indiana Hoosiers fans. It’s like I said, it’s a completely different team,” said sophomore forward Maya Makalusky. “We were lucky enough this year to really take time to go into the portal and find not only players that came from winning programs, but great players off the court.”
The Hoosiers finished the 2025-26 season 18-14 overall and 6-12 in the Big Ten. Senior guard Shay Ciezki led the Hoosiers in playmaking and points. The team was built around Ciezki, who shouldered the bulk of the minutes alongside returning guard Lenee Beaumont and departing guard Neveah Caffey. With the departure of Ciezki and Caffey, the Hoosiers looked to fill those voids, and so far, the coaching staff has exceeded expectations.
“I mean, if you come to our practices, they are very quick-paced, you know, we’re learning on the fly, but it’s because these girls [transfers] have come from winning programs, they’re older, they have years under their belts, and they’re very good leaders,” said Makalusky.
All four transfer portal additions are arriving in Bloomington from storied programs. 4th-year forward Jess Petrie competed at Nebraska, where she ranked third among the Cornhuskers in scoring with 11.3 points per game and second in rebounding with 4.8 rebounds per game. Guard Malia Samuels is arriving from USC, where she totaled 19 starts, with 3.4 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game.
Forward Alisa Williams spent time at Iowa State, where she averaged 11.8 minutes per game in the 2025-26 season and averaged 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Williams will be joined by a Cyclones teammate, Kenzie Hare. All four transfer additions bring experience and depth to this Hoosier team, and as they begin to integrate into the team culture, they are bringing an immense amount of talent with them.
“They [coaching staff] really did a great job picking people to fit the pieces of the program, and I think the same thing with the freshman, like, each of us. They came recruiting us knowing that we had a part in what they wanted us to do,” said freshman forward Addy Nyemchek. “So, I feel like that confidence is I’m here to grow; I think our team’s here to grow together.”
Nyemchek is one of the five freshmen on the 2026-27 roster. The 2026 McDonald’s All-American arrives out of Oceanport, N.J., where she was ranked the No. 25 recruit in the Class of 2026 by ESPNw. As a four-star recruit by 247Sports and the 2026 Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey, Nyemchek had a fair share of Division I offers to choose from. But it wasn’t just the talent that led her to choose Indiana; it was really the team culture that stayed with her.
“I think that’s the reason I really came here. Coach Moren and the whole coaching staff, they get players that create good culture, and they protected our locker room really, really well. So I knew coming here that wasn’t going to be an issue, and all these girls, as I said before, are my sisters. We all kind of are always together, have each other’s backs, where it’s almost easy to play through the hard times,” said Nyemchek.
The Hoosiers are battling their way back to the top of the Big Ten and the nation. The journey began when Moren meticulously chose each new player, not only for their talent but, more importantly, for their character. And it has continued as returning players have welcomed them into the culture they created. Now, they look to build, grow, and challenge each other in an environment built for success.
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