No. 25 Indiana women’s basketball enters the 2024-25 season looking to replace Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia’s production from last season –– the two accounted for 45.3% of the Hoosiers’ scoring.
In response, Indiana head coach Teri Moren and her staff brought in junior guard Shay Ciezki from Penn State and senior forward Karoline Striplin from the University of Tennessee over the offseason.
The Hoosiers begin their regular season against Brown University at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Before then, the Indiana Daily Student’s women’s basketball beat reporters shared their analysis and predictions for the season.
Most valuable player
DALTON JAMES: When a game starts to slip and the opposing team goes on a run, each squad needs a player who remains poised and calm. Chloe Moore-McNeil does just that. The graduate student guard earned All-Big Ten Defensive Team and All-Big Ten Second Team honors last season, averaging 10.2 points, nearly four rebounds and five assists per game. While she may not blow opponents away with lights-out 3-point shooting, she’s surely capable. Take the two-game stretch against Purdue and Wisconsin in mid-February 2024 as an example –– she went 9 for 9 from beyond the arc. Although she isn’t the flashiest player, Moore-McNeil plays smart on both ends. She’ll be the Hoosiers’ rock as they navigate the post-Mackenzie Holmes era.
SAVANNAH SLONE: As a graduate student, the Hoosiers will rely on Sydney Parrish as one of their most experienced players on the roster. The guard is entering her third season as a Hoosier after she transferred from the University of Oregon in 2022. Parrish was sidelined for seven games in 2024 with a broken foot, but she provided valuable production during the 25 games she played in. Parrish shot 40% from 3-point range in 2024 and was second on the team in total rebounds with 149, averaging six per game. Parrish’s versatility from underneath the basket to behind the arc will help the Hoosiers be more successful throughout the season.
RYAN CANFIELD: I could go the route of an unproven player stepping into some huge shoes, like senior forward Karoline Striplin. I will select a player who will be a constant plus for this squad regardless of the unproven. That player is Sydney Parrish. Parrish really hit her stride last season before injury, from all aspects of the floor offensively. I expect her to be not only the MVP, but the most vocal and confident leader. Hoping for an injury-free season, Parrish will look to surpass her 10.8 points per game she accrued last season as being one of the most dependable scores this team has.
Breakout player of the year
JAMES: Ahead of last season, Indiana head coach Teri Moren said then-freshman guard Lenee Beaumont and her counterpart then-freshman guard Julianna LaMendola would be needed come January. They didn’t produce much as Beaumont averaged just 3 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. During Indiana basketball’s institutional media day Sept. 18, Parrish said Beaumont has made the “biggest jump from last year to this year” that she’s ever seen. And while Beaumont’s teammates notice her improvements on the court, she’s also made internal strides as well. Beaumont said it’s a testament to the power of positive self-talk and telling herself that she believes in herself. Not only will Beaumont likely play more than the 9.6 minutes per game she did last season, but she’ll make a real impact on both ends of the floor for Indiana this season.
SLONE: While Lexus Bargesser’s strengths lie in her defense and ability to drive to the hoop, an improved shot could be the aspect of her game that puts Bargesser on the next level. Last season, Bargesser was 3 for 10 from the 3-point line and shot 55.6% from the free-throw line. The junior guard put in work this offseason with the coaching staff to improve her outside shot and her free-throw shot. They started with the basic fundamentals and worked their way up. The reconstruction process left Bargesser with cleaner mechanics, boosting her confidence going into the season. But her new shot doesn’t only impact her abilities and confidence, it also frees up her teammates if she is gaining more attention from defenses compared to a season ago.
CANFIELD: I’m going to take Lexus Bargesser. I am confident she will be a much better offensive threat than she was during her first two seasons. Outside of the returns of graduate student guards Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish, plus the transfer additions, Bargesser’s new shot has been an interesting talking point. I’m going to trust Bargesser and the Hoosiers’ coaching staff with this one. Do I think Bargesser will be the best shooter on the squad like Sara Scalia or Grace Berger? Absolutely not. But with her aggressiveness that carries over from her defense, she will continue to drive to the basket and pop out from 15 feet beyond to knock down jumpers.
Newcomer of the year
JAMES: With Sara Scalia graduating, Indiana needed to find a player who could potentially replicate her production. The Hoosiers opted to look toward the transfer portal, luring in junior guard Shay Ciezki in April. Moren said Ciezki fits with her squad seamlessly, describing the Buffalo, New York, native as a “bulldog,” explaining she’s always in the gym doing more than what’s required of her. Like Scalia, Ciezki is a knockdown 3-point shooter with a career 38.9% clip from distance. Come Big Ten play, Ciezki will assert herself as a top guard in the conference.
SLONE: Penn State transfer Shay Ciezki led her team in 3-pointers (74) and 3-point percentage (36.8) during the 2024 season through all 35 games for the Lady Lions. If the junior guard keeps up her shooting skills for Indiana, it will be a key to success for the Hoosiers this season after the departure of Sara Scalia, who finished her career at Indiana as the Hoosier’s leader in 3-point percentage and free-throw percentage. The junior guard’s hard-working mentality also blends in seamlessly with the culture created by head coach Teri Moren and her players. Those are two factors that could lead to Ciezki flourishing in her first year as a Hoosier.
CANFIELD: Losing Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia stinks for Indiana, plain and simple. But Indiana’s coaching staff hit the portal in the offseason. You just read about Shay Ciezki and how she will fit in great with this team. But the next question is what about Tennessee transfer Karoline Striplin? The senior from Hartford, Alabama, will make a big jump. She will not be Holmes, and anybody hoping she will be is lying to themselves. But assistant coach Rhet Wierzba knows how to make this work. Plus, at 6-foot-3, her size is going to be a huge difference. If she can average double figures, rebound and provide spacing, this team is going to win a lot. She will have to adjust to an increase in minutes from the 11 she averaged per game last season, but I don’t foresee that being a problem. It’s going to be Striplin and junior forward Lilly Meister competing for the starting role
Game of the year
JAMES: Last season, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark was the talk of the nation, selling out arenas wherever the Hawkeyes played. Now, with Clark on the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins is now at the helm of women’s basketball stardom. The Trojans come to Bloomington on Jan. 19 for either a noon or 2 p.m. matchup inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall that’ll be nationally televised on NBC. The Trojans are No. 3 in The Associated Press preseason poll as they are coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight last season. USC added graduate student forward Kiki Iriafen from the transfer portal out of Stanford University. Iriafen torched the Hoosiers in their matchup with the Cardinal last season, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The contest is an opportunity for the Hoosiers to show the nation they are legit.
SLONE: The Hoosiers are set to face UCLA at noon Jan. 4 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The matchup will serve as a mid-season test for the Hoosiers as the Bruins enter the season at No. 5 in the AP preseason poll after their 2024 season ended with a loss to Louisiana State University in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. This will be just the fourth meeting between Indiana and UCLA dating back to 1975, the most recent being in 2019 when the Bruins beat the Hoosiers 68-58. The game will also mark the first game between the two teams as conference opponents with UCLA joining the Big Ten this season.
CANFIELD: The good news for Indiana is that it gets the three toughest conference matchups at home. UCLA, USC and Ohio State will all come to Bloomington. Indiana will also play Illinois, another team that isn’t anywhere near the best in the Big Ten but gave the Hoosiers trouble a season ago. The Fighting Illini gave the Hoosiers the most trouble last season in the confrence home and home. The games ended in a series split. Illinois returns its three biggest threats against Indiana last season –– all fifth-year players in guards Genesis Bryant, Makira Cook and forward Kendal Bostic. The three combined for 54 points in the Illini’s 77-71 losing effort on Dec. 31, 2023, against Indiana and 49 points in its 86-66 winning effort against the Hoosiers on Feb. 19.
Postseason predictions
JAMES: I think there’s too much uncertainty around Indiana to confidently place predictions on the postseason as I did last season. Will junior forward Lilly Meister or senior forward Karoline Striplin emerge in the post? That’s a question I want to see answered, but I do see the Hoosiers at least making it to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Even if Meister or Striplin don’t produce at an All-Big Ten-type level, I think Indiana can still go on a run come tournament time. With the four West Coast schools in USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon now in the Big Ten, winning the conference is a tall task. But the Hoosiers do host USC, UCLA, Ohio State, Maryland and Nebraska –– all ranked in the preseason AP Poll. Indiana went undefeated last season inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and if it can manage to do so again this season, then it can surely be in the race for the regular season title.
SLONE: I think this Indiana team can match its 2024 NCAA Tournament run and finish the postseason with a trip to the Sweet 16. The Hoosiers have high potential if they can figure out how to effectively fill the holes left with Mackenzie Holmes’ and Sara Scalia’s departures. They brought in good pieces through the transfer portal and the freshmen class and have the winningest head coach in program history. I do not doubt head coach Teri Moren’s ability to coach this team to the Sweet 16.
CANFIELD: This is interesting because Indiana could take a step back, but it could also do the same thing it did last season. I’m going to take the latter. The Hoosiers will be a good team –– a top four seed in Big Ten Tournament, a host for the NCAA Tournaments’ Round of 64 and 32–– but will eventually get beaten by a better team in the Sweet 16.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
