Indiana women’s basketball is set to face Maryville University at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The contest will serve as the Hoosiers’ only exhibition game this season.
Ranked No. 25 in The Associated Press preseason poll, Indiana will take the court for the first time since its loss in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 to the 2024 NCAA Champion University of South Carolina.
With All-American forward Mackenzie Holmes and sharp-shooting guard Sara Scalia exhausting their eligibility last season, the exhibition game will be the first look at how Indiana will fill the gaps left in its starting lineup. Wednesday will mark the Hoosier debut of two transfers –– junior guard Shay Ciezki and senior forward Karoline Striplin –– along with three freshmen in Sydney Fenn, Valentyna Kadlecova and Faith Wiseman.
Striplin and junior forward Lilly Meister will look to fill the hole left by Holmes’ departure. At the University of Tennessee, Striplin averaged 7.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. She played an average of 14.4 minutes in 33 total games played with 11 starts in the 2023-24 season.
Meister played in 32 games for the Hoosiers last season. As a sophomore, she averaged 3.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. While Striplin averaged more playing time and better statistics than Meister, the junior played underneath Holmes for the past two seasons, allowing her to learn from arguably the Hoosiers’ greatest all-time player. But Holmes, now a graduate manager for the Hoosiers, and Meister have guided Striplin through the process of learning to play the Hoosiers’ style.
As a sophomore, Ciezki was Penn State’s third-leading scorer last season. She shot 36.8% from behind the arc last season and averaged 11.5 points per game for the Lady Lions. Her ability to shoot will be a way for the Hoosiers to fill the gap left from Scalia’s departure.
Graduate student guards Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish are the experienced Hoosiers heading into the exhibition game and beginning of the season. The two will help guide the newcomers and returning players as the team prepares for Big Ten play come December.
Maryville was 19-11 last season and finished fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Division II school defeated Division I Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in its first exhibition game of the season Monday. Senior guard Grace Stugart led the Saints in scoring with 18 points in their 81-66 win over the Cougars.
Wednesday’s contest will stream on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
