No. 25 Indiana women’s basketball hosted Maryville University on Wednesday in its only exhibition game of the season. The Hoosiers beat the Saints 95-27 as junior guard Yarden Garzon was their leading scorer with 20 points.
The Hoosiers were without junior guard Lexus Barguesser, sophomore guard Lenee Beaumont and freshman forward Sydney Fenn due to injuries. Graduate student guard Sydney Parrish left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
Here are three takeaways from the Hoosiers’ victory.
Dominating defense
The Saints scored 81 points against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in their first exhibition game Oct. 28. So, heading into Wednesday, Indiana head coach Teri Moren and the Hoosiers set their goal to hold Maryville to under 65 points. Indiana’s defense held Maryville to 27 points, compared to the 68 points it gave up in last season’s exhibition game against Northwood University.
“As I said to them in shoot around, ‘I don’t want to treat it like an exhibition game,’” Moren said postgame. “I want to treat it like it means something.”
The Hoosiers have also implemented a new defensive goal this season: “kills.”
“Kills for us are three stops in a row,” Moren said. “We want anywhere between five and seven kills in the game, and we exceeded that with 12 tonight.”
The Hoosiers held the Saints to 9 for 67 from the field and 8% from the 3-point line.
Lilly Meister
Lilly Meister said she emphasized working on her mental toughness and self-assurance during the offseason. Her new confidence showed in the early minutes against the Saints. The junior forward scored 6 of Indiana’s first 8 points. Meister put up 19 points, four rebounds and one assist in 17 minutes for the Hoosiers.
“A lot of it comes from who I’m surrounded by,” Meister said. “My coaches and my teammates, they see me at my worst, basketball-wise. And if they can have that much confidence in me, there’s no reason I can’t have confidence in myself.”
Seventeen minutes is much more than Meister’s 10.5 minutes averaged per game in the 2023-24 season. Meister will have a regular increase in minutes as a key piece in filling the gap in the starting lineup after the departure of Mackenzie Holmes.
“Nine for 11 should give her a lot of confidence, right? She was very steady for us,” Moren said. “I’m really pleased with Lilly’s confidence, and it’s shown in practice.”
The transfers
Shay Ciezki’s and Karoline Striplin’s transition to Indiana continued smoothly as they made their debut in the Cream and Crimson against Maryville.
“(Ciezki’s) transition to Indiana from Penn State, just like Strip’s transition from Tennessee, has been seamless,” Moren said. “Those two kids, I feel like they’ve been here the whole time.”
Ciezki, a junior guard who transferred from Penn State, scored 14 points, including two 3-pointers. She also had five rebounds and five assists against the Saints.
Moren said Ciezki stepped more into the role of a facilitator in the second half, even though Ciezki’s dominant strength is her ability to shoot the basketball.
Striplin, a senior forward who transferred from Tennessee, scored five points off the bench for the Hoosiers along with six total rebounds.
“(Striplin’s) 2 for 7 tonight is not indicative of the way Karoline Striplin has been practicing for us,” Moren said.
The Hoosiers will begin their regular season against Brown University at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
