Mackenzie Holmes’ Indiana women’s basketball career ended March 29, 2024, with a loss in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 to the University of South Carolina, the eventual NCAA Champions.
“Mackenzie Holmes has been one of our greatest players ever to put on an Indiana uniform,” head coach Teri Moren said after the loss. “And will go down in history as one of the greatest.”
Holmes was Indiana’s first ever First Team All-American and ended her career as the program’s leader in four categories: all-time leading scorer (2,530), field goals made (1,043), field goal percentage (63.9%) and wins (123).
Exhausting her eligibility alongside Holmes was guard Sara Scalia. In two seasons at Indiana, Scalia became the program’s leader in 3-point percentage (39.5%) and free-throw percentage (90.5%).
Holmes and Scalia were a part of Indiana’s second-ever Big Ten title in 2022-23 and led the Hoosiers to a tie for second place with Iowa last season. Both were in the top 10 of the conference in scoring average during Big Ten play.
In the offseason, the Hoosiers needed to combat the losses of arguably one of the greatest players in program history and a sharpshooter, who combined for 45.7% of Indiana’s scoring last season.
So, they brought in a pair of Power 4 transfers.
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Indiana signed junior forward Shay Ciezki from Penn State and senior forward Karoline Striplin from the University of Tennessee in April 2024.
Ciezki is known for her shooting abilities. During the 2023-24 season, she was Penn State’s leader in 3-pointers made (74), averaging 10.7 points, 2.6 assists and 2 3-pointers per conference game for the Lady Lions. Her shooting will be a key contributor in replacing the production lost from Scalia.
Finding her place in the Hoosiers’ offense wasn’t instant, however.
Through her first three games, she averaged 7.3 points per game while shooting 36% from the field and only making one of her nine 3-point attempts. Over Indiana’s last seven games, the Buffalo, New York, native has averaged 12.6 points per game, headlined by her 34-point performance against then-No. 18 Baylor University on Nov. 24.
Ciezki also led the way for Indiana during its win over the University of Southern Indiana on Dec. 4 when it overcame a 15-point second-quarter deficit. She scored 10 of her 17 points in the second half, and she hit a corner 3-pointer to give Indiana a 4-point lead with just under 30 seconds to play, proving Ciezki’s scoring abilities can guide the Hoosiers to success.
Striplin has played a key role in filling the gap in the lineup along with junior forward Lilly Meister. Last season, Striplin helped the Lady Volunteers to a tie for fourth place in the Southeastern Conference. She played in all 16 SEC games and averaged 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game.
“I’m going to do whatever Coach Moren needs me to do, and I feel like that’s kind of (Meister’s) mindset as well,” Striplin said at Indiana basketball’s institutional media day Sept. 18. “We’re just going to go in and do what they need us to do.”
After Indiana’s win over the University of Maine on Dec. 1, when Meister scored 18 points, Moren said that Meister needed to approach scoring more like the way Holmes’ attacked the paint.
“She has a different mindset — where Mack begged for the ball all the time, we got to get Lilly to be,” Moren said. “And she’s not going to be Mackenzie (Holmes), not suggesting that, but we have to get her to beg for the ball a little bit more because she is efficient around the rim.”
Play from Meister and Striplin has been hot and cold so far. The duo opened the season with a combined 30 points and 17 rebounds against Brown University but have struggled to find their rhythm in the paint. But the two seemed to be rounding into form in Indiana’s first conference game against Penn State on Saturday as Striplin scored 27 points and went perfect from the field while Meister added another 10 points in the Hoosiers win over the Lady Lions.
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Indiana’s depth has been tested early.
Graduate student guard Sydney Parrish suffered a left knee injury against Baylor University on Nov. 24. Moren said her injury will sideline Parrish for a couple of weeks. Indiana will also be without sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont for an undetermined amount of time as she will soon undergo a procedure on a left knee injury she sustained over the summer.
With injuries already affecting depth early in the season, it is even more crucial that graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil and junior guard Yarden Garzon are dependable leaders for the Hoosiers.
Indiana also started its season without junior guard Lexus Bargesser who missed the first four games of the season with a right foot injury. Bargesser’s first game back from injury was the Hoosiers’ win over Columbia University on Nov. 23. Since her return, Bargesser has added another level of physicality to Indiana’s defense.
In the offseason, Bargesser worked on improving her shot to make it cleaner and more efficient.
“I want [defenses] to guard me on the perimeter,” Bargesser said. “But I also want it for my teammates, too, because I don’t want my defender being in their way.”
If Bargesser’s new shot helps improve her shooting ability, she could provide increased scoring production and help free up her teammates, giving them increased opportunities to score.
Parrish, Moore-McNeil and Garzon provide a veteran presence as returning starters who started all 32 games last season. The group of veterans has had some underwhelming performances this season, including during the Hoosiers’ overtime loss to Harvard when the three scored a combined 2 points in the overtime period. But as Indiana looks toward its full conference play slate, it will need to lean on the experience of these players and rely on them to step up when their team needs them to.
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Indiana’s start to the season has proved that a player of Holmes’ caliber cannot be replaced and filling the gaps left by her and Scalia is difficult and comes with an adjustment period.
The Hoosiers suffered back-to-back losses to Harvard University and Butler University. Indiana started 1-2 for the first time since 2008-09 and fell out of The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2018-19. In response, the Hoosiers went 6-1 in their last seven games –– the only loss coming by 30 points to the University of North Carolina on Nov. 25.
“I don’t think any of us walked into this thing at the beginning of the season thinking that our lines of success was going to look like a straight line,” Moren said after the win over Maine. “I think we all kind of felt like we were going to be a little bit up and down and I tried to prepare the kids for that because when you're used to playing with a kid like Mackenzie Holmes, it’s an adjustment for us.”
During Holmes and Scalia’s two seasons together, Indiana went 31-5 in conference games. And while there is uncertainty with how the Hoosiers will look different without the duo in conference games, their Big Ten opener against Penn State on Dec. 7 was a promising start. The Hoosiers used efficient post play and solid defense to claim a 15-point victory over the Lady Lions in their seventh straight conference opener win.
“We have to turn the page,” Parrish said Nov. 4. “This is a new year, this is our team, and I think people have to realize that. Even though we were such a successful team last year, I think we still have the potential to be that this year.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
