Indiana women’s basketball returned to action Wednesday against the University of Southern Indiana — the first matchup between the two programs. Despite trailing for over 19 minutes, the Hoosiers escaped with a 67-63 victory inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Hoosiers got off to a quick start, leading 10-2 and forcing Southern Indiana head coach Rick Stein to take a timeout with just under seven minutes left in the first quarter.
As the period wore on, Southern Indiana began to hold Indiana’s offense stagnant. The Screaming Eagles went on an 11-3 run over the last half of the quarter, capping it off with a spin move bucket inside the paint to tie the contest at 17 after 10 minutes of play.
Southern Indiana took control in the second quarter, outscoring Indiana 25-12. The Screaming Eagles went 5 for 6 from beyond the arc and shot 60% from the field. The Hoosiers, however, went just 23.5% from the field and made just one of their nine 3-point attempts.
After its dominant second quarter, Southern Indiana led 42-29 at halftime. Three Screaming Eagles racked up 8 points apiece in the opening half while junior guard Shay Ciezki led the Hoosiers with 7.
Coming out of the locker room, Indiana responded. It went on a 15-2 run over the first nearly seven minutes of the second half. After Southern Indiana’s first bucket of the quarter just over three and a half minutes in, it was held scoreless for nearly four and a half minutes as the Hoosiers were right back into the game.
The Screaming Eagles, however, bounced back over the last three minutes of the third period as they took a 3-point lead with just 10 minutes to play.
Indiana sophomore guard Julianna LaMendola, who played 13 minutes in the first half, checked out of the game with a little more than 8 minutes left in the third quarter. She went into the tunnel and appeared to go toward the Hoosiers’ locker room. Although she returned to the bench near the end of the third quarter, she did not re-enter the game.
After Southern Indiana extended its lead to 4 early in the final quarter, Indiana went on a 9-0 run that spanned just over three minutes to take its first lead since the final seconds of the first period.
The Screaming Eagles pulled to within 1 point in the final stages of the game, but Ciezki drained a corner 3-pointer to give the Hoosiers a 4-point lead. The Cream and Crimson held on for the 4-point victory to improve to 6-3.
Ciezki led all scorers with 17 points while junior guard Yarden Garzon added 14 points and six assists.
Indiana returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday against Penn State inside the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania. The matchup 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.
