After yet another week-long break, Indiana women’s basketball earned another nonconference victory inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington — this time over Oakland University.
The Hoosiers emerged with a 90-55 win over the Golden Grizzlies in their final regular season nonconference game led by junior guard Shay Ciezki’s 20 points.
Graduate student guard Sydney Parrish returned to Indiana’s starting lineup for the first time since taking on Baylor University on Nov. 24, when she suffered a left knee injury.
The two squads largely went back-and-forth over the first period as the Hoosiers led by 3 points after 10 minutes of play.
Indiana went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the second quarter, outscoring Oakland by 5 points in the period to take a 35-27 advantage at halftime. Junior guard Shay Ciezki led all scorers at the break with 9 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field.
After Oakland junior guard Maddy Skorupskie hit a 2-point jumper inside the paint to open the second half, Indiana went on a 19-0 run over the next nearly four minutes to seize a 25-point lead.
Both teams traded baskets over the final four minutes of the third quarter as Indiana led 65-40 with 10 minutes left. During the timeout between the third and the fourth periods, the score displayed inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall showed the Hoosiers with a 167-40 lead due to a malfunction.
Indiana went on two 8-0 runs and a 7-0 spurt in the final quarter en route to its 35-point victory to improve to 9-3.
Along with Ciezki’s 20 points, senior forward Karoline Striplin tacked on 16 points and five rebounds while Parrish finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in her 19 minutes on the court.
The Hoosiers now have another six days until they head into their full Big Ten slate as they host Wisconsin at 2 p.m. Saturday. The contest will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
