Lacked urgency. Lacked energy. Didn’t do a whole lot well tonight.
All statements Indiana head coach Teri Moren opened her press conference with following Indiana’s midweek matchup against Western Michigan.
Back at home for the first time since dropping their first game of the year against Iowa State, the Hoosiers were looking for a way back into the win column.
They did just that and while it wasn't pretty at times, Indiana pulled away and win 71-53. The win moves them to 8-1 on the season. Shay Ciezki put together a great performance once again after scoring 38 last time out and led the way with 26 on the night.
Indiana was once again without star center Zania Socka-Nguemen as she sported a new walking boot and scooter. Moren described the injury as “week to week” which is good news to Hoosier fans as the team has lacked her presence both offensively and defensively.
After such enthusiasm from the fanbase following Indiana’s valiant effort against Iowa State, the start was very disappointing to both the fans and team.
“I don't think the first half is indicative of how we want to play,” Ciezki said. “Coming back to Bloomington, we wanted to make sure we are learning from our mistakes. We’re just trying to grow each game, we’re a young team. We are going to make mistakes and the best thing we can do is just get better from them.”
Indiana trailed after the first quarter but limped into the locker room with a four-point lead at halftime.
Despite coming into the night 1-4, the Broncos came to play, outrebounding the Hoosiers in the first half 17-14 and just wouldn’t go away until the fourth quarter when they ran out of gas.
The performance brings up a lot of questions with lots of them surrounding the absence of Socka-Ngueman.
Outside of Ciezki and Lenée Beaumont who scored 13, Indiana needs another scorer to solidify themselves in the absence of Socka-Ngueman if she misses extended time. On Wednesday, it was Nevaeh Caffey who ended with nine but only shot 4-for-11 from the field.
Edessa Noyan, who got the start once again in place of Socka-Ngueman, put in a solid shift in scoring seven and grabbing 11 boards.
“I feel like my points in the paint didn’t go in,” Noyan said. “So I had to help the team in some way so I just went for the boards.”
Despite some individual performances like Ciezki, Moren had lots of concerns about her team.
“You play how you practice,” Moren said. “We were not very good in practice yesterday and therefore I thought we showed a lot of what we looked like yesterday in practice. That’s unfortunate because I felt like the trip that we had in Florida, we took a lot of steps forward and did some good things, only to revert back.”
Moren said she gave the team Monday off as they returned from their Feast Week trip to Florida.
“Maybe that was a mistake on my part, (we) didn’t do a whole lot well tonight,” Moren added. “Starting with us defensively, lacked urgency, lacked energy, and we didn't change throughout the course of the game and that was very, very disappointing.”
It was the most frustrated Moren had been all season in a press conference. The word of the day was “disappointed” and it summed the night up for Moren and the Hoosiers perfectly.
“Sometimes I wonder if they think they know more than me and my staff know,” Moren said. “The answer to that is absolutely, they don’t.”
Even on a night that had Moren feeling “very, very disappointed” Indiana was still able to escape with a win over a struggling Western Michigan team but have a lot to think about this week in practice.
Indiana will head to Champaign on Saturday to face off with Illinois and open their conference slate on the 2025 campaign.
