INDIANAPOLIS – Cinderella's time at the ball comes to an end.
After a program record 20-point comeback against Nebraska, Indiana ran out of steam against Ohio State, losing 83-59 and ending their postseason run.
While not officially announced by the program, Lenée Beaumont said following the game in the locker room that the team would not be playing in any women’s March Madness tournaments.
Despite Teri Moren saying in her press conference that a decision hadn’t been thought about or made yet, after Beaumont’s comments you must assume that Indiana’s season is over at this stage.
That brings up the question of what’s next for this Indiana team.
The elephant in the room is the graduation of leading scorer Shay Ciezki.
During their game with Ohio State, Ciezki became just the second player in Indiana history to score 700 points in a season.
“Just to tell the girls to work hard. Not everything's going to be handed to you, not everything's going to be easy,” Ciezki said when asked what her message to her teammates would be. “In four years, you're going to face a lot of adversity, more than you'd think, and it's how you respond to that is what really matters.”
Her 708 points made up 31.8% of Indiana’s points this year and now the Hoosiers have the daunting task of replacing the nation’s No. 7 scorer.
The good news?
Indiana is projected to bring back the other four starters back for the 2026 campaign with multiple breakout candidates on the roster.
Beaumont, who averaged 13.3 points in her first season back in action following knee surgery, could be a star with another offseason and good health.
Her ability to score was second to only Ciezki this year and had flashes of brilliance at times including five 20+ point games this season.
If Indiana can get a more polished and confident version of Beaumont next year, they could easily find their star for 2026 in house.
Beaumont will also have the task to lead the young program and help returning freshman Maya Makalusky and Nevaeh Caffey in their first collegiate offseason.
Caffey and Makalusky had up and down seasons but really hit their stride in the second half of the campaign when the game started slowing down for them.
“I think just the overall grit. Nevaeh and I getting those reps, Coach putting that trust in us,” Makalusky said on her freshman campaign. “So having that confidence over this year will definitely help.”
Makalusky proved this year that she can score it at the highest level and has one of the highest ceilings on this Indiana team due to this scoring ability.
Nine games scoring 15+ including a season-high 29 points against USC gave Hoosier Nation a preview of what the future could look like for Makalusky.
On the other hand, Caffey came into the year projected as the Hoosiers star defender to fill the role that Chloe Moore-McNeil and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary filled before her.
Caffey was as good as advertised on the defensive end culminating in an all time defensive performance to end the season against Penn State, holding Kiyomi McMiller, who had come into the contest scoring 30+ points in her last six games, to just four points.
In the game Caffey also scored 18 points, a season high, showing her potential as a two-way star for Indiana.
While Indiana will almost certainly be shopping center depth in the transfer portal, the Hoosiers will also be set to return Edessa Noyan who started in place of Zania Socka-Nguemen after she got injured.
Noyan grew immensely from the first time Socka-Nguemen was out to the second stint and if the Hoosiers return the pair, it could be the start of a great frontcourt for Indiana.
All of this before even mentioning Hoosiers’ top-10 recruiting class coming to campus headlined by McDonald’s All American Addy Nyemchek.
“Addy's versatility and feel for the game really stand out,” Moren said about her top recruit on National Signing Day in November. “She's a guard who can score, facilitate and defend multiple positions. She's the kind of player who impacts winning in a lot of ways. Her best basketball is still ahead of her, and we can't wait to see her growth in Bloomington.”
The Hoosiers also welcome GiGi Battle, Ashlinn James and Zoe Jackson to round out the program's best ever recruiting class.
After a rebuilding year in 2025 where Indiana had to build almost their entire roster through the transfer portal, Moren finally has a chance to reset and get back to building a program through high school recruits and support them with portal pieces.
This was Indiana’s model with homegrown stars like Grace Berger, Moore-McNeil and Mackenzie Holmes being supplemented with transfer stars like Sydney Parrish, Sara Scalia and Ciezki.
It was a hard year for Indiana women’s basketball.
A six-year NCAA Tournament streak snapped.
Their fewest wins since Teri Moren’s first season in charge in Bloomington.
But next year it could all be worth it.
