BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana women’s basketball coach Teri Moren works in mysterious ways.
As she broke down Indiana’s off-again, on-again performance in the Hoosiers’ 67-63 victory over Southern Indiana on Wednesday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Moren offered an unprompted opinion of Indiana’s post play against the Screaming Eagles.
“I was disappointed in our post play. I thought Lilly (Meister) and Strip (Karoline Striplin) were just okay. Offensively, defensively,” Moren said.
“I think about some of the post players that we’re going to see in the Big (Ten) right? Not to take anything away from those guys at USI, they were good,” Moren continued. “But we’re going to play against some of the very best post players in the country and we got to be able to respond much better.”
Is is a coincidence that those words were said just before Indiana faces off against Penn State post player Gracie Merkle? Probably not.
Indiana opens Big Ten Conference play with a 1 p.m. ET tipoff at Penn State on Saturday. When they do, Merkle will be a considerable obstacle towards achieving a road win.
At 6-foot-6, she’s taller than any Indiana player, but her production towers above all. Merkle has averaged 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. She’s converted 65.8% of her shots.
“We got to help them as a staff,” said Moren of her own post players. “We got to figure out how we can help them guard better.”
Penn State (8-1) isn’t a one-woman gang. Guard Moriah Murray (16.2 ppg) takes a lot of 3-point shots and converts 43.5% of them.
The Merkle-Murray combination has come together in rapid fashion. Neither was a starter for Penn State in the 2023-24 season. Merkle transferred from Bellarmine and Murray averaged 12.3 minutes off the bench last season.
One player who did play for Penn State last season is current Indiana guard Shay Ciezki. As compared to her 2024 season with the Nittany Lions, Ciezki has been remarkably similar in an Indiana uniform. She made 36.8% from 3-point range at Penn State and is at 36.1% for the Hoosiers. She averaged 11.5 points for the Nittany Lions and is scoring at a 11.7 per game clip for Indiana.
What Indiana would love to get from Ciezki is a solid scoring effort, especially if Sydney Parrish continues to miss time with a knee injury. Ciezki has been streaky. She scored 34 against Baylor on Nov. 24, but followed up with 5, 6 and 17 points since.
Indiana has won seven in a row in the series dating to 2017 and the Hoosiers seek their second three-game win streak of the season.
How to watch Indiana at Penn State
• Who: Indiana Hoosiers (6-3, 0-0) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (8-1, 0-0)
• What: Big Ten Conference regular season game.
• When: Saturday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. ET
• Where: Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pa.
• TV: Big Ten-plus.
• Radio: WBWB in Bloomington.
• Radio announcer: Austin Render.
• Last season: Indiana went 26-8 overall and finished 15-3 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers lost to South Carolina in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. Penn State went 22-13 and finished 9-9 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions lost to Villanova in a WBIT semifinal.
• Last game: Indiana defeated Southern Indiana 67-63 Wednesday. Penn State lost to St. John’s 72-67 Monday.
• Series history: Penn State leads 33-20. Despite Penn State’s series edge, Indiana has won seven in a row in the series dating to 2017 with only one of the games being less than a double-digit margin.
Statistics
Indiana
• Guards (as officially listed): Yarden Garzon (13,8 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Sydney Parrish (9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, injured), Shay Ciezki (11.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.6 apg), Chloe Moore McNeil (11.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.1 apg), Lexus Bargesser (3.2 ppg), Julianna LaMendola (3 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Henna Sandvik (1.8 ppg), Valentyna Kadlecova (0.7 ppg).
– Forwards/centers: Lilly Meister (11.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Karoline Striplin (6 ppg, 3 rpg), Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (0.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg), Faith Wiseman (0 ppg, 0.7 rpg).
Penn State
• Guards: Moriah Murray (16.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.6 apg), Alli Campbell (8.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.9 apg), Gabby Elliott (8.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2 apg), Jayla Oden (8.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.6 apg), Talayah Walker (4.8 ppg), Vitoria Santana (1.7 ppg), Jill Jekot (1.4 ppg), Shaelyn Steele (0.9 ppg).
• Forwards/centers: Gracie Merkle (20.2 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.3 apg), Tamera Johnson (5.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.1 apg), Cam Rust (3.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.2 apg), Ariana Williams (0 ppg, 0.7 rpg).
Rankings
• Neither team is ranked.
Meet the coaches
• Teri Moren, Indiana: Moren is in her 11th season at Indiana and has a career record of 232-102 with the Hoosiers. Her overall record in 22 years as a head coach is 430-232. Moren previously coached at Indiana State from 2010-14 and at the University of Indianapolis from 2000-07. Moren was also an assistant coach at Butler (1992-98), Northwestern (1998-2000) and Georgia Tech (2007-10). Moren, a Seymour, Ind. native, played collegiately at Purdue from 1988-92.
• Carolyn Kieger, Penn State: Kieger is in her sixth season at Penn State and is 71-87 with the Nittany Lions. She is in her 11th season as a head coach with a career record of 170-151. Kieger was head coach at Marquette from 2014-19, where she also played from 2002-06. Kieger was directior of operations at Marquette from 2007-08 before she spent five seasons as an assistant at Miami (Fla.) from 2008-14.
