BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s women’s basketball team took to the floor for the first time on Wednesday as the Hoosiers hosted Division II Maryville in an exhibition game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Based on the way Indiana’s defense performed? You would have never known it was the first time this group of Hoosiers played together in front of a crowd.
Indiana stifled Maryville in a 95-27 exhibition game victory. All was very well on the stat sheet, but there was an injury scare that cast a shadow on the proceedings.
With 6:45 left in the third quarter, Indiana guard Sydney Parrish fell awkwardly after absorbing contact on a Maryville drive into the lane. Parrish – Indiana’s second-leading returning scorer – was helped off the court by her teammates. She put very little weight on her right foot, and when she returned from treatment her right ankle was iced.
It was a scary moment, but after the game Indiana coach Teri Moren said that Parrish’s injury was minor.
“Syd probably could have gone back in. We just held her out for precautionary (reasons). She tweaked her ankle,” Moren said.
That’s a relief for Indiana given how important Parrish is to its fortunes and how productive Parrish had already been in the game. Parrish had 12 points and 13 rebounds when she left the game.
Indiana’s other two returning starters also had productive games. Yarden Garzon scored 20 points and was 4 of 8 from 3-point range. She also ran the Indiana offense for a period of time in the second half. Chloe Moore-McNeil had eight points and two assists.
Indiana’s defense was withering and the visiting Saints were never allowed to get into gear. Maryville was unable to muster a single double-digit scoring quarter against the Hoosiers.
Indiana never trailed, and the Hoosiers’ lead stretched into double digits less than six minutes into the game. Indiana led 28-8 at the end of the first quarter, and the rout was on.
The defense never rested for Indiana. Maryville shot 13.4% from the field, failing to reach a double-digit field goal total with just nine buckets. The Saints were 3 of 36 from 3-point range.
Moren has a standard goal of limiting teams to 65 points. Indiana easily achieved that, and the Hoosiers were able to exceed another defensive goal in the contest.
“You’ll hear me talk about this a lot moving forward, one of the other goals that we have defensively for this group is we call them kills, which kills for us are three stops in a row,” Moren explained. “We have 12 kills tonight. We want anywhere from five to seven kills in the game.”
Among the bright spots for Indiana was forward Lilly Meister. A reserve who played behind Mackenzie Holmes in her first two seasons, Meister demonstrated that she’s ready for her new role as a probable starter. Meister had 19 points on 9 of 11 shooting in just 17 minutes of action.
“Everything has kind of been the same. I’ve just been working on my confidence. Everything else I’ve done isn’t anything different from what I’ve done in the past,” Meister said.
Garzon said that Meister doesn’t have to worry about the confidence of her teammates.
“She’s a great player. We all have confidence in her, and we know what she’s capable of. She’s always consistent all through her career,” Garzon said.
With the game spiraling out of Maryville’s control early, it gave Indiana a chance to show some different combinations on the floor.
Guard Shay Ciezki made her debut before her new home faithful. A Penn State transfer, Ciezki had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Forward Karoline Striplin also made her Indiana debut. The Tennessee transfer had five points and six rebounds in 15 minutes of action.
Indiana was not at full strength even before the Parrish injury. Guard Lexus Bargesser, an important player off the Indiana bench, was on crutches and her right foot was in a boot. Freshman post player Sydney Fenn was also on crutches. Guard Lenee Beaumont did not play in the exhibition, either.
“Lexi is dealing with a foot injury right now, but she will be back. Timeline? Not quite sure. (Beaumont) is dealing with a little bit of a nagging knee that happened towards the end of the summer, but she’s expected to be back. Precautionary, load management if you will,” Moren said.
Moren said Fenn would not play this season after she had knee surgery.
Indiana begins the regular season on Monday when it hosts Brown at 7 p.m. ET.
