Little help for Shay Ciezki as Indiana women’s basketball loses vs Washington

BLOOMINGTON — The Indiana women’s basketball team dropped its sixth game in a row Wednesday night via an 82-63 loss to Washington at Assembly Hall.

IU is now 11-8, and 0-7 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers will have a week off before heading to Columbus for a game against No. 15 Ohio State.

Here are three observations:

Shay Ciezki’s strong night beyond the arc not enough

IU senior Shay Ciezki has made a name for herself from her 3-point shooting, and she showed why.

The sharpshooter started her night 7 of 9 from the 3-point range, her hot hand stretching into the third quarter. Those 3-pointers kept IU within a meager striking distance for a while, putting the Hoosiers at a 10-point deficit on multiple occasions.

But that strong shooting night couldn’t help the Hoosiers.

She didn’t make another 3-pointer after the third quarter, with Indiana trying more 2-pointers and high-percentage shots to attempt to close the gap. She finished the night early as Indiana started to empty its bench with about four minutes left in the game, and she scored 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting (7 of 11 from 3-point range).

First-half rebounding suffers as Zania Socka-Nguemen limited by foul trouble

IU sophomore Zania Socka-Nguemen is the Hoosiers’ most consistent rebounder. She has five double-doubles on the season, even after missing seven games due to a lower leg injury, and stands as the tallest player on the team.

So, when Socka-Nguemen is forced to the bench because of foul trouble, IU’s rebounding suffers.

Socka-Nguemen picked up two early fouls, but coach Teri Moren elected to keep her in the game at the time. She picked up her third foul with seven minutes still remaining in the second quarter, forcing her to the bench for nearly the remainder of the half.

And with the 6-foot-4 center only playing nine minutes in the first half, IU was outrebounded by a 17-10 total. She was the second-leading rebounder in the half with two, behind only Nevaeh Caffey (who played 17 first-half minutes).

Last time out: Second-half collapse spoils IU’s upset bid. ‘Nobody feels sorry for us’

IU defensive front suffers

Even with Socka-Nguemen on the floor, IU’s rebounding efforts flamed out. The defensive efforts for IU fell flat, as the Huskies were easily able to penetrate the paint and crash the glass with little resistance.

Washington, led by 6-5 post Yulia Grabovskaia’s career-high 16 points, dropped in 54 points in the paint. Washington emphasized the high-percentage 2-pointers, and it worked in their favor shooting an efficient 64.3%.

The Hoosiers were heavily outrebounded, too, as Washington grabbed 32 rebounds to IU’s 20.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Washington vs Indiana women’s basketball score today, Shay Ciezki game stats

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