Shay Ciezki has a Memorable Senior Day Has the Hoosiers beat the Ducks 

By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports

   The Indiana Hoosiers beat the Oregon Ducks 72-65 Sunday Afternoon in Simon Skjdot Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are 15-13 and 4-12 in the Big Ten. Indiana travels to Rutgers on Wednesday and Hosts Penn State on Saturday afternoon in the Regular Season Finale. The Hoosiers have a one game lead on Penn State for the 15th and final spot in the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State hosts USC on Wednesday Night and if the Hoosiers win and Nittany Lions lose Wednesday Indiana will be in the Big Ten Tournament and Penn State will be eliminated. The Hoosiers win officially eliminates Rutgers from the Big Ten Tournament as the Scarlet Knights have 1 win in the Big Ten with 2 games left to play.

    It was Senior Day for Shay Ciezki and Jerni Kiaku who were honored both before and after the game. The Seniors were escorted to the court by their families and presented with a framed jersey by Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren. After the game they along with the Mangers and Practice players were honored and Both Seniors thanked everyone in a special video presentation.

   Ciezki came into the game seven points away from becoming the 34th of the 1,000-point club for her Indiana Career. With 1:34 left before Halftime Ciezki scored on a pullup in the paint to hit the moment. Ciezki came into the game with 604 points this season which was ninth best coming into the game. Ciezki scored 20 points and has scored 1,013 points for her Indiana Career and has moved up to 6th on the single season scoring list. Ciezki passed Cyndi Valentin who scored 609 points in 2005-06 and Tyra Buss who scored 619 points in 2016-17 and 620 points in 2015-16.

   Jerni Kiaku scored 5 points off the bench along with 5 assists, 2 rebounds in 24 minutes. Edessa Noyan scored 18 points and 8 Rebounds; Lenee Beaumont scored 15 points and Maya Maklauksy added 10 points. Neveah Caffey and Jade Ondienme scored 2 points apiece and Faith Wiseman played 2 minutes but did not score. Indiana finished 22-52 from the field for 42%, 7-16 from three-point range 43% and 21-26 from the free throw line for 80%. The Hoosiers pulled down 37 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 17 turnovers.

   Oregon got a career high 27 points and 16 rebounds from Sophomore Ehis Etute as the 6-0 Sophomore from Luxembourg recorded her sixth double-double of the season and her career and her 9th game with double digit rebounds. As Freshman Etute scored three times in double figures and did not have any games with double digit rebounds a season ago. Etute previous career highs in points was 26 in a 68-61 at Maryland January 31st and15 Rebounds at Auburn November 30th in a 58-53 win.

   Katie Fiso scored 15 points and Astera Tuhina added 14 points for the Ducks as they are 19-10 overall and 7-9 in the Big Ten. The Ducks finished 27-71 for 38% from the field, 3-11 from three-point range for 27% and 8-14 from the free throw line for 57%. Oregon pulled down 40 rebounds, 14 assists, 6 steals, 5 blocks and 9 turnovers.

   Indiana jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led 17-10 at the end of the first quarter when Jerni Kiaku beat the buzzer. The Hoosiers maintained the lead outscoring the Ducks 20-18 to lead 37-28 at halftime. The third quarter was a struggle as the Hoosiers were outscored 15-7 in the third quarter as Indiana went 0-12 from the field, 0-2 from three-point range and 7-10 from the free throw line. Indiana had 6 turnovers and 6 fouls as the Hoosiers led 44-43 at halftime. Indiana outscored Oregon 28-22 in the fourth quarter as the Hoosiers have won two straight in the series as this was the first time Oregon has visited Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as the Ducks led the series 3-2 as the teams have split the regular season meetings 1-1 with the Hoosiers winning the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis in 2025.

   Shay Ciezki was emotional throughout the day, and it is always special to get a win on Senior Day. Ciezki will face her former team in Penn State in the final regular season home game but to her it is just another game.” I am treating it as another game, and I still have people I have played with there on the team, but it is going to be a fun one for sure” Ciezki said after the game.

   Edessa Noyan has come on late in the season and has stepped her game up has her confidence has grown throughout the season. “I have learned to trust myself and my teammates trust me and it has taken a while to understand that” Noyan said after the game. For Head Coach Teri Moren she was proud of the fact that she did not foul out and that is a big key for the Hoosiers as the wrap up the regular season and get ready for the postseason.