Shay Ciezki Has her Day as The Hoosiers Rout the Nittany Lions 

By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports

   Shay Ciezki scored 29 points in her final college regular season game of her career as the Indiana Hoosiers beat her former team the Penn State Nittany Lions 93-59 Saturday afternoon in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Indiana finishes the regular season 17-13 and 6-12 in the Big Ten and officially clinches their spot in the Big Ten Tournament next week at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Penn State ends the regular season 11-18 and 4-14 in the Big Ten.

   Ciezki went 12-18 from the field, 3-7 from three-point range and 2-2 from the free throw line along with 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and a block. Ciezki scored 1,063 in her Hoosier Career and she is third all-time on the single season scoring list with 674 points. Ciezki will have at least one more game to catch Mackenzie Holmes who was in the building along with Sydney Parrish to watch this game. Holmes scored 692 points in the 2022-23 season which is 18 points ahead of Ciezki. Tyra Buss scored 763 points in 2017-18 which is 89 points ahead of Ciezki. With the game in hand Ciezki was subbed out with 2:58 left in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation.

   Neveah Caffey scored a career high 18 points which was her 10th game in double digits this season and beat her previous high of 16 points against Wisconsin on February 4. Lenee Beaumont scored 18 points and Maya Makalusky scored 15 points as the Hoosiers had four in double figures and all four scored were in double figures in the first half. Edessa Noyan scored 5 points and pulled down 4 rebounds. Jade Ondineme scored 4 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.

   Senior Jerni Kiaku played 17 minutes scoring 2 points, 2 rebounds and an assist and was taken out with just under a minute left. Chloe Spreen scored 2 points as Phoenix Stotjin and Faith Wiseman both played and did not score. Indiana went 32-61 from the field for 52%, 9-25 from three-point 39 range for 36% and 20-21 form the free throw line for 95%. Indiana had 39 rebounds, 15 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks and 13 turnovers. Indiana had 38 points in the paint, 33 points off turnovers, 29 fastbreak points, 9 second chance points and 8 bench points.

   Gracie Merkle scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season to lead Penn State. Moriah Murray scored 12 points knocking down four three pointers. Nyla McFadden added 11 points. Penn State’s leading scorer Kiyomi McMiller held to four points on 1-12 from the field, 0-3 from three-point range and 2-2 from free throw line. The Nittany Lions went 22-67 from the field for 32%, 5-26 from three-point range for 19% and 10-12 from the free throw line for 83%. Penn State had 34 rebounds, 14 assists, 6 steals, 1 block and 18 turnovers. Penn State had 32 rebounds,12 points off turnovers, 10 second chance points, 6 bench points and 2 fastbreak points.

   Indiana started the game 5-0 and jumped out to a 23-2 lead and led 31-8 after the first quarter. The Hoosiers outscored the Nittany Lions 26-15 in the second quarter and led 57-23 at halftime. Penn State outscored Indiana 20-15 in the third quarter as Gracie Merkle scored 12 points, going for 4-8 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line as the Hoosiers led 72-43 at the end of the third quarter. Indiana outscored Penn State 21-16 in the fourth quarter even though the Hoosiers closed out the game with no points in the final two minutes and ten seconds and Penn State closed out the game with a 6-0 run in the final minute and fifty-seven seconds.

  After the game Shay Ciezki spent a half an hour greeting fans and taking pictures and she talked about her time at Penn State which did not have as much support as she did during her two years in Bloomington and she says it was a “Full Circle Moment” and during the National Anthem she had a smirk on her face and soaked in the moment playing against her former team in her final regular season college basketball game and she said after the Oregon game that this was “Going to be a fun one “ and she was right. “I had a blast, our vibes were high and we were locked into the game plan, and we got the ball rolling” Shay Ciezki said after the game. Ciezki also gave the fans a lot of love and appreciation for the Indiana Unievrsity Fan Base and said after the game “there is not a More Loyal fanbase than IU Women’s Basketball fans”