INDIANAPOLIS — After recording one of the greatest individual seasons in Indiana women’s basketball history, Shay Ciezki got one final opportunity to represent the cream and crimson.
The Buffalo, N.Y. native competed in the women’s 3-point championship Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, looking to replicate the sort of shooting she displayed all year. She became only the second Division I women’s college basketball player to ever finish 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range, and 90 percent on free throws while averaging at least 20 points per game.
Ciezki ultimately finished second in the 3-point contest to Kansas’ Elle Evans, but she still cherished the chance to put on the Indiana uniform one more time.
“It’s surreal. It’s sad, but exciting, cause this place allowed me to take my game to the next level, hopefully,” Ciezki said after the 3-point contest. “So it’s just definitely a lot of emotions, but excitement and gratefulness more than anything.”
Ciezki transferred to Indiana from Penn State after the 2023-24 season and spent two years with the Hoosiers. She started in each of her four seasons between PSU and IU. The 5-foot-7 guard averaged 11.6 points per game across her two years with the Nittany Lions, showing signs of the player she became in Bloomington.
Her first year with the Hoosiers had a lot of individual ups and downs. She started all 33 games for that team, which won an NCAA Tournament game before falling to South Carolina. Ciezki was inconsistent for much of the season, though she settled in at the end and scored 15.6 points per game over the final nine contests.
That momentum carried into this past season, as Ciezki regularly dominated. IU had a rough year as a team, but the guard did all she could to avoid that. She entered her senior season averaging 11.7 points per game through her first three years, but she surged to 22.8 in 2025-26. She finished second in the Big Ten in scoring, and had she missed the entire game against UCLA instead of leaving with a first-quarter injury, she would’ve topped the list.
But for Ciezki, it’s not the points she scored that will stick out most in her mind when she thinks back on her time as a Hoosier.
“They took a chance on me in the portal, and we had our big wins last year. We had some big wins this year. But honestly, it’s just the memories, the little stuff,” Ciezki said. “The bus rides, the team meetings, the sleepovers, the stuff that a lot of people don’t think of when they see a college basketball team. It’s crazy how time flies four years in and out, and I’m already onto the next thing.”
That next thing is preparing for a professional opportunity. The WNBA Draft is on April 13, and while Ciezki isn’t a lock to get picked, she’ll have a shot. She’s working out twice a day, along with weight room sessions, and taking interviews with WNBA teams.
Indiana’s next thing is another roster rebuild. In addition to Ciezki and Jerni Kiaku graduating, Teri Moren saw six players enter the transfer portal. She’ll have some key returners in Lenée Beaumont, Maya Makalusky, and Zania Socka-Nguemen, as well as Sydney Fenn returning from a two-year injury period. Beaumont, Fenn, and assistant coach Paul Miller supported Ciezki on Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Ciezki is confident in the program’s trajectory, with Beaumont taking on an even bigger leadership role and Moren potentially having more pieces to work with next year.
“The future’s bright. If you see this incoming freshman class, you’ve got a lot of talent in that group. Our staff is working really hard in that transfer portal right now. Not gonna say too much, but we definitely got some good transfers coming in that I’m excited to see how they fit,” Ciezki said. “But it is the way college sports works right now. You’re gonna see the turnover. It doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with the program. It’s just kids are moving on to different things, and you kind of see the priorities within those players. But I’m excited to see what the future holds for Indiana.”
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