Indiana women’s basketball showed its mettle yet again.
The Hoosiers outlasted Gonzaga in a tight matchup in Fort Myers, Fla. on Friday, in a 76-72 win in the Coconut Hoops opener. IU advances to the title game on Sunday against No. 10 Iowa State at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Indiana (7-0) carried a six-point lead into the fourth quarter, but Gonzaga (3-4) kept the pressure on. The Bulldogs cut their deficit to one point three times in the final period. But after all three Gonzaga scores to make it a one-point game, the Hoosiers responded with a clutch bucket of their own.
First, redshirt sophomore Lenée Beaumont made a second-chance layup with 2:15 remaining. GU answered immediately, before freshman Maya Makalusky stepped up with a 3-pointer with 1:28 to play — the biggest basket of her young career. Gonzaga got it back to one again with 20 seconds left, but senior Shay Ciezki came through with a 3-point play on a layup with a foul shot.
The Hoosiers did a better job of limiting turnovers and fouling in this game than they’ve done in several other games this year. They committed 16 total fouls, their second-lowest mark of the season so far; and only two players — Edessa Noyan and Valentyna Kadlecova — finished with three or more fouls. And IU gave away just 11 turnovers, its fewest since the first two games of the season.
Ciezki was a force for Indiana again on Friday, with 24 points on 10-for-18 shooting, with a 3-for-6 mark from 3-point range. She added two rebounds and three assists with three turnovers.
Makalusky turned in her best game as a Hoosier, playing nearly the entire fourth quarter. The Fishers, Ind. native chipped in 10 points and six rebounds. Her fellow freshman, Nevaeh Caffey, also enjoyed a good performance, with a career-high 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting.
Sophomore center Zania Socka-Nguemen added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Beaumont finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
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