It’s nothing new for Indiana women’s basketball to be working with a thin rotation.
Head coach Teri Moren typically doesn’t go very deep into her bench, particularly as the season progresses. When the Hoosiers won the Big Ten regular season championship in 2022-23, they had only one player average double-digit minutes off the bench. That number jumped to four last season, but two of those players (Jules LaMendola and Henna Sandvik) finished just above 10 minutes per game, and both reverted below that mark in conference games.
Through five games this season, three IU players are playing double-digit minutes per game: sophomore guard Phoenix Stotijn (18.6), junior forward Edessa Noyan (13.2), and freshman wing Maya Makalusky (12.8). But the Hoosiers have seen a dip in performance — in multiple games — when the’ve gone to the bench this season. There’s a noticeable difference when, particularly, Shay Ciezki, Lenée Beaumont, or Zania Socka-Nguemen are off the floor.
“We have confidence in a lot of these kids, and I do think we’re trying to get them more minutes inside of games,” Moren said after the Butler game. “But as I always say, everybody sits over there and waits for their opportunity, but we can’t forget that they get opportunities every day in Cook Hall — every day — and Assembly Hall, when we practice.”
Stotijn, tabbed as one of the team’s stronger 3-point shooters, is off to a tough start despite her high usage off the bench. she’s shooting just 21.7 percent from the field so far, including an 0-for-10 slump in the last two games. And she’s 0 for 6 from 3-point range. The Arkansas transfer brings some clear athleticism to the court that will benefit Indiana once she settles in. But it’s problematic for IU’s sixth player to be shooting that poorly.
Noyan has scored eight points in each of Indiana’s last two games. But against Florida State, the Virginia transfer finished a team-worst minus-13 — the only Hoosier with a negative plus-minus in that game. She’s grabbed six rebounds in three of IU’s five games. But she’s still adapting to the physicality required at her position on the court.
“Edessa’s gonna have to help us at that 5 spot. She’s gonna have to be a reliable backup for Z. And she’s been working,” Moren said after the Butler game. “She’s starting to come around, that she has to embrace being more physical. I thought she did that tonight. And I think she’s a kid that really wants to help her team. So she’ll continue to work.”
In-state products Chloe Spreen and Faith Wiseman appear to be out of the rotation entirely.
Indiana’s biggest moment from a reserve so far has come outside of its rotation, though. Senior guard Jerni Kiaku has averaged just 5.5 minutes per game, but she was forced on the court in a big spot at FSU because of foul trouble. And she scored one of the biggest buckets of the game, a clutch layup with 15 seconds left to give the Hoosiers a four-point lead.
But no bench player may unlock Indiana’s potential this season as much as Makalusky, if and when she settles in.
The Fishers, Ind. native arrived in Bloomington a touted outside shooter and a strong overall player who could make an immediate impact. But she started her collegiate career 0 for 10 from 3-point range, and has faced similar challenges as many freshmen moving to the next level see in terms of the intricacies of the game.
Makalusky broke her 3-point slump against Butler, sinking a triple at the end of the first quarter. That turned into her best performance so far this season, with seven points and three rebounds. But Moren is still looking for more, particularly in areas outside of shooting.
“She has to figure out a way to continue to impact the game that’s just not about stretching the defenders out and thinking about her shot,” Moren said. “She can continue to help us very much like Syd Parrish did for us. Syd would go get us a couple of O-boards. Syd was relentless defensively — although what she might have lacked in athleticism, she made up because she just played so hard. And so I think for Maya, she has to continue to come in every time that she has that opportunity and not just be thinking about her shot. And I’m not suggesting that’s the only thing she thinks about.”
Parrish graduated from Hamilton Southeastern in 2020, and was a big role model for Makalusky, who wrapped up at HSE five years later. Moren pointed out that Makalusky can’t get away with some things at this level, particularly defensively, that she may have been able to at HSE. That’s part of the adjustment the freshman is making.
It’s a typical obstacle newcomers face in college basketball. Defense is so important for Moren and her staff, and this adjustment is part of why she doesn’t often give big minutes to freshmen: if they can’t defend at the level she demands, they won’t be big parts of her rotation.
That’s why it’s so significant that Missouri product Nevaeh Caffey is in the starting lineup. Her offensive game is still developing, but she already looks the part defensively.
Makalusky has the potential to be an impact player, as well, as this season goes on. Perhaps finally seeing a 3-pointer go down will get her rolling offensively. If she can find more consistency on that end of the court, and — particularly — if she can settle in defensively and give IU stronger minutes on that end, the freshman could play a big role for the Hoosiers this season.
” I think we would all agree as a staff, her biggest improvements have to come from that (defensive) side of the ball. And it’s watching the film every day, and it’s correcting and being coachable and all of it. And just trying to fix it and improve it and not make the same mistakes the next opportunity she gets. But I do think she has a bright future here,” Moren said. “She needs to take a chapter out of Syd’s book. That’s how Syd helped us. She was a knockdown shooter, but she was so much more than that for us.”
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