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IU women’s basketball has had an eventful offseason, which has featured significant roster turnover for the Hoosiers.
In addition to the roster turnover, the program also recently announced the hiring of Colsten Thompson as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Thompson replaced Linda Sayavongchanh.
The program graduated three players this season: Sydney Parrish, Chloe Moore-McNeil and Karoline Striplin.
With the transfer portal now closed, here’s the latest on the roster for the 2025-26 season as of Tuesday morning.
Transfer portal departures
Six scholarship players from the 2024-25 roster entered the transfer portal in March, leaving coach Teri Moren with only five returning players as she began assembling next winter’s roster.
The six players from the 2024-25 roster who entered the portal in March: Julianna LaMendola, Lexus Bargesser, Lilly Meister, Henna Sandvik, Sharnecce Currie-Jelks and Yarden Garzon.
Five of the six players who entered the portal have chosen new schools. LaMendola is headed to Grand Canyon, Bargesser to Colorado State, Meister to Kansas, Sandvik to Wyoming and Garzon to Maryland.
Returning players
The Hoosiers will return five players next winter, but only one has significant experience in college basketball.
Starter Shay Ciezki, the team’s second-leading scorer last season at 11.8 points per game, is the key returnee.
Indiana will also have guards Lenee Beaumont and Valentyna Kadlecova back, along with forwards Sydney Fenn and Faith Wiseman.
Beaumont and Fenn did not play last season due to injuries and Kadlecova played just a total of 37 minutes after she was announced as a late addition to last season’s roster in August of 2024.
Incoming freshmen
Moren will welcome two freshmen to next season’s roster and both are highly acclaimed in the national rankings.
Hamilton Southeastern wing Maya Makalusky is the No. 35 player nationally according to the espnW rankings.
Incarnate Word Academy (Mo.) point guard Neveah Caffey is the No. 42 player nationally according to the espnW rankings.
Both are considered four-star prospects.
Incoming players from the transfer portal
Indiana has five players committed from the transfer portal.
Bedford North Lawrence product Chloe Spreen was the first portal commitment of the spring. The 5-foot-10 guard was the 2024 Indiana Miss Basketball and averaged 1.2 points in 6.7 minutes last season at Alabama as a freshman. She committed on April 2.
Arkansas transfer guard Phoenix Stotijn, a native of the Netherlands, announced her commitment to Indiana on April 6. The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 7.2 points, 2.2 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 25.7 minutes per game as a freshman for the Razorbacks.
UCLA transfer forward Zania Socka-Nguemen, a 2024 McDonald’s All-American, announced her commitment to Indiana on April 12. A top 30 prospect nationally out of high school, the Silver Springs, Maryland, native played in 16 games last season as a freshman for the Bruins and averaged 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 5.1 minutes per game.
Virginia transfer forward Edessa Noyan committed to Indiana on April 15. The 6-foot-3 forward from Botkyrka, Sweden averaged 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds last season for the Cavaliers in 26 games. She made 23 starts for Virginia, which finished 17-15.
Duquesne transfer guard Jerni Kiaku was the latest portal addition for Moren and the Hoosiers. Kiaku committed on April 21. The 5-foot-7 guard is a native of Garner, North Carolina, and has one season of eligibility remaining. She averaged 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 27.1 minutes per game last season for the Dukes in 33 games.
Category: Women’s Basketball
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