BLOOMINGTON — The Indiana women’s basketball team is heading into 2025 on a six-game win streak after beating Wisconsin 83-52 on Saturday afternoon at Assembly Hall.

The Hoosiers (10-3; 2-0 Big Ten) were in control after an 18-2 run in the first quarter. The Badgers (10-3; 1-1 Big Ten) scored a season-low 52 points — it was only the third time this season they scored less than 60 — as their five-game win streak came to an end.

Indiana forward Lilly Meister matched her season-high with 20 points (9 of 13) to lead all scorers. Shay Ciezki (14 points), Sydney Parrish (13 points) and Yarden Garzon (13 points) also scored in double-digits.

“Our kids executed the game plan as good as we wanted them to,” Indiana women’s basketball coach Teri Moren said. “Really happy with the way we played this afternoon.”

The Hoosiers starters were done for the day with 2:46 to go in the game.

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Indiana’s front court faces off against Wisconsin’s leading scorer Serah Williams

Indiana forwards Lilly Meister and Karoline Striplin held their ground against Wisconsin’s Serah Williams on Saturday afternoon. 

The 6-foot-4 forward came into the game averaging 20.0 points per game on 54.1% shooting and 12.3 rebounds. She’s one of only four players in the conference averaging 20 or more points and recently set a career-high with 36 points in a win over Butler. 

Indiana occasionally doubled Williams, but much of the Hoosiers success came from Meister and Striplin matching her physicality in the low post and contesting every one of her shot attempts while avoiding contact. 

Williams, who averaged 9.3 free-throw attempts in her team’s last three games, only made one trip to the free-throw line on Saturday.

She closed out the first quarter with just two points on 1 of 6 shooting and finished the first half with as many turnovers (three) as field goals. She finished the game with 13 points on 6 of 13 shooting, it was only the second time all season she shot under 50%.

“We kept Serah uncomfortable for most of the game,” Moren said. “I thought our pace was not something she was incredibly excited about in terms of getting up and down the floor. We wore her out, that was our goal to make her tired.”

The best stretch of the game for Wisconsin came when it hit three straight 3-pointers during an 11-0 run late in the first quarter, but that scoring outburst was an anomaly. That was the only time the Badgers scored on three straight possessions and they made only one other 3-pointer the rest of the game. 

They didn’t have any field goals the final 4:31 of the game.

Indiana women’s basketball has found its footing on offense

Indiana’s early-season shooting woes are long gone.

The Hoosiers shot better than 50% for a fourth straight game and fifth time in six games and also tied a season-high going 50% from 3-point range (9 of 18). They have also scored more than 80 points in three straight games for the first time since the 2022-23 season.

It was a team effort as IU players continue to share the basketball — it had 25 assists on 32 field goals — and for the first time this season really pushed the tempo. The Hoosiers had 22 fast break points with Chloe Moore-McNeil, who had a game-high seven assists, and Ciezki really pushing the pace off Wisconsin’s miscues.

The Badgers tied a season-high with 18 turnovers while IU had a season-low eight turnovers.

“We talk about how much better of a basketball team we are when we’re playing in space, when we are playing with pace and get the ball out of our hands,” Moren said. “You’ve heard me say it a lot of times, there’s moments when the ball sticks and we hold onto it. We’ve really talked about our ball movement and getting it out of our hands quicker.”

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

The Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Indiana Pacers down the stretch of the fourth quarter to pull out a win after being outplayed for the vast majority of the contest. The Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, no showed, which is easy to explain, according to the head coach.

The Boston Celtics hosted the Indiana Pacers Friday, 27th of December, the first of two matchups in TD Garden, Boston. For Coach Rick Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers, they come into Boston managing five injuries with Isaiah Jackson, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin who were all ruled unavailable prior to tip-off. Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) and Jrue Holiday (shoulder) have both been ruled out for Boston. Holiday’s unavailability saw Sam Hauser slotted into the starting lineup for the C’s. Hauser’s starting nod is noteworthy, as he has been in and out of the lineup with his own back injuries and struggling with form, going scoreless in 3 out of his last 4 games.

Jayson Tatum started the game strong, physically taking it to Bennedict Mathurin for the strong and-1 post finish. Mathurin got going early for Indy, pacing his team with 2 of his team’s first 4 buckets. Jaylen Brown was perfect to start the game in this one, as he went three for three, with a pair of triples. Derrick White also got in on the action as Indy sagged off him to hit on his second bucket and his second three-pointer as Boston took an early 24-13 lead.

Boston continued to pile on points behind a crossover step back long Jaylen Brown two and then a Jordan Walsh three, as Boston stretched the early lead out to 12 points. Brown continued to excel with another three-pointer and a steal and breakaway two-handed dunk to register his fifteenth first quarter point on a perfect 6/6 from the field. The Indiana Pacers came into this game on the second night of a back-to-back, and it showed early as Boston was the hungrier team and getting to the loose balls first. The Celtics led 39-22 after the first quarter.

Boston started the second quarter very slowly, going scoreless for the first 3 minutes and turning the ball over multiple times. Luckily for the Celtics, Indy wasn’t much better, with just one three-point made basket in that stretch. The crowd well and truly woke up at the 6-minute mark of the game as JB drove past two perimeter defenders and dropped the hammer on top of an outstretched Myles Turner. Brown, not to be outdone, then stole the ball again at midcourt, leading to a dunk competition-worthy windmill jam with no Pacer player within fifty feet of the the basket.

Jayson Tatum would then return to the game after a nice break to hit his first shot, a corner three-pointer. Al Horford, then added his own triple as Boston registered a 20-point first-half lead at the 2-minute, 30-second mark. The first half would end 67-42 with Boston in complete control, spearheaded by Jayson Tatum (10 pts, 10 boards) and Jaylen Brown (23 points, 3/5 from three).

Following the Christmas Day disaster, Al Horford cited “inconsistent effort” postgame after the brutal loss to conference rival Philadelphia 76ers. Boston was looking to get back into form before facing a 4-game west coast road trip in early January. The third quarter proved to be just the test, as Boston continued to exploit Indiana’s lack of perimeter size and picking the Pacers apart with crisp passing and good pace en route to a massive 31-point lead with 5 minutes remaining in the third.

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Indiana came into Boston playing 4 games over 6 nights, and the fatigue was starting to show late in the third quarter with Indy a step slow, Boston would reach the penalty bonus with 4 and a half minutes to go in the quarter. To Indiana’s credit, they did not let the lead creep out more as the quarter would end 103-78, Boston up 25 points.

JB logged his fortieth point of the game, his highest score of the season, with a mind-blowing eleven minutes left in the game. Eventually Joe Mazzulla would substitute out Brown to a standing ovation and a 44-point night, shooting a stellar 66% split from the field with 6-11 from three. Rick Carlisle would go to his deep bench around the 8-minute mark, giving his younger guys a test against Boston. Payton Pritchard would add 18 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds; Jayson Tatum had a double-double night with 22 points and 13 rebounds; Al Horford chipped in 13 points, whilst Derrick White added 9 points and 6 assists.

Drew Peterson, Jordan Walsh and Jaden Springer all saw significant garbage minute time for Boston to finish off the game. The Celtics, who now sit just a few games ahead of the 3rd placed New York Knicks in the Eastern conference needed a comfortable win and they got this tonight behind a well-rounded team performance. Boston will next face these Pacers once more at home on Sunday, 29th of December at 6pm.