Indiana women’s basketball beats Northwestern thanks to clutch 3-pointer from Shay Ciezki

The Indiana women’s basketball team beat Northwestern 68-64 at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night thanks to a go-ahead 3-pointer from Shay Ciezki with 1:05 to go. 

It was the Hoosiers (11-4; 3-1 Big Ten) sixth straight win over their Big Ten rival. 

Ciezki scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and scored six straight at one point with the Wildcats looking to make a comeback. She was the only IU player with a made field goal in the first five minutes of the fourth. 

The Penn State transfer went 3 of 4 from the field (2 of 2 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line down the stretch. She’s made 32 straight free-throw attempts going back to the team’s Nov. 24 loss to Baylor. 

Indiana struggled pulling away while shooting just 39.3% from the field. The Hoosiers led 20-11 at the start of the second quarter, but couldn’t build on the lead thanks to multiple extended scoring droughts. 

Northwestern kept it a two-possession game throughout the second half while getting a big night from reserve guard Melannie Daley. She led the team in scoring with 17 points and season-high six assists off the bench. 

It was her seventh straight game in double-digits. 

Indiana goes back on the road for a game against No. 23 Iowa on Sunday at 3 p.m. before returning home on for a game against Illinois on Jan. 16.

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.