9-Seed Indiana Upends 8-Seed Utah, 76-68, in NCAA Opening Round

Friday, March 21

Columbia, South Carolina

1:30 P.M. ET

Indiana University

20-12,10-8Big Ten

(8) Utah

22-9,13-5Big 12

Indiana

Utah

9-Seed Indiana Upends 8-Seed Utah, 76-68, in NCAA Opening Round

3/21/2025 4:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – Five players scored in double figures as the ninth-seeded Indiana Women's Basketball team defeated eighth-seeded Utah, 76-68, in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on Friday afternoon.

KEY MOMENTS

Junior forward Lilly Meister scored eight early points off the bench to help bring Indiana to a 15-15 tie at the opening media timeout. The two teams exchanged the lead on 11 occasions before the first break of the game (45.8 seconds in the first quarter).
The Hoosiers shot 50.0% from the floor in the first quarter. The opening 10 minutes ended in a 17-all tie with two prolific three-point shooting teams combining on just two made field goals from beyond the arc.
Senior forward Karoline Striplin hit a mid-range jumper to break at the 7:01 mark in the second quarter to break a 9-0 Utah run and halt a scoring drought of nearly three minutes.
IU held Utah scoreless for almost minutes in the second quarter. During that stretch, the Utes (22-9) missed six-straight shots, two free throws and committed a turnover.
Veterans Sydney Parrish and Chloe Moore-McNeil sparked a late 5-0 surge to tie the game at 31-all heading into the break. Parrish nailed a three before Moore-McNeil hit a contested field goal in the final seconds of the half.
Junior guard Shay Ciezki hit a corner three early in the third quarter to give IU its first lead since the 9:43 mark of the second quarter. Junior guard Yarden Garzon added a layup to give the Hoosiers their biggest lead of the game (40-36).
The Hoosiers went on a 11-6 run out of the break and into the media timeout. Meister's layup with 5:03 on the clock in the third quarter made her the first IU player to reach double figures.
Moore-McNeil found Ciezki on the breakaway for a contested layup to extend IU's lead to nine points late in the third quarter. Utah used its first timeout of the game as the IU momentum continued to grow.
IU scored 27 points in the third quarter and connected on 83.3% of its field goals to take a commanding 11-point lead into the fourth frame. Ciezki scored nine points without missing any shot (field goal or free throw) in the third quarter.
Ciezki hit a big bucket just outside the paint to break a 7-0 run from Utah. It extended IU's lead back to eight points with just under five minutes to play.
Moore-McNeil got the lead back to six with under two minutes to play. She came off a screen from Striplin and buried the much-needed mid-range jump shot.
Garzon buried a pair of clutch free throws with 11 seconds on the clock. Those freebies put IU's lead back to six. The Hoosiers finished off the 76-68 win to advance to the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

NOTABLE

The victory ensured head coach Teri Moren and the Hoosiers their 10th-consecutive 20-win season. The head ball coach moves to 7-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament during her IU career.
Indiana improved to 12-10 overall in the NCAA Tournament in school history
Five players scored in double figures led by 16 points from Ciezki. It was the first time IU has had five players score in double figures in an NCAA Tournament game since 2021 vs. NC State.
Moore-McNeil recorded her 500^th career assist, the fifth player in school history to reach that mark. She finished just shy of a triple double with 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a team-high eight assists.
Indiana had 19 assists on 29 made shots in the victory.
Garzon led her team with 17 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Ciezki added 16 points while Moore-McNeil had 12 and Striplin scored 10.
The Hoosiers shot 58 percent from the floor in the win and 86.7 percent from the free throw line.
This is the first win over Utah in program history.

UP NEXT
IU advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where it will face the winner of (1) South Carolina and (16) Tennessee Tech on Sunday (March 23) afternoon.

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