IU women’s basketball advanced to the Battle 4 Atlantis final after upsetting No. 17 Baylor, 71-65, on Sunday afternoon.
The Bears (4-2) made a late push after trailing 66-51 with 2:29 left and cut the lead down to five points, but the Hoosiers (4-2) managed to close out the victory despite not scoring a field goal in the final 3:21 of the game.
IU women’s basketball’s Shay Ciezki plays starring role
Shay Ciezki had the play of the game in the final minutes with IU trying to close out a win. She faked a spin move while backing Darianna Littlepage-Buggs down in the paint that opened up the lane for under-handed layup with her off hand and got Baylor’s leading scorer to foul out.
While Ciezki struggled through IU’s first five games shooting under 40% from the field and going just 3-of-14 (21.4%) from 3-point range, she looked much more comfortable Sunday.
She rotated from running the point to playing off the ball and found her offense no matter what her role was. Baylor’s guards had a hard time slowing her down whenever she made a decisive cut to the basket.
The Penn State transfer hit a pair of 3-pointers on IU’s early 17-2 run and went 4-for-5 in the win.
Ciezki played so well coach Teri Moren couldn’t afford to take her off the floor. The only time she subbed out was when she twisted her ankle and needed a quick breather to get checked out by trainers.
Ciezki ended up playing 39 minutes for the second straight game and had a game-high 34 points (9-of-16 shooting). She also went 12-of-13 from the free-throw line and knocked down all six of her attempts in the final 30 seconds.
IU women’s basketball sets tone vs Baylor in Battle 4 Atlantis
Indiana came out firing on all cylinders Sunday.
After Baylor’s Aaronette Vonleh got a putback layup on her team’s opening possession, the Hoosiers went on a 17-0 run.
Indiana shot 57.1% from the field in the quarter, but weren’t able to maintain that momentum through the end of the half.
It didn’t help that IU starting guard Sydney Parrish suffered a leg injury in a collision with Kyla Abraham in the second quarter and went back to the locker room with her team leading 33-23. Parrish didn’t return to the game.
Baylor came into the as one of the highest scoring teams in the country and opened the Battle 4 Atlantis by dropping 101 points on Southern Miss. The Bears were averaging 85.8 points per game (ranked 21st in the country) and averaging nine made 3-pointers per game.
They had six players averaging in double-digits led by Littlepage-Buggs (18.8 points per game).
While Littlepage-Buggs sat out much of the second quarter in foul trouble, Baylor still made a comeback with guard Yaya Felder knocking down four 3-pointers. The Bears closed out the half on a 7-0 run to cut IU’s lead to 37-33.
Littlepage-Buggs picked up her third foul before the midway point of the second quarter. She had five points and seven rebounds when she went to the bench. Baylor’s starting center Vonleh also picked up two fouls in the early going.
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.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana women’s basketball beats Baylor in Battle 4 Atlantis
