#13 Indiana University takes on #12 Nebraska in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Opener The #13 Indiana Hoosiers and #12 Nebraska Cornhuskers will open the 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament at 3:30 PM this afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with the game on Peacock and NBC Sports Network. The winner of this game faces #5 Ohio State on Thursday at 2:30 PM in the second round. Indiana finished 17-13 overall and 6-12 in the Big Ten as the Hoosiers started 0-10 to start the Big Ten and won six of the last eight to make the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana won the last three games of the regular season including a 93-59 win over Penn State last Saturday Afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Shay Ciezki scored 29 points against per former team and has been the leader for the Hoosiers averaging 23.2 points and a team leading 1.6 steals per game. Lenee Beaumont averages 13.6 points and team leading 3.1 assists per game. Edessa Noyan leads the team with 5.5 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game. Indiana averages 71.8 points, 12.4 assists and 15.6 turnovers per game. The Hoosiers shoot 47% from the field, 38% from three-point range and 79% from the free throw line. The Hoosiers have been a resilient group overcoming injuries, a starter transferring after the first semester and depth issues and stayed the course to get to the Big Ten Tournament where a month ago it did not look like the Hoosiers would make the tournament.
Nebraska is 18-11 overall and finished the Big Ten 7-11. After losing six in a row the Cornhuskers won at Washington 66-65 and a home win against Rutgers 93-52. Nebraska averages 79.7 points, 18.3 assists and 14 turnovers per game. Nebraska shoots 47% from the field, 35% from three-point range and 78% from the free throw line. Britt Prince leads Nebraska with 17.3 points along with a team leading 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Amiah Hargrove is averaging 12.7 points and team leading 5.5 assists per game and Jessica Petrie averages 11.6 points and a team leading 1 block per game. Nebraska beat Indiana 78-73 on January 8 in Lincoln in the regular season meeting. There are three games to tip off the first day of the Allstate Big Ten Tournament. Game 2 at 6 PM will be #15 Wisconsin and #10 Illinois and Game 3 is #14 Purdue and #11 Oregon at 8:30 PM and both will be on Peacock and NBC Sports Network.
Indiana University Men’s Basketball Hosts Minnesota on Senior Night The Indiana Hoosiers will host the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Final Regular Season Home game this evening at 6:30 PM televised on the Big Ten Network. The Hoosiers will honor its Seniors 15-20 minutes before the game under first year Head Coach Darian DeVries. Under Hall of Fame Coach Bob Knight Indiana honored it’s Seniors after the game with speeches from the players and Head Coach and continued for many many years after but now that tradition has changed and it, does not look like it will be coming back any time soon.
The Hoosiers will honor Sam Alexis, Reed Bailey, Tayton Conerway, Tucker DeVries, Conor Enright and Lamar Wilkerson which have all been in the starting lineup with Wilkerson, DeVries and Enright starting every game. Bailey started the season before Alexis took his spot and Conerway started until ankle injury gave way to Junior Nick Dorn. Five of the six seniors lead the Hoosiers in different ways. Wilkerson leads the team in points with 21.3 per game. DeVries leads the team with 5.1 rebounds and averages 13.8 points per game. Enright leads the team with 4.6 assists per game. Conerway is averaging 10 points and leads the team with 1.1 steals per game, and Alexis leads the team 1.2 blocks per game.
Indiana is fighting for its NCAA Tournament life as the Hoosiers are right on the bubble. Depending on which projection your look at the Hoosiers is either the last team in or one of the first four out. If the Hoosiers do not win this game, they will be out because Minnesota beat Indiana in Minneapolis 73-64 on December 3 and The Golden Gophers are 7-11 in the Big Ten and 14-15 overall while Indiana is 17-12 and 8-10 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have lost four in a row after Northwestern erased a 13-point deficit to beat the Hoosiers by four points 72-68 for their six straight win against Hoosiers which is first in Big Ten History for Northwestern to win six games in a row against at conference opponent. Michigan State beat Indiana 77-64 on Sunday afternoon in Bloomington as the Hoosiers have lost four games at home this season
Indiana averages 78.8 points, 17 assists and 10.1 turnovers per game. Indiana is shooting 47% from the field, 34% form three-point range and 78% from free throw line. Indiana cannot afford another loss at home and with a road game at Ohio State on Saturday if the Hoosiers can finish the conference with a .500 record that could keep their chances alive for the NCAA Tournament and they need to have a good showing in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.
Cade Tyson leads Minnesota with 19.6 points per game. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson averages 13.4 points along with a team leading 6.8 rebounds and 1 block per game. Langston Reynolds averages 11.6 points per game along with a team leading 4.5 assists. Issac Asuma averages 11 points and a team leading 1.3 steals per game. Bobby Durkin who scored his 1,000th career point Saturday in against UCLA is averaging 10.3 points per game. The Golden Gophers average 71 points, 17.6 assists and 10.4 turnovers per game. Minnesota is shooting 46% from the field, 34% from three-point range and 69% from the free throw line. Minnesota has won three of their last four games including a 78-73 home win against UCLA Last Saturday. The Golden Gophers will host Northwestern on Saturday Night to close out the regular season. All 18 teams will make the Big Ten Tournament so nobody will be staying home for the postseason, but seeding will be important and Minnesota would love to spoil Senior Night and burst the Hoosiers NCAA tournament bubble.
Three Indiana University Women’s Basketball Players Earn All-Big Ten Honors Senior guard Shay Ciezki was named All-Big Ten while freshman forward Maya Makalusky earned a place on the All-Freshman team in the league’s postseason awards announced on Tuesday. Ciezki earned first team honors from the league’s media while the league’s coaches selected her as a unanimous second team pick. This is the second All-Big Ten honor for Ciezki, who earned honorable mention honors in 2023-24. In her senior season, Ciezki has been one of the Big Ten’s leading scorers, averaging 23.2 points per game along with 3.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. She is the only player in the country averaging 20-plus points and shooting 50/40/90 – 53.7 percent from the floor, 46.2 percent from the 3-point line and 90.8 percent at the free throw line. The Buffalo, N.Y. native was a two-time Big Ten Player of the Week who scored in double figures in 28 games this season which included seven 30-point games. Ciezki has recorded two double-doubles and has made 78 3-pointers, which ranks tied for third in a single season. Recently, she joined IU’s 1,000-point club and ranks 31st all-time in scoring. Her 674 points this season ranks third-most in a single season and sixth in the country. Ciezki also becomes the 11th first-team All-Big Ten selection under 12th year head coach Teri Moren.
Makalusky makes her way on to the eight-player All-Freshman team after putting together a noteworthy campaign in her collegiate debut. The Fishers, Ind. native averaged 9.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and shot 44.7 percent from the floor and 37.4 percent from the 3-point line. She has knocked down 58 triples, which ranks fourth all-time by an IU freshman. Makalusky has made 20 starts and has scored in double figures 13 times including three 20-point scoring games. On the road at USC, she set a new career-high and the fourth-best performance by an IU freshman when she scored 29 points and had six rebounds. She was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice (Dec. 15 and Mar. 2) and is the ninth player in school history to be named to the All-Freshman team.
Redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont was also honored as IU’s Sportsmanship Award honoree. The Lisle, Ill. native returned from a knee injury that kept her sidelined in 2024-25 as she averaged 13.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor and 86.7 percent from the free throw line. 12-seed Indiana (17-13) will open 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament play this afternoon against 13-seed Nebraska in the first round at 3:30 p.m. ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Indiana University’s Aly VanBrandt Named Big Ten Softball Player of the Week Indiana Softball junior Aly VanBrandt was named the Big Ten’s Player of the Week for her outstanding play over the weekend (Feb. 27-March 1) at the Elon & UNCG Tournament. VanBrandt led the Hoosiers to a 5-0 showing in the tournament where they outscored their opponents by a run differential of 59-3. Individually, she hit .500 (8-for-16) on the weekend with four home runs and two doubles. She also totaled 15 RBI and eight runs scored while also drawing five walks and was 3-for-3 on stolen bases. Against Elon on Feb. 27, VanBrandt was 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double to total seven RBI in the game. In the first game against UNCG (Feb. 28), she was 2-for-3 with five RBI and a grand slam.
Indiana’s Maya Makalusky Named Big Ten Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Week Freshman forward Maya Makalusky has been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, announced by the league office on Monday. The Fishers, Ind. native earns her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors this season after averaging 17.0 points, 4.5 rebound and shooting 47.4 percent from the floor in a pair of wins for Indiana last week. She is the sixth player in school history to earn at least two Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors in her rookie season. Makalusky scored 19 points in a road win at Rutgers, connecting on four 3-pointers to go along with four rebounds, an assist and steal. She was one of four Hoosiers in double figures in the regular season finale against Penn State where she had 15 points and five rebounds. For the week, Makalusky finished 9-for-10 at the free throw line.
Indiana’s Brayden Ricketts Named Big Ten Freshman Baseball Player of the Week After a blistering hot weekend against Western Kentucky, redshirt freshman designated hitter Brayden Ricketts was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday evening. He helped the Hoosiers to a 3-2 week which featured a trio of important road victories. Ricketts, who has taken firm control of the third spot on the lineup card, hit .600 (9-15) in a four-game series in Bowling Green. He added a hit in a midweek win over Xavier to finish the busy stretch of games with 10 base knocks in 20 at-bats. The Brampton, Ontario native slugged his first two career home runs on Sunday afternoon to secure a victory over the Hilltoppers. He added seven RBIs this weekend and scored four times.
The young hitter redshirted last year but has taken full advantage of the opportunity during the 2026 campaign. He is the 14th different player in the Jeff Mercer era (2019 – Present) to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for IU. Five of the Hoosiers’ regular starters (Moore, Ricketts, Hanley, Denny and Malamazian) have now won the award at some point in their career. On the season, Ricketts has worked his batting average up to .381 across 10 starts. He’s riding an eight-game hitting streak with an OPS of 1.080. He’s had multi-hit games in four of his last six contests and is hitting .400 (16-40) since entering the starting lineup in the final game of the North Carolina series.
Indiana University Men’s Golf Finishes 15th at the Colleton River Collegiate The Indiana men’s golf team finished 15th at the Colleton River Collegiate with a score of 878 (286-299-293; +14). The two-day, 54-hole event was played at the Colleton River Club Dye Course in Bluffton, South Carolina. For the second-straight even, junior Nick Piesen was atop the Indiana leaderboard. He shot a 214 (73-70-71; -2) and tied for 10th overall. The Strongsville, Ohio, native recorded eight birdies and an eagle. Junior Cole Starnes shot a 221 (69-79-73; +5) with nine birdies. Sophomore Neri Checcucci turned in a 222 (73-75-74; +6) with seven birdies. Sophomore Bradley Chill Jr. converted a team-high 11 birdies and shot a 223 (71-75-77; +7). Junior Alec Cesare played 10 birdies on his scorecard of 232 (77-80-75; +16). Playing as an individual, freshman Caleb Schnarr shot a 231 (79-74-78; +15) with five birdies and an eagle in the third round. The Hoosiers will return to team competition for the Schenkel Invitational. The three-day event will be played from March 13-15 in Statesboro, Ga., at the Forest Heights Country Club.