Following a Sweet 16 loss to South Carolina and the graduation of Mackenzie Holmes, the Hoosiers entered the 2024-2025 season with tentative optimism. On the one hand, they returned key pieces of their roster (Sydney Parrish, Chloe Moore-McNeil, and Yarden Garzon) and looked to build on last year’s success. On the other hand, IU had the daunting task of replacing Holmes, their emotional leader and all-time leading scorer, while trying to keep the momentum of the past couple of years going. To fill this gap, the Hoosiers brought in a pair of transfers from Tennessee and Penn State in forward Karoline Striplin and guard Shay Ciezki. While it was clear that Indiana had the talent and experience to be competitive in the Big 10, there were concerns about how they would play together as a team.

These concerns raised their ugly head early in the season as the Hoosiers lost back-to-back games to Harvard and Butler, followed quickly by a 30-point loss to UNC in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. Thanks in part to the insertion of Karoline Striplin into the starting lineup, Indiana was able to turn things around and finish the year 10-8 in the conference and 20-12 overall. Following a 79-84 loss to USC in the Big Ten Tournament, the Hoosiers entered the NCAA Tournament as a 9th seed. Spurred by a 15-4 run in the 3rd quarter, the Hoosiers were able to cruise past Utah in the first round, before a date with familiar foe South Carolina in the second round. While they were able to keep it close headed into the half, South Carolina once again proved to be too much for Indiana to handle, as they saw their championship hopes dashed by the Gamecocks for the second straight season.

Although it was not the result IU fans were hoping for, there is still a lot to celebrate from this season. With that, let's get into the superlatives:

No surprises here. Garzon was a force to be reckoned with behind the arc all season long, cementing her legacy as the greatest 3-point shooter in Indiana program history. Through three seasons at IU, Garzon made a program-best 220 3-pointers at a program-best percentage of 42.6%. What truly set Garzon apart from other 3-point shooters was her prowess as a defender. Garzon totaled 103 steals and 63 blocks over her IU career, averaging 2.4 turnovers per game. As a true offensive and defensive threat, Garzon will be sorely missed next season.

As I mentioned above, the insertion of Karoline Striplin into the starting lineup was one of the catalysts for Indiana’s turnaround this season. While Striplin shined off the bench early in Big Ten play with a 27-point outing against Penn State, it wasn’t until she got the starting nod that the value of her leadership became apparent. Striplin posted double figures in 11 of the last 15 games of the season, with a season-high performance of 28 points and 7 rebounds against Michigan. Striplin’s success as a transfer should provide Teri Moran some much-needed juice in the portal this offseason.

While IU’s 22-point victory over Purdue was glorious to watch, the Hoosiers’ best win was a commanding Quad 1 victory over a very talented OSU team. The Buckeyes, who entered the game as the 8th best team in the nation, were handled buzzer to buzzer by Indiana, who finished the first half on a 14-2 run and entered the 4th quarter with a 57-39 lead. Even with 21 turnovers, the Hoosiers were still able to win by double digits.

Sydney Parrish – Guard

Chloe Moore-McNeil – Guard

Karolin Striplin – Forward

Yarden Garzon – Junior (Guard)

Lexus Bargesser – Junior (Guard)

Lilly Meister – Junior (Forward)

Jules LaMendola – Sophomore (Guard)

Henna Sandvik – Junior (Guard)

Sharnecce Currie-Jelks – Junior (Forward)

Nevaeh Caffey: 4-star - 5’10” (Guard) - Warrenton, MO

Maya Makalusky: 4-star - 6’3” (Forward) - Hamilton, IN