Indiana women’s basketball beat Marian 87-39 on Wednesday afternoon in the Hoosiers’ lone exhibition matchup ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The matchup provided a first look at Indiana’s largely rebuilt roster as the Hoosiers look to turn last season’s NCAA Tournament miss into a one-off rather than the start of a trend. There’s only so much you can take away from an exhibition performance but, nevertheless, we’ll try.
Here’s a few observations:
Morenball is as pass-happy as ever
Teri Moren’s Indiana basketball has always emphasized sharing the ball beyond the point guard position. If you’re going to be on the floor you’re going to be expected to pass to find the best shot. That hasn’t changed at all in 2026-27.
Malia Samuels, a USC transfer who joined the program this past offseason, has taken over at point following the departure of Nevaeh Caffey. But it was Lenee Beaumont and Kenzie Hare who tied to lead the Hoosiers in assists with eight apiece. Samuels was right behind them with four, Gigi Battle dished out three and three other Hoosiers tied with two each.
Zania Socka-Nguemen was the lone starter to finish without an assist, which I wouldn’t read too much into because, again, this was an exhibition.
The Hoosiers finished with 28 assists to 12 turnovers, numbers that Moren is probably happy with.
Freshman Addy Nyemchek earns the start
Indiana has been undergoing something of a recruiting renaissance in its recent classes, with several of the highest-rated commitments in program history pledging as members of the 2026 and 2027 classes, with the former being the current team’s freshmen.
Addy Nyemchek, one such freshman, earned the start for Indiana at forward in her unofficial debut. She finished with 14 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists while shooting 6-10 from the field, including 2-4 from 3-point range.
All things considered, this isn’t all that surprising of a development. Nyemchek is Indiana’s first ever high school signee to play in the McDonald’s All-American game and was rated as a top-25 prospect in the class of 2026 by ESPN.
Kenzie Hare shows out from 3-point range
Indiana has had several strong 3-point shooters in recent years and, in honesty, could’ve used more of that last season. Kenzie Hare was a pretty strong shooter at Iowa State and that seems to have carried over to Indiana.
Hare took a third of Indiana’s attempts from deep on the game, finishing with 10 of the team’s 30. She converted on an unreal six of those attempts, leading the team in scoring with 18 points. All of this while tying to lead the Hoosiers in assists. Regardless of the level of competition, that’s pretty impressive.
Will Hare keep shooting 60% from long range? Probably not. Can she still prove extremely valuable as a floor spacing starter? Absolutely.
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