BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana women’s basketball coach Teri Moren works in mysterious ways.

As she broke down Indiana’s repeat performance in the Hoosiers’ 67-63 win over Southern Indiana at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday, Moren offered an unprompted comment on Indiana’s follow-up game against the Screaming Eagles.

“I was disappointed with our follow-up game. I found Lilly (Meister) and Strip (Karoline Striplin) just fine. Offensively, defensively,” Moren said.

“I’m thinking about some of the post players we’re going to see in the Big (Ten), right? Not to take anything away from the USI guys, they were good,” Moren continued. “But we’re going to be playing against some of the best post players in the country and we need to be able to respond a lot better.”

Is it a coincidence that those words were said just before Indiana took on Penn State post player Gracie Merkle? Probably not.

Indiana opens Big Ten Conference play at Penn State on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. If they can do that, Merkle will be a significant obstacle on the way to an away win.

At 6 feet 10 inches, she’s taller than any other Indiana player, but it’s her performance that stands out above all else. Merkle averaged 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. She converted 65.8% of her shots.

“We had to help them as a team,” Moren said of her own post players. “We need to figure out how to help them protect better.”

Penn State (8-1) is not a one-woman gang. Guard Moriah Murray (16.2 ppg) shoots a lot of 3-pointers and converts 43.5% of them.

The Merkle-Murray combination came together quickly. Neither was a starter for Penn State in the 2023-24 season. Merkle moved from Bellarmine and Murray averaged 12.3 minutes off the bench last season.

One player who played for Penn State last season is current Indiana guard Shay Ciezki. Compared to her 2024 season with the Nittany Lions, Ciezki was remarkably similar in an Indiana uniform. She shot 36.8% from 3-point range at Penn State and is 36.1% with the Hoosiers. She averaged 11.5 points for the Nittany Lions and 11.7 points per game for Indiana.

What Indiana would like to get from Ciezki is a solid scoring performance, especially if Sydney Parrish continues to be sidelined with a knee injury. Ciezki was mixed. She scored 34 points against Baylor on Nov. 24, but has since scored 5, 6 and 17 points.

Indiana has won seven straight in the series since 2017 and the Hoosiers are looking for their second three-game winning streak this season.

Here’s how to see Indiana at Penn State

• WHO: Indiana Hoosiers (6-3, 0-0) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (8-1, 0-0)

• What: Big Ten Conference regular season game.

• When: Saturday, December 7, 1 p.m. ET

• Where: Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pennsylvania.

• TV: Big Ten-plus.

• Radio: WBWB in Bloomington.

• Broadcaster: Austin Render.

• Last season: Indiana went 26-8 overall and finished 15-3 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers lost to South Carolina in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. Penn State went 22-13 and finished 9-9 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions lost to Villanova in the WBIT semifinals.

• Last game: Indiana defeated Southern Indiana 67-63 on Wednesday. Penn State lost 72-67 to St. John’s on Monday.

• Series history: Penn State leads 33-20. Despite Penn State’s lead in the series, Indiana has won seven straight in the series since 2017, with only one of the games being by less than a double-digit margin.

statistics

Indiana

• Guards (as officially listed): Yarden Garzon (13.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Sydney Parrish (9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, injured), Shay Ciezki (11.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.6 apg), Chloe Moore McNeil (11.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.1 apg) , Lexus Bargesser (3.2 ppg), Julianna LaMendola (3 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Henna Sandvik (1.8 ppg), Valentyna Kadlecova (0.7 ppg).

– Strikers/Centers: Lilly Meister (11.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Karoline Striplin (6 ppg, 3 rpg), Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (0.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg), Faith Wiseman (0 ppg, 0.7 rpg ).

Penn State

• Guards: Moriah Murray (16.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.6 apg), Alli Campbell (8.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.9 apg), Gabby Elliott (8.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg , 2 apg), Jayla Oden (8.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.6 apg). ), Talaya Walker (4.8 ppg), Vitoria Santana (1.7 ppg), Jill Jekot (1.4 ppg), Shaelyn Steele (0.9 ppg).

• Strikers/Centers: Gracie Merkle (20.2 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.3 apg), Tamera Johnson (5.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.1 apg), Cam Rust (3.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg , 0.2 apg), Ariana Williams (0 ppg, 0.7 rpg).

Rankings
• None of the teams will be ranked.

Meet the trainers
• Teri Moren, Indiana: Moren is in her 11th season at Indiana and has a career record of 232-102 with the Hoosiers. Her overall record in 22 years as a head coach is 430-232. Moren previously coached at Indiana State University from 2010 to 2014 and the University of Indianapolis from 2000 to 2007. Moren also served as an assistant coach at Butler (1992-98), Northwestern (1998-2000) and Georgia Tech (2007-10). A native of Seymour, Indiana, Moren played at Purdue University from 1988 to 1992.

• Carolyn Kieger, Penn State: Kieger is in her sixth season at Penn State and has a 71-87 record with the Nittany Lions. She is in her 11th season as head coach with a career record of 170-151. Kieger was the head coach at Marquette from 2014 to 2019, where she also played from 2002 to 2006. Kieger was operations manager at Marquette from 2007 to 2008 before spending five seasons as an assistant at Miami (Florida) from 2008 to 2014.