With offensive star Katie Davidson (19 ppg, 4 rbg, 47% from 3) having departed for South Florida after last year’s 9-21 campaign that ended abruptly with a home loss in the Horizon League tournament, the IU Indy women’s basketball team returns five players from the 2024-25 roster. Junior guard Nevaeh Foster (10 ppg, 4 rbg, and 1 spg in 29 starts) is only returner who consistently contributed, but this may not be the full story with this team.
Foster will have to lead, but that much of a roster overhaul may be as normal as it is an anomaly in the college game now, and anyway, head coach Kate Bruce–who returns for her fourth season in the program–doesn’t have time to think about that. “I think this is the new norm, honestly, and you’ve got to adapt,” she said after the team’s second official practice. “We’ve tweaked our philosophies a little bit. You know, we used to run motion a little more in depth where they’re doing the screening, the cutting, but you needed some returners, and now it’s more space with the team. We have spacing, getting to the rim, and then responding to the dribble-type stuff. It’s a little easier to catch on quickly.”
So what were the recruiting priorities for that much roster change, normal or not? “We weren’t going to worry about positioning,” Bruce said. “It’s tough in this landscape because everybody’s looking for transfers. We were excited that we got some Indiana kids to come back home. I think that’s huge. That’ll help our fan base, too, but yeah, we definitely wanted as a whole to just get a little more athletic and faster.”
As for the departure of Davidson and having to replace that much production, Bruce also sees some potential positive in not being so dependent on one player. “Katie was obviously a great player,” Bruce said. “I think the nice thing about this is we don’t have to rely on one player so that if one gets injured, it’s not a situation where we built the whole team around that player. There’s a lot of kids that are able to pass it, shoot, and drive it.”
As for Bruce’s best recruiting hall, it may actually have been some of the assistant coaches who will share the bench with her. Mary Evans comes south after seven years of head coaching at Valparaiso University. If the results of those seasons had been better, Evans would probably still be a Beacon, but that is a ton of valuable experience to be adding to your room. Meanwhile, Marwan Miller joins the staff after three years in the Big Ten (two at Michigan State and one at Minnesota). Just as importantly, Bruce coached with both of these new colleagues during a shared stint between the three of them earlier in their careers at Ohio University.
“They already know what we’re teaching,” Bruce said, “so it’s not starting from scratch trying to teach new staff members. And then Katie Kollar, our (Director of Basketball Operations), she’s been fantastic. She’s very into the numbers and statistics, and she does a lot of stat-ing for us that’s been really beneficial.”
Returning Players
In addition to leadership, Foster will need to carry some of the scoring load and will look to raise her 3-point percentage from 34% a year ago. “We have a lot of similar, versatile players, a lot of, you know, 5-9, 5-10 combo guards,” Bruce said. Foster is the starting point of that group, and there may indeed be nights where she’s leading the team in scoring, but that name and number may well change night to night, which could easily become an advantage. As for another returner to watch, 5-9 graduate student Camron Blank may carve out a little bit of a “glue” role. She’ll be playing her fifth season of college ball and her third for IU Indy.
Incoming Players
Indianapolis basketball fans may recognize a couple new faces on the IU Indy women’s squad, as sisters Olivia and Hailey Smith played Fishers High School into the Indiana high school state championship game just a few seasons ago before joining the team at Ball State for a couple seasons. The Smith twins were reserves in the Cardinals uniform, but their experience there may bring something–a winning culture!– that could prove more valuable than leading a team in scoring. Ball State was 27-8 in 2024-25, and the Smiths also brought a third teammate with them in senior Sydney Bolden. “They call themselves the triplets,” Bruce said about the trio.
Another transfer guard that may be worth watching is Sacramento State and Australian product, Jemma Amoore. The first thing people may notice about Amoore is that she’s only 5-4, but in practice, her confidence and hustle quickly replaced her height as the traits that are worth paying attention to. Amoore’s sister plays for the Washington Mystics, which tells you she probably has a solid idea about what it takes to succeed.
The guard-heavy lineup should have at least one solid weapon to work with down low in Penn State transfer Ariana Williams. “She just wanted to go somewhere she thought she could really contribute,” Williams’ new coach said about her. “She’s gotten her confidence back. She’s looking great.”
Projected Starting Lineup
Nevaeh Foster – 5-8 junior guard
Sydney Bolden – 5-8 junior guard
Olivia Smith – 5-10 junior guard
Hailey Smith – 5-10 junior guard
Ariana Williams – 6-2 forward
Preview Week 2025-26
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