It didn't take Teri Moren and her staff long to learn the type of player that Shay Ciezki is.
When recruiting her through the transfer portal, they quickly learned she could be found in the gym anytime.
“She's a bulldog,” Moren said during Indiana’s pre-season media day. “That's the best way to describe her. She's a gym rat, she's in there all the time. We talk about being in the gym, doing more than what is required here is not just an expectation it's become a lifestyle for our players and she was looking for that. She’s all the things that you want in a kid that's going to join your team.”
Two to three times a day, Ciezki is in the gym working on everything. Ciezki said coaches don't always like it as much as Moren might. It's just the type of player Ciezki is. She is doing no unique workout; she is doing everything she can to improve her game.
It's nothing too fancy — she always makes sure to first start off with 10 swishes. Then she moves to three spots a couple feet in front of the rim. But she can't start a workout without getting some form shots in.
“I’m not 6-3, right? A lot of things don’t come easy to me,” Ciezki said. “Training all the time and constantly when I have free time I’ll go get in the gym, I’ll ask my coaches to watch film, we’ll play one-on-ones with the practice players. There's just a lot of different things that go into it but I just put them in the daily work.”
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Ciezki has tough skin. She also grew up with an older brother, Matthew, by three years. Her brother played basketball first, and Ciezki followed his lead. It started when she would simply dribble around while he was playing. But once her dad saw her coordination while dribbling the ball, he immediately put her in lessons when she was eight.
At 5-foot-7, Ciezki is considered undersized for basketball, but that doesn't stop her from driving to the basket against the other team's forwards. Her brother Matthew, who is also undersized at 6-foot-2, taught Shay how to put in the work as a smaller player.
In high school Ciezki racked up a stacked resume. She was a four-year varsity letter at St. Mary’s High School, three-year team captain, four-time team MVP, and Class A State Championship in 2022 where she scored 51 points in the championship game. And to mention basketball only became her main sport entering freshman year at St. Mary’s.
Ciezki started her college career at Penn State where she played for two seasons and started 59 of the 65 games she played. She averaged 11.6 points, 2.4 assists and shot 42.5% from the floor and 38.9% from beyond the arc. But throughout those two seasons, she showed her ability to be a ball-dominant guard who can get to the basket and that her shooting can be a dangerous threat.
Her commitment to facilitating for her teammates and excelling on both ends of the floor was further shaped by her time at Penn State, where her assistant coach at the time was Natisha Hiedeman. Ciezki was able to watch Hiedeman thrive at the WNBA level as an undersized player and produce on the floor for the Minnesota Lynx.
But while Ciezki has been known to be a sharpshooter throughout her collegiate career, she can also do so much more on the court.
“I take a lot of pride in getting my teammates looks and trying to facilitate for them and making their game easy too,” Ciezki said. “I would describe myself as a two-way player. I love to play defense and I love to shoot but I would also describe my offensive game as a three-level scorer.”
Since coming to Indiana, Ciezki has seen a difference in her game, not only on the court but mentally, too.
On the court, she has developed as a true point guard, averaging 2.3 assists per game on an Indiana squad that is averaging 16.4 team assists per game. During games where her shot isn't falling early on she focuses on other things she can do on the court to get going. She has different ways to get herself out of a shooting funk by getting her teammates involved, to find ways to get to the rim, and to get her mid range shot going as well.
But she has proven that she can be a force to be reckoned with when her shot is falling. This season for the Hoosiers she is averaging 10.4 points per game while shooting 42.8% from the field. Her season high is 34 points which she dropped against No. 18 Baylor in a Hoosier win in the Bad Boy Mowers Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis and made four 3-pointers.
“Shay has some wiggle to her,” Moren said after the 34-point performance. “She is able to use the dribble to her advantage and hesitations and whatnot. She's aggressive, she loves the game, she's passionate about the game and she plays like that.”
Her success with Indiana has a lot to do with the confidence that she is surrounded by within the program.
“Having coach Moren and the coaches pour their confidence into me allows me to play better and I think that's a big step up for me from last year,” Ciezki said. “Even in the hard games where I’m not shooting great they tell me to just keep shooting and keep having that confidence.”
That confidence is apparent when she’s driving to the basket. To Ciezki it doesn't matter how big or small you are — when you get to the rim, it's just about how you can use your body and be able to go against your defender no matter the size.
That same confidence also carries over when she steps to the free-throw line. Attacking the rim as often as she does means she's drawing contact, she averages two free throws per game. For Ciezki, that means turning those opportunities into easy points at the charity stripe. She knows that being a reliable free-throw shooter is just as crucial as finishing through defenders, making it a key focus in her training.
But her free-throw journey took her a while to figure out. Ciezki takes a deep breath then does two dribbles with her right hand, spins the ball at the palm of her left hand, and then bends her knees down before putting her shot up.
During her freshman year for the Nittany Lions, she shot 73% from the line, but she wanted to be a better free-throw shooter. So she went back and tracked all her misses and saw how she missed throughout the season. In her sophomore year, she shot 90.2%.
“I realized I missed short so when people see me go dip all the way down it's just so I can use some more legs to try to get it up. I’m shooting 95%, so I think I got it down right,” Ciezki said.
She is No. 5 in the Big Ten in free-throw percentage at 95.9% and has proven that she is a high-percentage free-throw shooter.
Beyond the numbers, it's her relentless mindset and dedication that sets her apart. Whether it's extra reps in the gym, studying film or stepping up in big moments, she continues to embrace every challenge that comes her way on and off the court. She has proven that hard work and confidence can elevate her game to new heights.
For Ciezki, it is not just about getting shots up or driving to the rim; it's about putting in the work, trusting the process and proving that no matter the size, she belongs on the court.
