As 2002 Big Ten Tournament winners watch, the current Hoosiers drop 14th game in a row

In a game when its 2002 Big Ten championship team was honored at halftime, the IU women’s basketball team couldn’t relive its old memories.

After falling to Michigan (19-8, 8-6) 61-48 Sunday in Assembly Hall, IU (5-22, 0-14) extended its losing streak to 14 games and broke its home winning streak against Michigan. The Hoosiers had previously beaten the Wolverines six straight times in Bloomington, dating back to Michigan’s last win Feb. 23, 2003.

The halftime ceremony put a cap on the weekend honoring the 2002 squad that defeated Iowa, Purdue and Penn State en route to a Big Ten Tournament victory. This year’s team has yet to win a conference game.

IU committed 19 turnovers that resulted in 21 points for Michigan. IU, conversely, forced 12 Michigan turnovers but could only score five points off the Wolverine miscues.

Several times, IU looked like it would make a run in the second half. However, turnovers killed any momentum the team had.

“That’s frustrating when you have a great situation and are ready to make some significant moves, and we turn the ball over without anybody forcing us to,” IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said.

“That zaps the energy out of you. You cannot turn the ball over in February. February, when you turn the ball over, it’s life and death.”

IU trailed by as many as 14 in the first half with 7:36 to play but ended the stanza on a 16-7 run to bring the deficit to five. Michigan came out of the break scoring nine straight points to give the team a 40-26 lead and never looked back.

The Hoosiers have now either led or trailed by single digits at halftime of every home game. Their problems arise in the second half, junior forward Aulani Sinclair said.

“We have to come out with more energy,” she said. “The first half, we came in brilliantly at the end, but then we just have to figure out a way to bring it over to the second half at the beginning and be the attackers, the ones that are dictating the second half of the game.”

Sinclair led the team in scoring, notching 17 points in a full 40 minutes of play. She also added seven rebounds and two assists.

IU was without its leading scorer on the season, junior guard Jasmine McGhee, who is officially listed as day-to-day with a foot injury. The result was that no Hoosier besides Sinclair scored in double digits, but five different players scored in the 4-to-8-points range.

Sinclair acknowledged how the scoring burden has fallen on her shoulders with McGhee not playing.

“From day one, it was always just whatever the team needs, I’m going to try to do,” she said. “That means scoring lately, so I’ve been trying to score more.”

Rachel Sheffer and Courtney Boylan led the way for Michigan. Sheffer was the leader of the game in both points and rebounds, scoring 18 and grabbing 13 boards.

Boylan added 14 points for the Wolverines in addition to five assists and three rebounds.

The Hoosiers won the physical game, out-rebounding Michigan 42-36 overall and 15-11 on the offensive glass. Their rebounding provided them a 15-7 advantage over Michigan in second chance points.

Legette-Jack said the referees slowed down their physicality, but IU was unable to respond.

“The referees got involved with some calls, so we had to change the way we played our defense,” she said. “I think that if they left it physical, it would’ve been great, but with the change in the middle, we needed to adjust, and we certainly didn’t adjust.”