2nd-half comeback not enough for IU

A last-second three-pointer by senior forward Aulani Sinclair fell short at the buzzer, spoiling a furious second-half IU comeback as the Butler Bulldogs escaped with a 59-56 win Sunday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Senior forward Linda Rubene got the ball in the low post with fewer than five seconds to go but went for the two instead of kicking it out for the game-tying three. She missed her in-close attempt, got it back and kicked out to Sinclair, whose shot hit the bottom of the iron.

“In women’s basketball, when you make the decision to take a two with less than six seconds left, you’re pushing the possibility of getting a good shot after you foul,” IU Coach Curt Miller said. “Aulani is capable of making contested shots, but unfortunately, it was a really tough shot to try to send it to overtime.”

IU (6-4) shot 48 percent in the second half and outscored the Bulldogs (4-5) 31-19 in the period.

The Hoosiers started the second half on an 11-4 run through the 13:37 mark to cut the lead to single digits, 44-36, for the first time since there was 10:51 left in the first half and Butler up 18-10.

With 10:07 left, a Jasmine McGhee jumper made it 45-40. The senior guard scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.

“This is the kind of game she’s capable of, especially when they’re really concentrating on Aulani,” Miller said. “We’ve got to have Jasmine step up like this.”

Butler would extend the lead to as many as 10, but IU clawed back again. An up-and-under by senior center Sasha Chaplin made it 55-51 Butler. Two possessions later, a Sinclair turnaround jumper cut it to two, 55-53 Butler, with 2:25 remaining.

After Taylor Schippers hit two foul shots to extend the lead to 59-53 Butler with 30 seconds to go, McGhee hit a clutch three to bring it back within three, 59-56.

Butler’s Mandy McDivitt was fouled with 20 seconds left but missed both free throws, setting up the wild finish.

“In terms of tonight, if you told me after that first half performance that we would have an opportunity to have a shot at the buzzer to send it to overtime, I would have thought you were nuts,” Miller said.  

IU’s defense suffocated Daress McClung in the second half, limiting her to four points on 1-of-9 shooting by throwing multiple defenders at her almost every possession.

It was all Bulldogs and McClung in a first half dominated by Butler, however. McClung finished with a game-high 21 points, 17 coming in the first half.

IU coughed up 12 turnovers in the first half and shot 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from the field. The turnovers led to easy transition buckets for the Bulldogs, who gave the IU defense fits with dribble-drive penetration that led to easy layups for McClung and fellow forward Amanda Raker.

Raker had 10 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting, most of those attempts coming within three feet of the basket. Meanwhile, Sinclair scored just two points in the first half on 1-of-4 shooting.

The Bulldogs entered the locker room up 40-25.

“I thought the reason why they had 25 in the first half is because of Mandy (McDivitt) and the way she played on Sinclair,” Butler Coach Beth Couture said. “Scouting her, I’m like, ‘Wow, she really can shoot in someone’s face,’ and I thought (McDivitt) did a tremendous job on stopping her.”

Sinclair finished with four points on 2-of-8 shooting, missing all four of her three-point attempts.

Though Miller said his team started to win hustle plays in the second half, Butler grabbed 17 offensive rebounds that turned into 17 second-chance points and won the fast break battle 6-2.

“We played better when we just checked it up, and both teams played in the half court,” Miller said. “But between fast break points and second chance points, they beat us.”