Lady Hoosiers lose to Michigan in Big Ten opener

By Robbie Howard
robhowar@indiana.edu

For much of the first half at Michigan on Thursday night, the Hoosiers looked like they had a good chance to snap their four-game losing streak to the Wolverines and give IU Coach Curt Miller a win in his Big Ten conference season debut.

But with the game tied at 22, Michigan outscored IU by 14 in an eight-minute stretch sandwiched by halftime to put away the Hoosiers, winning 65-48 in each team’s Big Ten conference opener.

“I thought we had out played them for a majority of the first half,” Miller said. “(It was) a disappointing end to the half.”

Michigan closed the first half on a 7-0 run, then opened the second half on an 11-4 run to take a 40-26 advantage.

The last IU lead came with 5:41 in the first half when the Hoosiers led 19-18.

“Before you know it, it’s a (14)-point game, and it’s essentially over,” Miller said.

The Wolverines (12-2, 1-0) were led by senior forward Sam Arnold, who scored a career-high 17 points off the bench. Senior forward Nya Jordan tallied her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Arnold and Jordan had only averaged a combined nine points coming into the game.
Senior guard Jenny Ryan rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Wolverines with 11 points, also adding nine assists and eight rebounds.

It appeared as if the Hoosiers would get back into it midway through the second half, going on a 7-0 run to pull within 40-33, but the Wolverines once again responded with a big run, this time 11-2, to take a 51-35 lead that the Hoosiers would never put in danger.

“I think it’s a learning lesson,” Miller said. “I think we showed we can compete in stretches, but this is a different level and you have to do it for 40 minutes.”

IU (9-5, 0-1) did manage to shut down senior guard Kate Thompson, one of the Big Ten’s leading three-point shooters, who only put in eight points after averaging over 16 coming into the game.

Senior guard Jasmine McGhee was the only Hoosier in double figures, scoring 10 points. Senior forward Sasha Chaplin and junior forward Simone Deloach each added eight points.

Senior forward Aulani Sinclair netted six points, just the third time this season she has failed to score in double figures. IU has lost all three of those games.

Coming into the game, Sinclair was averaging 30.7 points over her last three games, scoring 34, 27 and 31 points.

IU has not won at Michigan since Jan. 22, 2009.

The loss snaps the three-game winning streak IU took into the Big Ten season. It had finished the non-conference season with its best record since the 2006-07 season when the team went into Big Ten play with a record of 13-4.

IU will play Northwestern at home in the Wildcats’ Big Ten home-opener Sunday at 2 p.m.