IU gets 3rd shot at Wolverines

The last time the IU and Michigan women’s basketball teams squared off, IU Coach
Curt Miller said he felt helpless after losing to the Wolverines for the second time this season Jan. 24 at Assembly Hall.

Miller, who said he takes pride in outcoaching the opposition in rematches, was confident in his game plan only to suffer an 18-point loss.

It’s up to his players to execute and make the third time the charm.

No. 12-seeded IU and No. 5-seeded Michigan play in game four of the 2013 Women’s Big Ten Tournament tonight at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Tipoff is scheduled for 25 minutes after the completion of game three, which tips at 6 p.m. CT.

“A third time gives both teams an opportunity to make adjustments,” Miller said. “We played Michigan twice very quickly in the season. We have gotten a lot better since then, but they have also. We feel like we’ve played stretches against Michigan very successfully, but we’ve had long droughts against them. We’ve got to avoid the long drought.”

In the second matchup, IU (11-18, 2-14 Big Ten) shot just 26 percent as senior Aulani Sinclair, who scored a team-high 14 points, did not receive enough help from her teammates. In the last four games, however — a stretch in which Miller said the team has played well — her supporting cast has picked up the slack.

Senior guard Jasmine McGhee averaged 19.8 points per game on 52 percent shooting in that span. Senior center Sasha Chaplin scored a season-high 17 points Sunday against Minnesota, while senior forward Linda Rubene is averaging 9.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in her last five games.

In its last four games, IU has averaged 61.3 points per game, nearly six points above its season average, and is shooting 42.8 percent from the floor, nearly five percentage points above its season average.

“Just the flow, the overall flow of the team (has improved),” Chaplin said, “(as has) knowing what we need to do, but understanding the system a lot better — buying into the coaching staff and just going out there and playing basketball, not trying to overthink the entire thing.”

On defense, the Hoosiers will have to do a better job shutting down Michigan’s role players than in the first two matchups.

The Hoosiers limited Kate Thompson, the Wolverine’s leading scorer at 14.9 points per game, to 10.5 points per game on 35 percent shooting (6-of-17) in the two meetings. McGhee guarded Thompson tightly both times.

“Defensive-wise, that will help us go into our offensive flow,” McGhee said. “If we can get stops on the defensive end, maybe run in transition a little bit, that’ll help a lot with our mindset and our goal to win.”

But Michigan (20-9, 9-7) boasts five players who average five points or more per contest.

Senior forward Rachel Sheffer averaged 14 points in the two meetings. Reserve forward Sam Arnold has scored 24 points in 36 minutes against IU, while senior forward Jordan Nya, the team’s fourth leading scorer with 8.3 points per game, has averaged a double-double against IU with 12 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.  

“At times, we got so focused on (Thompson) that the post players hurt us,” Miller said. “We can’t get so preoccupied with Kate Thompson that we don’t respect and don’t guard well against the versatility they have in the post game.”

If IU can limit the Wolverine’s post players, it will have a chance to pull off one more shocker — having already knocked off then-No. 22 Purdue — and extend the season for the seniors, who Miller credits with building the foundation for the program’s future success.

“I want to play well for the seniors,” Miller said. “They meant a lot to us this year, and they’re really buying in and believing in the direction this program is heading. That would be the best season sendoff you could give them is to have some success in this tournament.”