Michigan beats Indiana, taking
control of Big Ten title race
SPORTSWEDNESDAY
SPORTSWEDNESDAY
ABBIE TELGENHOF
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women’s basketball team knew what
was on the line:
Its first top-10 win at home, handing Indiana its first
conference loss, and most importantly, taking control of
the Big Ten.
In their biggest game of the season, the sixth-ranked
Wolverines (19-2 overall, 10-1 Big Ten) battled against the
fifth-ranked Hoosiers (14-3, 6-1) in a game that was close
until late in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines came out
on top, winning 65-50.
Under two minutes into the game, Michigan
swaggered back to the bench with smiling faces. Indiana
had just called its first timeout of the game to try and stem
the bleeding after a 9-0 opening run from the Wolverines.
The Hoosiers looked stunned, struggling to get into a
rhythm. Senior forward Naz Hillmon dominated early
in the paint, and senior forward Emily Kiser crashed
the boards to secure seven rebounds in the first quarter
alone.
Then the Hoosiers found their footing.
Dropping into a full-court press, Indiana exploited
the Wolverines’ biggest weakness — sloppy turnovers.
Committing 10 in the first quarter alone and 25 on the
night, turnovers throughout the game gave the Hoosiers
ample chances to keep Michigan’s lead in check.
“We had a stern talking to at halftime,” Hillmon said.
“It’s been a while since we had one of those but it put
things into perspective. … she wanted us to know that
we had 17 turnovers in the first half and that we needed
to change that in order to be successful.”
Under two minutes into the second quarter, Indiana
drained a 3-pointer from the wing, tying the game for
the first time all night. Clawing their way back into the
fight, the Hoosiers refused to allow the Wolverines’ lead
to grow. Indiana outscored Michigan 16-13 in the second,
and the Wolverines entered the locker room clinging to a
two-point lead.
Starting the second half with back-to-back offensive
putbacks from freshman guard Laila Phelia and senior
guard Amy Dilk, the Wolverines managed to keep the
Hoosiers at bay. Continuing to capitalize on offensive
rebounds, Michigan found a way to overcome the plague
of turnovers that continued to affect them, notching 52
rebounds, more than double Indiana’s 20.
“We got the better of them tonight on a day where
we turned the basketball over a ton in the first half,”
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “We talked a lot
at halftime about staying disciplined, staying true to us
and trying to be better in the second half. And you figure
how do you get to victory when you turn the ball over
that much but the way we rebounded the ball and the
way that we defended I thought was exceptional.”
Indiana made it challenging for the Wolverines to get
the ball to Hillmon in the paint, continuing to thwart
any momentum the Wolverines could gain. Making it
challenging to get the ball in the paint to Hillmon, the
Wolverines struggled to score midway through the
third quarter. Indiana continued to rein in any sort of
momentum the Wolverines could gain.
Then, the seniors got fired up.
In the final minutes of the third quarter, the
Wolverines righted the ship. Coming off the media
timeout, senior guard Danielle Rauch drained a long two
from the wing. With buckets from Brown and Rauch —
and Hillmon once again finding success in the paint —
Michigan capped off the quarter on a 6-0 run, stretching
the lead to 12 points.
Indiana continued to pester the Wolverines with
its full-court defense, attempting to force turnovers
and sloppy passes like they did throughout the first
half.
Yet, Michigan’s lead proved insurmountable
throughout the fourth quarter. Hillmon continued
to steal the show through the fourth, tallying 21
total points on the night. With Brown relegated to
the bench with foul trouble for much of the second
half, the Wolverines continued to go with what
they knew would work — Hillmon in the paint.
The Wolverines minimized mistakes and began
to run out the clock, heading into the final media
timeout up by 11 and holding a lead they would
never relinquish. In the end, the lead Michigan had
painstakingly grown throughout the second half
proved too large for Indiana to overcome.
“For our team we’re in a different position than
we’ve ever been in before,” Barnes Arico said. “We
always talk about “the hunted”, you know, and we’re
in a different position. How are we handling that?
And I think each game, each new game we have to
remember people are coming for us like we are here
now. We’re going to get everyone’s best shot.”
Grace Beal/Daily Design by Kamryn Almasy
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