Indiana Advances Past Michigan in First Round Action - BIG TEN CONFERENCE Official Athletic Site

Indiana Advances Past Michigan in First Round Action

March 5, 2009

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana's Jori Davis took care of the scoring.

Teammate Kim Roberson provided the spark.

After allowing Michigan to score the first 12 points Thursday, the Hoosiers buckled down defensively and stole a 68-50 victory -- literally -- in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.

The sixth-seeded Hoosiers (19-9) desperately needed a win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive, and thanks to their relentless pressure, Indiana delivered.

It forced 22 turnovers, including 16 steals -- the fourth-highest total in tourney history. And while Roberson was the ring leader, Davis was the clear beneficiary. Davis scored 19 of her 22 points in the second half, and Roberson had 15 points and six steals to lead the second Hoosiers' comeback against Michigan this week.

On Sunday, the Hoosiers rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat the Wolverines (10-20).

Michigan was led by Krista Phillips with 13 points and Carly Benson with 11 but ended the season on an eight-game losing streak.

Next up for Indiana: third-seeded Purdue, the defending tournament champion.

But the Hoosiers got to the quarterfinals the hard way.

They missed their first eight shots and trailed 12-0 before Lindsay Enterline ended a nearly seven-minute scoring with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The second half followed a similar script, with Michigan breaking to an 8-2 run to rebuild a 36-28 lead with 14:25 to go.

Then the Hoosiers persistent defense took control.

It forced turnover after turnover that forced Michigan to burn time-outs and led to a 15-0 run that gave Indiana a 43-36 lead with 10:19 left.

Michigan never recovered, and eventually the Hoosiers pulled away in the closing minutes.

It certainly didn't look like it would end up this way early.

Michigan hit six of its first seven shots to build the 12-0 lead.

Yet the Hoosiers steadily closed the gap, getting within 25-20 and finally tying the score at 26 in the final minute of the first half. Michigan's Veronica Hicks drove in for a layup to make it 28-26 at the half.