Michigan
20-12,9-9Big Ten
Indiana
24-5,15-3Big Ten
Wolverines Storm Back from 17-Point Deficit to Knock Off No. 12 IU
3/8/2024 11:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team (20-12) came back from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter by outscoring No. 12 Indiana, 48-18, over the final 19 minutes in a 69-56 win on Friday evening (March 8) in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament at the Target Center. With the win, Michigan has advanced to the semifinals for the first time since the 2020 edition of the event.
Laila Phelia scored a career-best 30 points, going 12-for-22 from the floor with four boards, four assists and two steals in 40 minutes of action. Lauren Hansen hit four triples in the contest, including three in the fourth quarter, en route to 16 points, with Cameron Williams and Jordan Hobbs each scoring 10. U-M forced 14 IU turnovers in the contest, turning those into 24 points.
Indiana hit a triple at the 9:21 mark of the third quarter, extending its 14-point halftime lead to a game-high 17 points. Michigan answered with a 12-0 run over 4:17 of game time to trim the Hoosier lead to 38-33. Phelia accounted for eight points during the spurt, with Chyra Evans hitting a free throw and Hansen a triple from the top of the key to get back within five at the midway point of the third quarter.
The Hoosiers countered out of the media timeout with five straight points, pushing the IU lead back to 10 at 43-33. Michigan held Indiana off the board the rest of the quarter, closing within 43-40 on a Hobbs three-pointer with 2:04 left in the quarter. Neither team scored the rest of the way as Indiana held the three-point lead after 30 minutes.
Williams scored five straight points to open the fourth quarter as U-M regained its first lead since the first quarter, 45-43, just over a minute into the final stanza. Indiana took a 48-47 lead on a three-point play with 7:35 to go before Hobbs hit a left-wing triple that gave Michigan the lead for good with just a shade under seven minutes to go. Phelia scored in transition off a steal to force an Indiana timeout at the 6:28 mark with U-M holding a 52-48 lead.
After the final media timeout of the contest with 4:50 to go, Michigan had the ball on the baseline with 2.0 seconds on the shot clock. Hansen knocked down the triple as the clock expired to push Michigan's lead back to two possessions. Buckets from Hobbs and Phelia gave Michigan a 10-point lead with 3:50 to go, but Indiana did not go away as the Hoosiers hit a triple to claw back within seven.
Hansen hit back-to-back triples on Michigan's next two possessions to seal the game, with Phelia converting a three-point play at the 1:56 mark for a 69-53 lead en route to the 13-point win.
Both teams struggled offensively out of the gates, combining for just nine made field goals over the first 10 minutes as Indiana grabbed a 12-9 lead after the first quarter.
Indiana scored nine of the first 14 points of the second quarter, taking a 21-13 lead with just under six minutes remaining on its third triple of the opening half. Hobbs momentarily stopped the IU run with a stepback in the lane with 5:34 on the second-quarter clock, but Indiana hit another triple on its ensuing offensive possession for a 24-15 advantage at the midpoint of the period.
Indiana scored four straight after a pair of Phelia free throws, forcing a Michigan timeout with 2:07 remaining as the Hoosier lead grew to 30-19. The Hoosiers outscored the Maize and Blue, 5-2, over the final two minutes for a 35-21 halftime lead.
With the win, Michigan recorded its 20th win of the season and will face No. 3 Iowa in the semifinals tomorrow (Saturday, March 9) at approximately 3:30 p.m. CST. Â
