Post play falls apart in 5th consecutive loss

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Reliable Jill Chapman has hoisted her unsteady teammates on her back, carrying the Hoosiers in improbable, narrow losses against formidable Big Ten opponents and consistently decorating the box score this season.\nBut the IU center didn't reveal her usual, dependable self Sunday against Michigan (12-7, 2-6 Big Ten) in a 68-55 loss. After averaging 20 points in her career against the Wolverines, Chapman remained on the bench for most of the game, her chin resting on her fist as she watched the Hoosiers stumble in rebounding for the sixth consecutive game. \nThe Hoosiers' defense focused on the Wolverines' posts, allowing Michigan's guards to heat up while failing to prevent center LeeAnn Bies from discovering her offensive groove. With three fouls, Chapman played 22 minutes, as Bies racked up 19 points and 10 rebounds. Chapman tallied four points (2-of-7 shooting), six rebounds and no blocks.\nThe Hoosiers' fifth consecutive loss marked Chapman's only single-figure scoring effort of the season. Her previous low had been 11 points in a 101-53 rout of Illinois State.\nFoul trouble and ineffective shooting caused Chapman (16.2 points per game, 9.4 rebounds) the biggest problems. She picked up her second foul less than seven minutes into the first half, as she and forward Erin McGinnis tried to double team Bies. Chapman was immediately benched, playing six minutes for two points in the first period.\n"I think we've got to get tougher," said IU coach Kathi Bennett, whose team stands at 8-10, 2-5 Big Ten. "If we feel we get fouled, we quit playing. If we feel we get bumped a little bit, we quit playing. We have to step up in those areas."\nStarting forward Jamie Gathing guarded Bies, who contributed one point (0-of-3 shooting) in the first half. But Bies erupted in the second half for 18 points, including 8-of-9 from the free throw line.\nMichigan coach Sue Guevara said missed, easy baskets more so than stifling IU defense caused Bies' first-half, stagnant offense. \n"They were doubling in the post, that was one thing," Guevara said. "They had Jill Chapman, and then they brought over McGinnis, but we missed a lot of puppies, so I'm not so sure it was all Indiana. I think it might have made us alter our shots a little. But when you have 6-5 Chapman and here comes McGinnis, you might see that red instead of the rim."\nBies, who coaches voted as preseason all-Big Ten center over Chapman, said playing at the basket her team uses for practice during the second half and wanting the ball more awakened her scoring after halftime.\n"We just told her at halftime, 'You can make those shots. We're not going to stop giving you the ball,' " Michigan point guard Alayne Ingram said. Ingram scored a game-high 23 points. "And when she got it in the second half, she did something with it. Because of that we came out on top."\nIngram said she credits her own potent offense (8-of-12 shooting) on IU's focus on the posts, which wound up freeing Michigan's guards.\nBut Bennett said the Hoosiers didn't defend the posts well enough. Chapman started out defending 6-3 forward Jennifer Smith, who ended up with three points and four rebounds. \nGathing started in place of McGinnis, who led the Hoosiers with 17 points against Purdue, but allowed Boilermaker Laura Meadows to tally 15 points and 16 rebounds. Bennett would only say the switch was a "coach's choice." Gathing finished with five points and one rebound in 15 minutes. McGinnis picked up 10 points and five rebounds in 33 minutes.\n"We tried to get double teams, but our double teams were really soft," said Bennett, whose Hoosiers blocked two shots. "They split us and dribbled out of them. We really didn't do a good job except early in the game. We wanted to get double teams on the block"