Scary 2nd half ruins IU's upset attempt

As much as IU has tried to get away from nightmarish halves in conference play, the Hoosiers were haunted again last night in the second half.\nIU's most recent episode resulted in a 52-35 loss to No. 15 Minnesota Thursday, only hitting three of their 27 shots after the break. The Hoosiers' 35 points stand as the second fewest allowed by Minnesota in their history.\nAfter a first half that saw the Hoosiers (10-16, Big Ten 3-12) leading most of the way, the Golden Gophers (21-6, Big Ten 11-4) surged ahead with a five unanswered points to end the half with a 27-24 lead.\nTeam confidence was high when the second half started, but it was quickly thwarted as Minnesota threw a zone defense at IU, bewildering the Hoosiers and giving them their third straight loss at home.\n"I thought our inside game in the first half hurt them and so they changed to a zone and that made us take outside shots," said IU coach Kathi Bennett. "That was the difference."\nIn the first half the Hoosiers got all the looks they wanted as All-American center candidate Janel McCarville picked up two quick fouls. McCarville sat out the last nine and half minutes of the game. \nSophomore forward Jamey Chapman took full advantage of McCarville's absence, scoring all of her team-high eight points in the first half. Her last two gave IU a 21-18 lead.\nIt was the second game in a row where Chapman provided a spark off the bench for the Hoosiers, giving the team a much needed inside punch.\nAfter both the team's and her own solid start, she said the game's ending was a letdown.\n"I got some awesome passes and I was really happy with that, because they put me in a position to score," Chapman said. "(It's frustrating), especially after we played two good halves against Purdue and I though we were really ready to come out in the second half and just take it to them."\nBut IU couldn't get an inside or outside game going, as the Hoosiers started the half on a five minute drought and it took them more than 10 minutes before they would hit their second field goal. \nEven with their shooting woes, IU only trailed 38-31, but Minnesota responded with a 12-0 run and ended any of the Hoosiers' hopes of picking up a win.\nOn a night when the team was limited to nearly 20 points below their scoring average, defense was the key, said Gophers coach Pam Borton.\n"I think our defense held down the fort for our team while our offense struggled tonight," Burton said. "We knew it wasn't going to be a pretty game with two very good defensive teams playing each other."\nIU will finish up the regular season against Iowa (18-8, Big Ten 7-8) Sunday at 6 p.m. in Assembly Hall. \nThe Hoosiers know if they can avoid another 20-minute disappearing act, they will have a chance to beat the Hawkeyes and do some damage in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.\n"If we would have played like we did in the first half, I have no doubt that we would have won (tonight)," Chapman said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.