Late comeback falls short for IU

The return of freshman forward Sasha Chaplin was not enough for the IU women’s basketball team.

Foul trouble plagued Chaplin and the Hoosiers (13-12, 6-8) in a 66-58 road loss to Wisconsin on Sunday.

Fouls were a problem for both teams. IU committed 22 personal fouls, and Wisconsin posted 18. The Hoosiers had three key players with at least four fouls each.
IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack expressed displeasure with the officiating after the game.

“I certainly don’t know what Indiana has done to people to make it to the point where we don’t get any calls,” she said. “I was very disappointed in the fact that it was really a rough situation out there.”

With the win, the Badgers (18-7, 8-6) completed a season sweep of IU. They claimed the Jan. 28 meeting in Bloomington 55-47.

Chaplin was effective in her first game since Jan. 3, scoring 13 points, grabbing four rebounds and recording a steal and blocked shot.

However, four fouls limited the forward’s floor time to 23 minutes.

Senior guard Jamie Braun led the Hoosiers and all players with 20 points, and junior guard Whitney Lindsay added 12.

Junior guard Jori Davis, IU’s leading scorer this season, was held to one point while playing with illness.

“We probably shouldn’t have played Jori, definitely not that many minutes,” Legette-Jack said. “She’s been sick and throwing up and ... wanted to play. I didn’t think it was my best judgment because she wasn’t as free playing as we need her to be.”

Wisconsin forward Tara Steinbauer led her team with 19 points, and guards, Rae Lin D’Alie and Alyssa Karel, added 14 and 13, respectively.

Wisconsin opened with a bang as D’Alie nailed two 3-pointers in the first three minutes.

Sophomore forward Danilsa Andujar hit two layups to knot the score at 8-8 before the Badgers went on a 10-0 run and gained a lead as large as 13 points.

But the Hoosiers did not let up.

IU jumped back within six on a fast break score by Lindsay with 6:07 remaining in the half. That ended up being the margin at halftime with Wisconsin ahead 31-25.

Early in the second half, the Badgers jumped back out to a 36-28 lead on a 3-pointer, but the Hoosiers responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to come within two points with 16 to play.

However, Lindsay’s fouls began piling up midway through the half. The junior guard committed her fourth foul with 11:51 to play. She went out and would not return for six minutes.

A 3-pointer by Braun and a layup by sophomore guard Ashlee Mells, who returned from suspension this week, gave IU its first lead of the game at 41-40 with 10:13 remaining.

Wisconsin regained the lead after a foul on freshman forward Aulani Sinclair and three more IU fouls led to free throw opportunities for the Badgers to increase their lead to 47-41.

Braun and Lindsay again responded from behind the arc with consecutive 3-pointers to rally within two, but Chaplin’s fourth foul sent Wisconsin to the line again to increase the lead to 50-47.

Braun tied the game with 3:50 to play after drawing a foul on a made layup, but the Hoosiers got no mercy with fouls.

Lindsay fouled out with 54 seconds remaining, and Braun totaled four by game’s end.
Steinbauer, D’Alie and guard Teah Gant each made three trips to the free throw line in the final 1:30 of the game to seal the season sweep of IU for Wisconsin.
Legette-Jack believed many calls were questionable.

“I really hope that (the officials) look at this game and the way they addressed it,” she said.