Senior Day ends in disappointment

It was Senior Day in Bloomington as forwards Linda Rubene, Sasha Chaplin and Aulani Sinclair and guard Jasmine McGhee all hoped to end their careers in Bloomington on a high note.

Sinclair was coming off a 31-point performance at Iowa Thursday while McGhee had averaged 22 points during the last three games.

Someone forgot to tell Minnesota’s Micaella Riche, who dominated in the post. She scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Gophers defeated IU 59-53 Sunday afternoon in Assembly Hall.

“I hurt for them tonight that we couldn’t go out with a win on Senior Night — there’s a special night in all programs around the country — but I can’t be more pleased than how hard and how much they stuck to the game plan,” IU Coach Curt Miller said.

The Hoosiers (11-18, 2-14 Big Ten) countered Riche’s effort with Chaplin, who scored a team-high 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

“She was great and is capable of that,” Miller said. “The other thing that I’m really proud of is she made it through an entire season.”

Chaplin is a fifth-year senior who missed nearly two full seasons due to injury. Miller said she plans to apply for a sixth year of eligibility.

Rubene, who teams with Chaplin in the frontcourt, had nine points and four rebounds but was limited by foul trouble, playing just 17 minutes. McGhee scored 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting while Sinclair finished with seven on 3-of-12 shooting.

“It’s just an amazing experience my whole four years here,” Sinclair said. “I’d love to share it with all our teammates and just knowing that we gave it our all out there. I can’t ask for anything else than to have my teammates by my side during that.”

Sinclair — currently 18th on IU’s all-time scoring list and the program’s record-holder for 3-point makes in a single season with 72 — scored just one point on 0-of-5 shooting in the first half.

The Hoosiers shot 31 percent in the first half, but were down only five at halftime. They limited the Golden Gophers (18-12, 7-9) to 37 percent shooting in the half.

Instead, it was McGhee who carried the load offensively early on, scoring the team’s first eight points and finishing with nine at the half. She and Chaplin were the only to Hoosiers to score through the first 17:35 of the game.

IU used a 6-2 run over the last 2:25 of the first half to cut Minnesota’s lead to 26-21 at the break. Sinclair and McGhee each hit a free throw, while Chaplin kicked at on offensive rebound to freshman Nicole Bell, who hit a three. Chaplin capped the run when McGhee found her underneath the basket for the easy two.

“I think we’re just finding our chemistry,” McGhee said. “I wish we had just another year to play together because it’s all coming together right now. We’ve made progress since the beginning of the year until now.”

Minnesota pushed its lead to 11 with 12:15 to go when Cotton Leah found Shayne Mullaney in transition. The teams went back and forth as The Gophers twice pushed the lead back to double digits over the next seven minutes.

The game looked finished when Riche skied over two Hoosiers to grab Rachel Banham’s miss — one of seven offensive rebounds — and muscled up the put back that gave the Gophers a 53-43 lead with 4:51 to go.

“They’re very physical,” Miller said of Minnesota. “It’s hard to score against them, and so we struggled. Physicality can get you out of rhythm.”

IU then responded with one final push.

Sinclair found Chaplin near the basket, and Chaplin finished with a four-foot leaner off the glass. McGhee came down two possessions later and hit a three to bring IU within five.

With 28 seconds left, Andrea Newbauer rifled a half-court pass to Rubene for the lay-in, making it 54-51.

But Minnesota beat the ensuing full-court press and got it ahead to Riche, who got the bucket and the foul. She made her free throw to essentially seal the game with 23 seconds remaining.

In the end, Minnesota’s physical presence was too much for the Hoosiers. The Gophers finished with a 36-22 advantage on points in the paint.

Despite the loss, Miller said he likes what he has seen out of his team in the last four games and is confident looking forward to the Big Ten Tournament.

“We don’t feel we’re an easy out on Thursday,” he said. “We can’t wait for the day to end to figure out who we’re playing and get back to work.”