'Reversal' for women's hoops brings 'M' loss to Indiana

As famous baseball player, coach and philosopher Yogi Berra said, it was like deja vu all over again.

Yesterday, the Michigan women's basketball team (6-5 Big Ten, 14-7 overall) lost to Indiana, 67-58, in a game that was eerily similar to the Wolverines' victory in Bloomington two weeks ago. The Hoosiers (6-5, 15-9) jumped out to a 12-point halftime lead yesterday and made their free throws in the second half to hold off a late Michigan run.

The last time these two teams met, on Jan. 16, it was the Wolverines that jumped out to the big halftime lead and held on to win, 78-73.

"This game was probably just the reversal of the game that was played in Bloomington," Indiana coach Jim Izard said. "It was kind of similar and then in the second half, Michigan made a little run and we were able to withstand that and Quacy (Barnes

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Michigan guard Stacey Thomas grabs a rebound over Indiana center Quacy Barnes yesterday. Barnes burned Michigan for 19 points and 10 rebounds during the Hoosiers' 67-58 win. Thomas had seven points.

) made some critical free throws down the stretch."

Michigan scored the first eight points of the game before its shooters went ice cold for the rest of the first half, making only seven of their 30 attempts.

"It was just not a very good night shooting the basketball," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "We left the lid on the baskets for us in the first half. We had good looks but they just didn't go."

During one 13-minute stretch in the first half, the Wolverines were outscored 32-5, making just one field goal during the Indiana run. Michigan cut the lead to 12 at halftime and came close to tying late in the second half, but Indiana made 17-of-19 free throws in the half to ice it.

In addition to their shooting woes, the Wolverines had trouble stopping Indiana's Barnes. The senior center scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while blocking two shots. Barnes was 11-of-12 from the charity stripe, making crucial free throws.

With 4:13 left in the game, Stacey Thomas hit a pair of free throws to cut the Indiana lead to three points, 56-53. But Barnes followed with a layup and then hit two free throws to push the Hoosier's lead back to seven. Michigan never got closer than five for the rest of the game.

Despite making the game relatively close late in the second half - Michigan actually outscored the Hoosiers after halftime, 38-35 - the Wolverines had trouble mounting any serious runs throughout the game.

"We got it down to five and maybe we'd have something go wrong defensively and they'd get a three," Guevara said. "Or, we'd get it down to five and then we had an open look and we couldn't score it."

In her first full game back from a knee injury, Michigan's Pollyanna Johns poured in 16 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, including nine offensive boards. Though some people billed the game as a Johns-Barnes showdown, Johns downplayed the importance of the matchup after the game.

"It was not like a Quacy Barnes-Pollyanna Johns situation," Johns said. "I went out there ready to play like it was any other game."

The Wolverines may have suffered ill effects from a week off leading up to the game while Indiana was playing its second game in three days. The Hoosiers fell to Ohio State in Columbus on Friday.

However, it was not the layoff that caused Michigan's flat play and poor shooting, especially in the first half, according to Molly Murray.

"We continued to do a lot of shooting in practice," Murray said. "I think you saw a different team in the first half than you have been seeing and that included poor shooting. But I wouldn't attribute it to the week off."

Murray's comments reflected the battle against inconsistency that Michigan has waged throughout the Big Ten portion of its season. Coming into the Indiana game, the Wolverines were coming off a dramatic overtime victory against Iowa last Sunday and seemed ready to mount a late-season run.

"It's frustrating. You know, we played well against Iowa and then to come out flat against Indiana just baffles me," Guevara said. "I didn't do a good job this week in practice."

The Wolverines have another week off before they travel to Purdue next Sunday to battle the Boilermakers, who the Wolverines defeated at Crisler Arena on Jan. 9 when Purdue was ranked No. 23 in the nation.

The Boilermakers have since dropped out of the national rankings, but they still sit in third place in the Big Ten.

Including the Purdue game, Michigan has five games left in the season - four of them on the road.

The Wolverines have beaten three of those five teams already this season.

As they try to position themselves for the Big Ten tournament and make their bid for an NCAA Tournament invitation, the Wolverines, and especially their coach, realize the importance of every game.

"This one hurts," Guevara said. "The good thing is that we have five games left. Every single one is going to be tough, there's no doubt about it. But we can still get it done."

02-02-98