Phelia scores 30 to rally Michigan to 69-56 win over No. 12 Indiana in Big Ten tourney
Laila Phelia scored 20 of her career-high 30 points in the second half when sixth-seeded Michigan erased a 17-point deficit and raced away from third-seeded and No. 12-ranked Indiana 69-56 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday night.
Michigan (20-12) will take on No. 3-ranked Iowa, the second seed, and Caitlin Clark, in Saturday's semifinals. The Wolverines lost at Iowa 106-89 on Feb. 15 in their only regular-season meeting when Clark scored 49 points and became the NCAA women's career points leader.
The Hoosiers were mostly without leading scorer and rebounder Mackenzie Holmes, who suffered a knee injury against Maryland in a regular-season finale on Sunday. She dressed for Friday's game but was on the bench while her teammates built a 35-21 halftime lead.
Yarden Garzon opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to give Indiana (24-5) its largest lead of 17. That's when Phelia rallied the Wolverines, scoring 10 points in the period to cut the deficit to three and then adding 10 more in the fourth when Michigan outscored Indiana 29-13.
Indiana called on Holmes with six minutes remaining and trailing 52-48 but Michigan continued to extend its lead with Lauren Hansen hitting a trio of 3s on her way to finishing with 16 points. Holmes returned to the bench with two minutes left without scoring.
Jordan Hobbs and Cameron Williams added 10 points each for Michigan, which outscored Indiana 24-6 off turnovers.
Sara Scalia scored 14 points, Sydney Parrish added 13 and a game-high nine rebounds and Chloe Moore-McNeil added 10 points for Indiana.
Lexus Bargesser, who started in place of Holmes, scored all eight of her points in the second quarter when the Hoosiers' took their 14-point halftime lead. Both teams shot under 30% in the first quarter with Indiana squeezing out a 12-9 lead.
