How did Michigan women's basketball coach Kevin Borseth feel after yesterday's 67-61 loss to Indiana?

"Terrible."

Which is fitting, because that's exactly how the Wolverines played — at least for the last 10 minutes.

After dominating the majority of the game, Michigan followed the blueprint it had established throughout the season by failing to finish.

The Wolverines went into halftime up six and came out of the locker room seeing red — or, in this case, Hoosier crimson. They went on an 11-2 run to push their lead to 14 at the 15:40 mark.

“We were playing to win,” Borseth said. “We played like we knew we were capable of playing all season.”

Just two minutes later, Michigan started to let the game slip away. A free throw and two straight jumpers, one a 3-pointer by Hoosier junior Jamie Braun, cut the lead to eight.

Indiana forced Michigan turnovers that led to fast-break opportunities. They scored 22 points off giveaways, most of them late in the game.

“We had some critical turnovers and it seemed like we lost our wits down the stretch,” Borseth said. “It was unacceptable.”

Indiana did what Michigan could not — close out the game.

The loss was especially heartbreaking for the Wolverines because the first 25 minutes featured some of their best basketball of the season against one of the top teams in the conference.

Their ball movement was impeccable and the emphasis on passing came from an unlikely source: senior forward Carly Benson. She is known more for her draining than dishing, but she notched a career-high six assists and only one turnover yesterday along with a team-high 13 points.

Though it was Senior Night for Indiana, it was also a special night for Benson, who scored her 1,000th point on an old-fashioned three-point play shortly before halftime. She became the 19th player in Michigan history to reach the milestone.

During their dominant stretch, the Wolverines put emphasis on getting points down low. They ended the game with 32 points in the paint, thanks largely to junior Krista Phillips and senior Stephany Skrba, who combined for 22 of them.

Even 5-foot-8 freshman guard Courtney Boylan got in on the act, cashing a few floaters inside on her way to 12 points.

But it was all for naught and Michigan lost its seventh straight game to close out the regular season.

It was certainly not the end this team was hoping for, but the Wolverines won’t have to wait long for revenge — they will be taking on the Hoosiers again in four days in the first round of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.