Gulbe scores 20, No. 5 Indiana beats Northwestern 69-58

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Aleksa Gulbe scored 20 points and Grace Berger had 11 of her 15 points in the second half to help No. 5 Indiana pull away late for a 69-58 win over Northwestern on Thursday night.

Nicole Cardaño-Hillary scored 17 points, including three 3-pointers, for Indiana (19-4, 11-2 Big Ten). Mackenzie Holmes scored 6 points and had six rebounds in her first game back since Jan. 5 after having surgery on her left knee.

Veronica Burton led Northwestern (14-10, 6-7) with 20 points. Lauryn Satterwhite and Jillian Brown each added 14 points.

Northwestern took the lead on a 12-4 run in the third quarter after a stretch where Indiana made one of 10 shots. Then Cardaño-Hillary found Gulbe, who drained a 3-pointer, then converted a free throw after being fouled on the shot and blocked a layup on the defensive end. Indiana went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter.

The Hoosiers rode the momentum the rest of the way, including a second 8-0 run in the fourth quarter.

Northwestern turned the ball over six times in the first half and shot 35.5% from the field, while Indiana turned the ball over nine times. The teams combined for eight turnovers in the less-sloppy second half.

Indiana finished the game shooting 48%, made 4 of 13 3-pointers and missed just two of 19 free-throw attempts. Northwestern shot 41.7% and made 6 of 16 3-pointers, but made just one in the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Northwestern: The Wildcats beat then-No. 4 Michigan on Sunday in double overtime, but couldn’t knock off a second straight ranked opponent.

Indiana: Holmes’ return comes before a three-game stretch against ranked opponents to end the regular season. Holmes played 23 minutes.

UP NEXT

Northwestern: At Illinois on Monday.

Indiana: Hosts No. 22 Iowa in Bloomington on Saturday before making up a postponed game at Iowa on Monday.

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