BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Despite holding a six-point lead at halftime, the Wisconsin women's basketball team was outscored 17-8 by Indiana in the third quarter and fell to the Hoosiers, 67-57, on Sunday in Bloomington, Indiana.

Michala Johnson and Dakota Whyte scored a team-leading 16 points each and kept the Badgers (7-17, 3-11 Big Ten) hanging around, but UW was outscored a combined 44-28 over the final two quarters in the loss.

Johnson paired a team-leading 10 rebounds with her 16 points to record her third-straight double-double. 

"Indiana came out with a little more effort in the second half because they were down and they don't want to lose at home," head coach Bobbie Kelsey said. "Indiana is undefeated at home and that energy made a difference."
 
The Badgers hit six of their first 12 shots to go up 12-10 with 3:23 to play in the first quarter. The Hoosiers (17-9, 9-5 Big Ten) closed the gap with a pair of layups by Lyndsay Leikem and tied the game at 14-14 with 1:24 left in the first frame. The Hoosiers scored again with 30 seconds left to take the lead, 16-14. Not ready to shut down, senior Nicole Bauman hit a jumper with only two seconds left in the first quarter leaving the score tied at 16-16.
 
Wisconsin started the second quarter with a 6-0 run to take a 22-16 lead with just over seven minutes to play. Indiana responded with a 5-0 run of its own and cut UW's lead to just three with 5:15 remaining. Over the next two minutes, Wisconsin got two more baskets from Whyte and Avyanna Young, which furthered UW's lead to 28-23. A free throw gave UW its 29-23 lead at the halftime break.
 
Behind five straight baskets, the Hoosiers came out firing in the third quarter. Still, the Badgers battled, making three of their first four buckets to hold onto a 35-33 lead with 7:52 remaining. Indiana went on to take a 37-35 lead with 2:41 left in the quarter after a pair of layups. 

Whyte cut the Hoosiers' lead to three by hitting a jumper with 1:25 left. 
 
Wisconsin tried to fight back in the fourth quarter and closed the gap to two points, 43-41, at the 9:25 mark after a layup from Johnson. That was the closest the Badgers would get, however, as UW was outscored 27-20 in the fourth quarter.
 
Senior Tessa Cichy finished with nine rebounds and Young had seven boards to help Wisconsin out-rebound Indiana, 38-32, marking the second time this season that the Badgers out-rebounded a conference foe.
 
Tyra Buss led Indiana with 24 points, finished 6-of-14 from the field and a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line.
 
Wisconsin continues Big Ten play at home on Wednesday night when it hosts Illinois at 7 p.m. (CT) at the Kohl Center.