Indiana 61, No. 20 Minnesota 46

3/3/2006 10:23 PM

By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Nikki Smith tied her career high with 18 points and Indiana's defense stifled No. 20 Minnesota in a 61-46 win in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals on Friday night.

Jenny DeMuth added 14 points and seven rebounds for sixth-seeded Indiana (17-12), which advanced to the semifinals for the first time since winning the title in 2002. The Hoosiers will play No. 14 Purdue on Sunday in the in-state rivals' first postseason matchup since the 2002 semis.

Minnesota (19-9) was led by Liz Podominick with 11 points in another inexplicably poor tourney game. The Golden Gophers lost in the championship last year - the only time they've moved beyond the quarterfinals - but are now 4-13 all-time in the conference tournament.

The Gophers swept Indiana in the regular season, but the Hoosiers' suffocating defense held Minnesota in check Friday. Indiana scored the first six points and limited the Gophers to only one basket in the first 9 minutes.

Shannon Schonrock hit three 3-pointers in the first half to close the gap to 23-20 in the final minute. But Cyndi Valentin converted Minnesota's 12th turnover of the half into a layup for a 25-20 halftime lead.

Minnesota's Jamie Broback opened the second half with a putback to cut it to 25-22 but Indiana responded with an 11-0 run to extend the lead to 36-22 with 14:00 left.

The Hoosiers sealed it with a late 8-0 run that made it 50-33.

Indiana is trying to break its tournament own record by becoming the lowest-seeded team to win the title. The Hoosiers set the mark in 2002 as a five seed.