The Gophers women's basketball team was cruising Sunday afternoon. Most of the players had their foot firmly on the gas as they grabbed a 68-58 lead with six minutes left against Indiana.

But then the Gophers slammed on the brakes. The Hoosiers' Hope Elam scored eight points in the final four minutes and Jori Davis' layup tied the score 72-72 with 29 seconds left to force overtime, where the Hoosiers won 80-79 at Williams Arena before an announced crowd of 4,005.

"Obviously, I think this is a very disappointing game to lose," coach Pam Borton said. "I think we just didn't play with aggression at the end of the game."

After the Gophers forced 10 Indiana turnovers in the first 14 minutes of the second half, the Hoosiers gave the ball away only once more over the final 11 minutes. When Whitney Lindsay's free throw gave the Hoosiers an 80-76 lead with 11 seconds left, the Gophers saw the victory slip from their grasp.

The Gophers (8-7 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) led by as many as 11 points in the second half thanks to senior guard China Antoine. The captain finished with 21 points (14 in the second half) and six steals, both career bests.

Antoine, however, scored only two points over the final 12 minutes of regulation and zero in overtime.

"I think we all kind of just got a little stagnant toward the end," Antoine said after the Gophers shot 27.5 percent in the second half and overtime. "We were trying to play too safe."

Davis finished with 31 points, five assists and five rebounds, and Elam added 23 points for the Hoosiers (8-6, 2-0).

Davis' big game mostly came at the expense of Gophers guard Kiara Buford, who often makes up for her defensive struggles on offense. On Sunday though, Buford was just 1-for-13 from the field and scored a season-low two points.

"Someone just needs to step up and make plays," Borton said, also expressing disappointment in a nine-point, 2-for-6 shooting effort by guard Leah Cotton, the Gophers' second-leading scorer.

Antoine's performance gives the Gophers a bit of hope that someone besides Buford, Cotton and center Katie Loberg (15 points) can take over a game offensively. Indiana coach Felisha Legette-Jack called Antoine "a force to be reckoned with."

But the Gophers still lost a heartbreaker and are looking up from the bottom of the Big Ten standings, exactly where they finished last season. And falling at home, where they dropped their final five games last season, stings a bit more.

"We've got to put our foot down and protect our home court," Borton said.