ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Indiana State women's basketball team began a three-game in six-day stretch on Saturday at the University of Michigan, falling 72-44 to the Wolverines inside Crisler Arena.

The loss drops ISU to an even 5-5 record on the season, while UM improves to 10-2. ISU has a pair of road games to close out nonconference play next week, coming on Tuesday at Chicago State and Thursday at Northern Illinois.

Michigan began the game with five quick points, using a trey by Nicole Elmblad and a layup by Rachel Shaffer to claim the early lead. ISU fought back to get the deficit back to two points, using a triple by senior Deja Mattox and a layup by senior Shannon Thomas to cut the UM lead to 7-5 with 15:20 remaining in the half.

After Mattox hit a fastbreak jumper at the free-throw line with 13:50 left in the half to make the score 10-7 in favor of the Wolverines, Michigan used a 15-0 scoring run over the next five minutes to push their lead to 25-7 with 8:11 on the clock.

The Wolverines took a 41-18 advantage into the halftime locker room, on the strength of seven first-half 3-pointers and a 21-14 rebounding edge on the glass, including 10 offensive boards for 13 second-chance points.

Mattox and fellow senior Brittany Schoen paced the Sycamores, each tossing in five points from the field. As a team, ISU shot 7-for-18 (38.9%) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, but turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 16 points for Michigan.

ISU continued to battle all night, outscoring UM 12-9 over the opening 10 minutes of the second half. ISU cut the deficit to its lowest mark with 10:55 remaining in the game, when a free throw by freshman Racheal Mahan cut the Michigan lead to 20 points, at 50-30.

Michigan responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach, cruising to a 72-44 victory inside Crisler Arena.

Mattox, Munn and sophomore Nikki Gunning tied for the team-lead in scoring, all tossing in eight points from the field. The eight points were a career high for Gunning, a native of nearby Howell, Mich. As a team, ISU shot 16-for-46 (34.8%) from the field and 4-for-16 (25%) from beyond the three-point arc.

The Wolverines ended the game with a 44-28 rebounding edge, including 17 offensive boards that were turned into 19 points. UM also forced 26 ISU turnovers, scoring 25 points off of the Sycamore miscues.

Indiana State has two days off before their next game, coming on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at Chicago State. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. (ET), 7:00 p.m. locally in Chicago.