Michigan
Indiana
Michigan Closes Regular Season with Win Over Hoosiers
2/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Arena)
Score:Â Michigan 94, Indiana 85
Records:Â U-M (16-10, 8-8 Big Ten), Indiana (13-17, 2-14 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game:Â Friday, Feb. 26 -- vs. Minnesota (Indianapolis, Ind.), 8 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Snapping a two-game losing streak, the University of Michigan women's basketball team closed the regular season with a 94-85 victory over Indiana University on Sunday (Feb. 21). The Wolverines swept the season series, recording their first back-to-back wins over the Hoosiers in the 23-year series. Michigan finishes the regular season at 8-8 in conference action and 16-10 overall. Indiana fell to 13-17 overall and 2-14 in league play.
Despite a career-high 37 points on 15-of-26 shooting from senior forward Cindy Kerns, Indiana could not overcome Michigan's scoring depth. Paced by six double-digit scorers, the Wolverines shot 56.1 percent from the floor and 75 percent at the line while also controlling the boards, 40-30. Leading the scoring charge for Michigan was junior All-Big Ten candidate Stacey Thomas (Flint, Mich./Southwestern Academy), who tallied 17 points. She recorded her ninth double-double of the year with 10 rebounds and added five assists, one block and three steals.
Indiana held the lead just once, with an early 7-6 advantage on a three-pointer from Dani Thrush. Ten straight Wolverine points pushed the score to 16-7 in Michigan's favor. After another Thrush triple, Indiana pulled within one, 32-31, but U-M rattled off seven points and an 11-2 run to lead 44-33. A putback from Thomas with 24 seconds remaining put Michigan up 54-42 at the half.
In the second half, Michigan wasted a 14-point lead, allowing Indiana to come within three at 7:46 on a triple from Kerns. Michigan slowly rebuilt its lead, hitting four straight free throws and adding a Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) layup at 4:35 to go up 84-76. The Wolverines went to the line 10 times in the closing 3:12, going up by 11 twice before settling on the final 94-85 score.
Joining Thomas in double-digit scoring was freshman forward Ruth Kipping (Quincy, Ill./Quincy HS), who contributed 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, adding nine boards in 28 minutes of action. Sophomore Anne Thorius (Horsholm, Denmark/Rungsted Gymnasium) tallied 12 points, three baords and four assists, while Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) had 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
Two players came off the bench for Michigan to combine for 25 points. Goodlow had 15 points and seven boards, while senior Ann Lemire (Fairgrove, Mich./Frankenmuth HS) had 10 points and three boards in her final game at Crisler Arena.
The Wolverines are the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Conference Tournament and will open up play on Friday (Feb. 26) by facing 11th seed Minnesota at 8 p.m. at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Ind.
NOTES
• Michigan is 26-2 all-time when scoring at least 90 points. This season, U-M has reached the 90-point mark four times, including two 100-point games, and won all of them. The last time the Wolverines scored over 90 points was a 103-40 win over Central Michigan on Dec. 4, 1998.
• Indiana had 13 points off the bench, compared to Michigan's 27.
QUOTES
Michigan Coach Sue Guevara
"The kids knew what they had to do. It was a matter of players coming off the bench, and players making plays. We talked about that this is the last time our fans will see this team, and how did we want to go out? Their attitude was different, they were confident. We need that going into the tournament. Hopefully this will be a confidence-builder. We had a lot of people contributing and that's what we need to do."
"It gets to the point where it doesn't matter what I say. As coaches, we can give them a game plan, but then they have to execute it. I told them to forget about playing for the NCAA Tournament. Focus on one game at a time. Now we're playing for the Big Ten Tournament."
"I didn't kill them yesterday (after loss to Iowa), I challenged them. I said this is in your hands."
On Michigan's chance of making the NCAA Tournament ... "I've said all along that 18 is the magic number. Because we're not in the top five (of the Big Ten standings), it's more important now to win 18."
U-M Freshman Post Player Raina Goodlow
"Lately I've been more and more confident in my game. This is a good stepping stone. I felt this was a very important game as far as standings in the Big Ten. It's our last game at Crisler so I took some responsibility upon myself. I think this win helps build our confidence, it helps motivate us going into the tournament."
