Michigan
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Western Michigan
Thomas Carries Wolverines to Second Round of WNIT
3/11/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Site:Â Kalamazoo, Mich. (University Arena)
Event:Â Women's NIT (First Round)
Score:Â Michigan 73, Western Michigan 64
Records:Â U-M (18-11), WMU (19-10)
Next U-M Game:Â Sunday, March 14 -- vs. Michigan State (Crisler Arena), 2 p.m.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Junior forward Stacey Thomas (Flint, Mich./Southwestern Academy) registered her 10th double-double of the season as the University of Michigan women's basketball team opened the Women's National Invitational Tournament by defeating the Western Michigan Broncos 73-64 Thursday night (March 11) in front of 2,572 fans at WMU's University Arena.
The win moves the Wolverines (18-11) into the WNIT second round to face Michigan State, a 76-65 winner at home over Akron on Thursday. Michigan will host the Spartans at 2 p.m. Sunday (March 14) in Crisler Arena.
Thomas was the difference in the game, scoring 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, grabbing 12 rebounds and creating two steals. Her second steal, at 15:25 of the second half, set a new school record for career steals, with 267, breaking the old mark of 266 set by Lori Gnatkowski.
Thomas was helped by a balanced supporting cast. Alison Miller (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) tied a career high with 14 points and added eight boards, while Ann Lemire (Fairgrove, Mich./Frankenmuth HS) and Ruth Kipping (Quincy, Ill./Quincy HS) both contributed eight points and six boards off the bench.
Michigan started off strong as Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) drained a three-pointer on the game's first possession, but the Wolverines quickly went cold, scoring only six points over the next 5:43 of game action. With the U-M up 9-7, the Wolverines went on a 16-4 tear to pull out to a comfortable 14-point lead, leading 25-11 with 7:04 on the first-half clock. The spurt was keyed by Thomas, who scored six consecutive Michigan points in the last two minutes of the run.
Thomas, who had 14 points at the break, ended the half making six of her final seven shots, including two three-pointers, as the Wolverines went into the break with a 41-25 lead. Lemire was also instrumental in Michigan's first-half advantage, knocking down two three-pointers and grabbing two rebounds while keeping other rebound opportunities alive for her teammates with active work around the backboard.
Western Michigan (19-10) slowly chipped away at the lead in the early parts of the second half, bringing the game to within seven points, 55-48, with 8:14 remaining in the game. Michigan stopped the run thanks to Kipping. The freshman kept a Wolverine possesion alive with an offensive rebound at 7:46, eventually leading to a Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) layup. Following a Thomas defensive rebound, Kipping went to work on the offensive glass, grabbing the offensive board and laying it back in to give Michigan an 11 point lead, 59-48.
The Broncos would not fade and, with 4:00 left, cut the Wolverine lead to three points following triples by Brianne Gallert and Brooke Gallert. Thorius' layup pushed the lead back to five, 61-56. Following two Western Michigan free throws, Kipping made a layup on the offensive end and got fouled, but she missed the opportunity for the three-point play.
On Western's next two possessions, Michigan got a stop and a shot-clock violation before exending the lead 66-58 on Thomas three-point field goal. The Broncos scored on their next two possesions, but the Wolverines kept pace with an Ingram layup and two Ingram free throws with 37 seconds left in the game. Thorius closed out Michigan's scoring by hitting three-of-four free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds of the game.
Sunday's second-round WNIT matchup with Michigan State will mark the third meeting between the teams this year. The Wolverines and Spartans split their two prior meetings, with Michigan winning 76-75 in overtime at home on Jan. 20 and Michigan State taking a 70-56 victory on Feb. 14 in East Lansing.
NOTES
• Michigan's win over Western Michigan is the Wolverines' second-ever national postseason tournament victory. The first came against Oklahoma State in the 1990 NCAA Tournament.
• With her steal at 15:25 of the second half, Michigan forward Stacey Thomas broke the school record for career steals. Thomas ended the game with two steals, giving her 267 in her first three seasons. The previous record was 266 set by Lori Gnatkowski (1980-84).
• Alison Miller tied her career high with 14 points, and Stacey Thomas matched a career best with three three-point field goals.
QUOTES
Michigan Coach Sue Guevara
"Give Western Michigan a lot of credit. They played their hearts out, it just took them 20 minutes to do it. We escaped, but we're back to play on Sunday."
"We came in and did what we needed to do."
On playing a second-round game in Crisler Arena ... "It's very important (to play at home)."
U-M Junior Stacey Thomas
On her shooting performance ... "Over the break I worked on my shot. I have to thank my dad for that. He stayed (in the gym) with me and tracked down all those rebounds. We needed people to step up and score, thankfully my shots fell."
