Michigan
Illinois
Sharp-Shooting Wolverines Crush Fighting Illini
1/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- After a nine-day layoff since its previous game, the University of Michigan women's basketball team showed no signs of rust on Monday afternoon (Jan. 17) as the Wolverines pounded No. 13-ranked Illinois 86-69 at Assembly Hall. It marked the second straight win over a ranked team by Michigan, which beat No. 12 Purdue 74-67 at home on Jan. 8.
By handing Illinois its worst home loss since the 1994-95 season, when the Illini lost 94-65 to Michigan State on Feb. 17, 1995, the Wolverines (12-4, 4-1 Big Ten) moved into sole possession of second place in the Big Ten Conference, trailing Penn State (6-0).
Sophomore guard Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) led a balanced U-M attack with 19 points, while freshman center LeeAnn Bies (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS) came off the bench to score 16 points and grab a season-high 12 rebounds, helping the Wolverines to a 47-30 advantage on the boards.
Also reaching double figures were sophomore forward Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS), who had 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and senior forward Stacey Thomas (Flint, Mich./Southwestern Academy), who hit 6-of-8 from the field on the way to 14 points. As a team, Michigan shot 54.5 percent (30-of-55) from the field and 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the foul line while holding Illinois to .365 (27-of-74) accuracy from the floor.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 7-1 lead and held on to the lead for most of the first half before a 4-0 Illinois run gave the Fighting Illini their lone lead of the game, 27-26 with 4:55 left in the first half. From there, it was all Michigan as sophomore forward Heather Oesterle (Mason, Mich./Mason HS) scored seven points during a 13-4 run that gave the Wolverines a 39-31 advantage at the break.
Illinois (14-6, 4-2 Big Ten) opened the second half with a basket from Tauja Catchings to cut the deficit to six points, but a basket by Goodlow and three straight hoops by Thomas gave the Wolverines a 47-35 lead at the 17:37 mark. Michigan maintained its double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, going up by as many as 26 points (78-52 with 7:00 to play) and finishing with a season-high 86 points.
The Wolverines continue a busy week of action -- three games in seven days -- by traveling to Wisconsin on Thursday (Jan. 20) for a 7 p.m. CST start. Michigan returns home to play Iowa on Sunday (Jan. 23) at 2 p.m. in Crisler Arena.
Contact: Becky Olsen (734) 763-4423
