Michigan
Dominican Republic National Team (ex)
Trio Leads Wolverines to Victory in Exhibition Contest
11/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Arena)
Score: Michigan 70, Dominican Republic National Team 46 (exhibition)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Nov. 22 -- vs. Creighton (Crisler Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Paced by double-doubles from sophomore Tabitha Pool (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and junior Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./Dewitt HS) and senior LeeAnn Bies' (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS) inside presence, the University of Michigan women's basketball team posted a 70-46 exhibition victory over the Dominican Republic National Team Saturday (Nov. 16) at Crisler Arena.
Pool showed both her offensive and defensive skills as she looked in mid-season form leading the Wolverines with 11 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, while Smith had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Bies had a game-high 17 points along with eight rebounds, two assists and a block and steal.
Fifth-year senior Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) returned to the hardwood after missing 25 games last season due to an infection in her hip. She finished with eight points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal. Freshman Niki Reams (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) had seven points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal, while junior Stephanie Gandy (Detroit, Mich./Northern HS) scored six points.
Michigan set the pace for most the game, capitalizing on 22 Dominican Republic turnovers and holding them to just 29.3 percent shooting from the floor while U-M shot 38.3 percent. The Wolverines also used their size to their advantage as they outrebounded the Dominican Republic 53-36.
After the opening tipoff, the Dominican Republic connected on its first attempt of the night to take the early advantage, but Bies struck back quickly for U-M in her next two trips down the floor as she collected the Wolverines' first five points after a layup, foul and conversion followed by a five-foot jumper. U-M continued its early run as the Wolverines built a 13-4 lead before the Dominican Republic capitalized on Maize and Blue turnovers, hitting buckets on its next three trips down the floor to cut the lead to 15-11.
The Wolverines responded with an 11-0 run to get their first double-digit lead of the game, 26-11, paced by a pair of driving layups by Gandy. The two teams played evenly the rest of the half as the Wolverines maintained a 15-point advantage heading into the locker room with a 36-21 lead.
The second half continued where the first half left off as the teams exchanged baskets through the first four minutes of play. With Bies and Smith continuing to exploit their size advantage in the post, Michigan made a 7-0 run to build its lead to 17 points, 40-23. The Dominican Republic made a couple of small runs trying to cut into the Michigan lead, but the Maize and Blue countered with fastbreak buckets from Pool and Gandy to end any threat.
With a little under nine minutes remaining, the Wolverine trio of Pool, Smith and Bies continued to push the ball up the floor, as the Wolverines pounded the ball inside and pushed their lead to as many as 22 points. The bench was cleared with under four minutes to go and the Wolverines finished with a 24-point victory.
With the one exhibition game on the docket completed, the Wolverines will open their 2002-03 regular season against Creighton on Friday (Nov. 22) at 7 p.m. at Crisler Arena.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Sue Guevara
On the exhibition win ... "Like any exhibition game, there were some things I liked and did not like. I was pleased with the way Tabitha Pool played off the glass and I like the combination we used to start the game. When you can come off the bench with a Raina Goodlow, Lauren Andrews and Stephanie Gandy you have a lot of options to work with."
On the freshman ... "They did a nice job. At one point in the first half, I had Rachael Carney, Niki Reams and Lauren Andrews on the perimeter together with Pool running the four and that group played well together."
N O T E S
The Wolverines starters included freshmen Mie Burlin (Chalottenlund, Denmark/BMS-Herleb) and Niki Reams at the guard spots, sophomore Tabitha Pool and senior LeeAnn Bies at forward and junior Jennifer Smith at center.
Despite it being an exhibition game, Raina Goodlow made her Maize and Blue return with 13:57 left in the first half after only playing in five games last season due to an infection in her hip, which caused her to redshirt her senior season.
The Wolverines had 19 assists to the Dominican Republic's six.
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
