Michigan
Iowa
U-M Back in NCAA Tournament Hunt After Beating Iowa
2/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team came through with its biggest performance of the season tonight (Thursday, Feb. 14) with a 91-80 win over Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Despite its post players being plagued by foul trouble throughout the game, Michigan cleared the 90-point mark for the first time this season, led by Alayne Ingram's (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) 24 points -- 18 in the second half -- as well as 21 from LeeAnn Bies (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS). Stephanie Gandy (Detroit, Mich./Northern HS) chipped in 18, while Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS) notched 12 to put four Wolverines in double figures.
| | Ingram |
Michigan, however, came out of the second media timeout and played some its best basketball over the next three minutes, going on a 12-0 run to take a 24-15 lead. Bies netted a pair of hoops in the paint, including a conventional three-point play. Senior Heather Oesterle (Mason, Mich./Mason HS) also came off the bench to drill a triple during the Wolverine run.
Once Michigan took the lead it went to its inside game, with Bies and Smith scoring six of its next eight points as the Wolverines maintained a 32-25 advantage with 3:22 left in the half. However, Smith picked up her third foul on an offensive foul with 4:17 remaining in the half. Despite Michigan's foul troubles -- Oesterle also picked up her third foul with three minutes left in the half -- the Wolverines pushed their lead to as much as 11 (36-25) on a couple of hoops from Gandy with less than three minutes to go in the half.
Thanks to a parade to the free throw line for Iowa down the stretch in the first half, the Hawkeyes (15-9, 8-6 Big Ten) enjoyed a 10-3 run to cut Michigan's lead to four (39-35) heading into the intermission. Bies led Michigan with 12 points, while Gandy and Smith each added eight in the first frame. Despite playing only 10 minutes in the first half, Smith also grabbed five rebounds. Oesterle did her usual stuffing of the stat sheet in the first half with five rebounds and four assists to go with her lone triple. Michigan also picked it up on the defensive end, forcing 12 Iowa turnovers and limiting the Hawkeyes to a .355 (11-31) mark from the field in the first half. In addition to her eight points, Gandy did a nice defensively on Iowa's Lindsey Meder, who was held to just two points in the first half. Meder was also limited to 11 minutes of action in the first half due to foul problems.
Two statistical categories even kept Iowa in the game in the first half as it converted on 13 of 16 trips to the free throw line compared to 6-7 for the Wolverines. Michigan was also outrebounded 24-18 in the first frame despite entering the game as the conference's top team on the glass. Michigan enjoyed a 49-36 edge off the glass in its home win over Iowa on Jan. 31.
Michigan continued where it left off in the first half as Bies and Smith dominated in the paint and led Michigan on a 14 -6 run to open the second half as U-M extended its lead to a game-high 12 (53-41) with less than 17 minutes remaining. Michigan's inside duo led the charge with eight of the 14 points during the Wolverine run. However, the foul bug bit the Wolverines again with 17:41 left as Smith picked up her fourth foul. Iowa then answered with a 16-4 run of its own to tie the score at 57 with 12 minutes left. During the Iowa run both Bies and Oesterle were whistled for their fourth fouls, with Oesterle's foul coming at the 11:42 mark and leaving Michigan with three players with four fouls.
With Michigan's post players on the bench, Iowa exploited the paint offensively as Hawkeye center Beattrice Bullock scored 10 of 13 points for Iowa over one stretch as the Hawkeyes gained their first lead since early in the second half (61-59). With the momentum clearly on Iowa's side, Michigan coach Sue Guevara was forced to take a gamble and re-enter Smith into the lineup at the 10-minute mark. Smith, however, only last a little over minute before picking up her fifth foul at the 8:42 mark. During that time Iowa stretched its lead to a game-best seven (68-61).
With their backs against the wall, the Wolverines charged right back with a 11-4 run of their own, led by seven points from Ingram, who stepped up in a big way with Michigan's offensive options limited. Paced by Ingram, the Wolverines pulled ahead 77-75 following a free throw by Bies at the final media timeout with 3:48 left. Michigan did lose Oesterle to her fifth foul at the 5:16 mark, however, leaving the Wolverines limited off the bench for the final four minutes of the game.
With the score tied at 77, Ingram took the final three minutes on her shoulders, drilling a jumper and a triple on consecutive trips to put the Wolverines up 82-77 with under two minutes left. Iowa never got any closer as Michigan, the second-best free throw shooting team in the Big Ten, put the game away from the stripe in the final minute.
The Wolverines return home on Sunday (Feb. 17, 5 p.m.) to face the Big Ten-leading Purdue Boilermakers at Crisler Arena.
N O T E S
Tonight's win is Michigan's first on the road in the Big Ten this season.
Michigan shot .536 (15-28) from the field in the second half.
Tonight is the first time this season Michigan had two players foul out.
Michigan committed just 11 turnovers -- only three in the second half -- their lowest total of the season.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Sue Guevara
On the game overall ... "Although they (Iowa) shot 61 percent in the second half, I thought we played real good defense, especially on the perimeter. Despite the foul trouble I thought we had players throughout our roster step up and make big plays and that was key tonight. This win says a lot about the character of this team to go through what we have been through and come up with a win on the road against a good team."
On Alayne Ingram ... "She did what she was supposed to do. We talked at halftime and I knew we would need Alayne in the second and she stepped it up like we expect her to."
On where Michigan goes from here ... "I just asked the team if we could please build on this performance, which was a huge win for us. Now we get ready for Purdue to come in our building on Sunday and I think we will build on this."
On the NCAA Tournament ... "I hope the committee takes into consideration how good this conference is. We came in tonight in 10th place and we are a pretty decent team, so I hope everybody realizes how tough this conference is."
Senior Guard Alayne Ingram
On her play in the second half ... "I was getting good looks in the first half, but I was not knocking them down. I kept at it in the second half and it seemed like when our offense broke down I was able to penetrate and make some shots. I knew when our big players got in foul trouble I had to step up."
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
