Michigan Waylaid by Golden Gophers in Big Ten Opener

Thursday, January 2

Minneapolis, Minn.

7:00 PM CT

Michigan

Minnesota

1/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team did not open up the Big Ten Conference campaign as it hoped, falling 98-70 to No. 10 Minnesota tonight (Thursday, Jan. 2) at Williams Arena. The brightest spot for the Wolverines was junior guard-forward Stephanie Gandy (Detroit, Mich./Northern HS), who got back in the offensive groove with 23 points on 10-13 shooting from the field. Minnesota shot an impressive .607 (34-56) from the floor, including .600 (9-15) from behind the arc, to offset Gandy's effort.

Gandy scored 17 of her 23 points after intermission.

Despite a strong start by senior center LeeAnn Bies (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS), who scored four of Michigan's first six points on a layup and baseline jumper, the Wolverines fell behind early primarily due to red-hot Minnesota shooting on the perimeter. The Golden Gophers used an 8-0 run to turn a 10-9 lead into an 18-9 advantage and eventually led 22-13 after hitting nine of their first 12 shots from the field, including 3-4 from behind the arc.

Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS) came off the bench to score six straight Michigan points, which left Michigan down just seven (24-17) at the 9:54 mark. Smith's effort, however, was not enough to slow down the Minnesota attack, and the Golden Gophers answered with their second significant run of the first half to grab a game-best 14-point lead (31-17) before Tabitha Pool's (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) first hoop of the game with 7:32 left stopped a 7-0 Minnesota run.

Although Minnesota's torrid shooting continued throughout the first frame, Michigan cut the deficit back down to seven (33-26) at the 4:52 mark following a conventional three-point play by Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) and a free-throw line jumper by Gandy. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, that run was not enough to take the momentum back from the Golden Gophers, who closed the half on a 12-4 run and took a 45-30 lead into the locker room.

Smith and Gandy shared team-high honors in the first frame with six points apiece, but the real story was Minnesota's first-half shooting of .667 (20-30), including .571 (4-7) from behind the arc. Lindsay Whalen (7-9) and Corrin Von Wald (6-6) combined to shot .867 (13-15) from the field and scored 16 and 14 points, respectively.

Gandy opened the scoring in the second half, but Minnesota picked up right where it left off, going on a 9-2 run to expand the lead to 19 (51-32), prompting Michigan head coach Sue Guevara to call her second timeout of the game. Following a jumper by Niki Reams (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS), which brought the Wolverines within 17 (54-37) at the 17:12 mark, Minnesota basically put the game away with a 14-2 run over the next five minutes for a 70-39 lead.

Gandy tried to get Michigan back in the game, hitting on a variety of baseline layups and perimeter jumpers, but Michigan never got the deficit back to under 25 before eventually falling 98-70.

The Wolverines will play their Big Ten opener on Sunday (Jan. 5) when they host Illinois for a 1 p.m. contest in Crisler Arena. The Fox Sports Chicago telecast also will air on Fox Sports Detroit.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Sue Guevara
On the game overall ... "I watched tapes of four games Minnesota has played this year and I never saw that team we just played. That is a seasoned team hitting on all cylinders. I was impressed with the way they play defense and obviously they had it going on offense. Lindsay Whalen makes it go and she is very impressive, but I also thought they did a nice job of distributing the ball on offense."

On where Michigan goes from here ... "I thought we were too impatient on the offensive end and we shot the ball too early, and then they did a good job on the boards because we were one and done. I know this, there are a lot of games left in the Big Ten and you have to come ready to play every night in this league, so we are going to find out how we respond on Sunday."

N O T E S

Stephanie Gandy led Michigan in scoring for the fifth time this season and has scored 20 or more points in a team-best five games.

Rachael Carney played a career-high 18 minutes and dished out a team-best as well as career-best four assists.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423