Michigan
Wisconsin
Cold Shooting the Main Culprit in Home Loss to Wisconsin
2/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team dropped a 58-52 decision to Wisconsin on Thursday (Feb. 13) at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines shot a dismal .297 (19-64) from the floor, including a 9-for-36 shooting performance by the starting five. U-M did out-rebound the Badgers 39-35, including 18 offensive boards. Additionally, Michigan picked up 12 steals on the defensive end. However, Michigan failed to control the Badgers and their leading scorer, Kristi Seeger (15 points), as they shot 23-for-45 from the floor. Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) led U-M scorers with 10 points and Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS) grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds.
| | Goodlow's team-leading 10 points moved her to within 29 of 1,000 for her career. |
The Badgers then went on a 5-0 run and hit a deep three to tie it at 13. The teams went scoreless for three minutes with Michigan breaking the drought and regaining the lead at 19-17 with 4:32 left in the first. Wisconsin cut the gap to 21-20 with 2:42 left in the first period after going nearly five minutes without a basket. Tabitha Pool (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) hit a pair of free throws to extend the Wolverine lead to 25-20 with under a minute to play. Michigan held the last shot of the half but failed to convert, leaving the score at 25-20.
Michigan struggled from the floor in the first half (10-33) but managed to convert five of its six free throw attempts. The Wolverines dominated the glass by grabbing 20 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end. U-M's defense forced 12 Wisconsin turnovers and collected seven steals in the process. Leading U-M in scoring was Goodlow with six points, while Seeger led all Badger scoring by tossing in six points.
Wisconsin scored the first six points of the second half to grab its first lead of the game at 26-25. Niki Reams (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) quickly answered by knocking down U-M's first three-pointer of the game, putting the Wolverines up 28-26 at the 17:53 mark. The Badgers reeled of a 6-0 run to retake the lead, 32-29, forcing Michigan to take a timeout with 15:08 remaining.
Michigan went nearly three minutes without a basket before Goodlow tossed in a deuce to cut the lead to one, and Smith tossed in a basket to put U-M up by one 33-32. The score was knotted up at 35 apiece with 12:35 to play. Wisconsin went on a 4-0 run to take a 39-35 lead before Bies cut the deficit back to two points with 10:53 to play. Mie Burlin (Chalottenlund, Denmark/BMS-Herleb) tied the score at 39 by hitting one of two free throws.
Wisconsin scored the next four points to take a 43-39 lead with under 10 minutes to play. Stephanie Gandy (Detroit, Mich./Northern HS) scored a basket with 8:07 left to shave the Badger lead back down to two. The Badgers scored another basket with 6:37 to put their lead back up to four. The Wolverines answered with a basket from Gandy to cut the lead in half, 45-43. With 4:45 to play in the game, Goodlow stole the ball, took it the length of the court and evaded a defender to tie the score at 46.
Michigan could not control the Badgers, though, allowing U-W to score seven straight points to push the lead to 53-46 with 1:31 to play in the game. The Wolverines hit three free throws to cut the lead to 53-49 with under a minute to play. With 38 seconds to play in the game Burlin pulled up to hit a three to cut the lead to one. Wisconsin then knocked down three free throws to put its lead at 56-52 with 20 second left to play, and after a U-M turnover Wisconsin added two more free throws to make the final score 58-52.
N O T E S
Jennifer Smith grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds.
Michigan had 12 steals, which matched its third best total of the season.
U-M collected its third best offensive rebound total of the season with 18. It marked the fourth consecutive game in which Michigan totaled more than 30-plus rebounds.
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
