Michigan
Ohio State
Michigan Hits Offensive Glass Hard But Falls at Ohio State
2/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team dropped a 70-55 decision at Ohio State on Thursday (Feb. 27) in Big Ten Conference action at St. John Arena. LeeAnn Bies (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS) paced the Wolverines with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS) added 12 points.
Michigan's struggles from the perimeter continued early in the first half, but the Wolverines stayed in the game by crashing the offensive glass and limiting the Buckeyes to just one shot on their end. After Ohio State jumped out to an early lead, Stephanie Gandy (Detroit, Mich./Northern HS), who grabbed three offensive boards for the half, corralled one of those caroms to the cut the deficit to three (14-11) at the 12:08 mark. On Michigan's next possession Niki Reams (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) got in the act on the offensive glass and converted a putback to leave the Wolverines down just one (14-13).
The Wolverines used the momentum from their work on the glass to go on their most impressive run of the game. Buoyed by excellent play from Bies, Michigan took off on a 9-2 run that left the Wolverines with a 25-23 lead at the 5:14 mark, which was Michigan's first lead since being up 4-2 with 17:00 left. Bies netted four points during the run after hitting a triple earlier in the game. Gandy hit her first triple of the game to give Michigan that two-point lead, prompting Buckeyes coach Jim Foster to call a timeout.
Whatever Foster said worked as Ohio State answered with a 19-4 run over the final five minutes as the Buckeyes caught fire from the perimeter. Ohio State eventually finished the half with a .571 (16-28) mark from the field, including 5-7 from behind the arc, which led to the 42-29 halftime score. Bies paced the Wolverine attack in the first half with nine points and four boards as the Wolverines won the rebounding battle 18-17, but a .357 (15-42) mark from the field left the Wolverines down 13 at the break.
Despite solid play on both ends of the floor from Rachael Carney (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic), Michigan was never able to get the deficit into single digits in the second half. Reams hit a tough runner from the left side to trim the lead to 10 (48-38) at the 13:18 mark, but that as close as the Wolverines would get.
Bies also continued her strong work in the second half as she continued to crash the offensive glass and finished with 17 points. Bies' efforts kept Michigan within 10-12 points for much of the second half but U-M could not get enough outside scoring to make a serious run at the Buckeyes, who worked the shot clock down and scored on several possessions in the second frame. Carney did a nice job on the defensive end and paced the Wolverines with six assists, but Michigan could still not find the range from outside and eventually dropped a 70-55 decision despite 20 offensive rebounds.
The Wolverines will close out the regular season Sunday (March 2) when they host Minnesota (No. 13 AP, No. 17 ESPN/USA Today) for a 2 p.m. contest in Crisler Arena. It will be the final home game for Michigan's two seniors, Bies and Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS).
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Sue Guevara
On the game overall "I was surprised to see we had 20 offensive rebounds. I just wish would could have converted more of them. When you play Ohio State you know you need to keep their post kids off the glass, but when they did get a second shot they usually converted."
N O T E S
Jennifer Smith became the 16th player in Michigan history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, while LeeAnn Bies became the fifth to reach 1,400 career points. Bies is now the third player in school history with 1,400 career points and 750 rebounds.
Rachael Carney's six assists are a career best.
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
