Michigan
Purdue
Wolverines Unable to Hang with Purdue in Second Half
3/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball had its season ended tonight (Friday, March 5) at the Big Ten Conference Tournament after falling 78-55 to No. 2 seed Purdue in quarterfinal action from Conseco Fieldhouse. As she has for much of the season, senior center Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS) was the Wolverine centerpiece, scoring 19 points and grabbing nine boards. Smith finished one of the greatest single seasons in school history with a record 659 points, which lists as the 12th-best total in Big Ten history.
| | Smith's 21.3 points a game in 2003-04 ranks as the second best single-season mark in Michigan history. |
Michigan (14-17) grabbed the early lead, establishing Smith, who connected on two straight 10-foot jumpers and, along with a triple from Pool, helped the Wolverines to an 11-8 lead at the 12:59 mark. Two quick fouls to Smith, however, changed the complexion of the first half. While Michigan obviously missed the Big Ten's leading scorer on the offensive end, it was her presence defensively in the paint that was really missed.
Purdue (25-3) immediately took advantage in the post and went to the free throw line 11 times in the first half and outrebounded the Wolverines 22-12, including 10-2 on the offensive glass. Purdue's emphasis on the inside game paid off and the Boilermakers finally took their first lead of the game at the 9:20 mark (16-15). Senior Stephanie Gandy (Detroit, Mich./Northern HS) answered with a jumper, but Purdue came right back for an 18-17 lead it would not relinquish the remainder of the game.
Pool soon found herself with a pair of fouls as well, but the Wolverines kept scrapping on both ends of the floor to stay within striking distance. Michigan actually took the momentum into the locker room after Niki Reams (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) connected from half court at the buzzer to trim the deficit to just three (33-30).
Both teams came out of the break playing excellent half-court defense with the Wolverines forcing Purdue into difficult shots. However, Purdue's improved defensive intensity forced five Michigan turnovers in the half's first five minutes, and the Boilermakers pushed their lead to a 10 points (42-32) at the 15:16 mark. Just as the Wolverines began to figure things out on the offensive end with hoops from seniors Smith and Gandy, Purdue freshman Katie Gearlds found her stroke from behind the arc, drilling triples on consecutive possessions to expand the Boilermakers' lead to 12 (50-38).
Gearlds led a Purdue perimeter contingent that hit 7-13 from behind the arc, and it was that three-point effort that really separated Purdue from Michigan midway through the second frame. Once Purdue pushed its lead to double digits, the Wolverines could not get back into the game.
N O T E S
Jennifer Smith led Michigan in scoring for the 21st time in 31 games this season.
Michigan was ousted from the Big Ten Tournament by Purdue for the fifth straight season.
Jennifer Smith, who became just the third player in Big Ten history to make 200 free throws in a season against Illinois yesterday, finished the season with 210 makes from the charity stripe.
Stephanie Gandy played in her 118th career game tonight, which moves her into third place on the Wolverine all-time list. LeeAnn Bies (2000-03) tops the list with 120 games played while Alayne Ingram (1999-2002) lists second with 119 games played.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Cheryl Burnett
On the game overall ... "I thought we played a great first half and did a nice job of taking Purdue out of some of the things they like to do. However, when (Katie) Gearlds hit those three-pointers during a certain stretch of the second half, we fell behind by double figures and then stopped doing the things we did in the first half. I also felt Purdue did an excellent job of adjusting to our switching defenses because they are so well coached."
On the careers of Jennifer Smith and Stephanie Gandy ... "They have been unbelievable, and the greatest testament is they were voted captains by their teammates during the season. They have done a great job of buying in and acclimating themselves to try to do the things that we as coaches have challenged them to do. It will be a major change of leadership because they've been such strong leaders.
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
