Michigan
5-3
Notre Dame
5-2
Michigan Succumbs to Turnovers, Late Notre Dame Run
12/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Score: Notre Dame 61, Michigan 58
Records: U-M (5-3), Notre Dame (5-2)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Dec. 3 -- vs. Miami (Fla.) (Crisler Arena), 2:00 p.m.
Michigan Succumbs to Turnovers, Late Notre Dame Run
Event Recap| Boxscore| Photos| Notes & Quotes
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team let one slip away Friday night (Dec. 1), as Notre Dame closed the game on a 10-2 run to escape Crisler Arena with a 61-58 victory. Fighting Irish guard Charel Allen hit a long three-pointer with nine seconds remaining to draw Notre Dame (5-2) within one, 58-57. After U-M missed two free throws, Tulyah Gaines was fouled at the top of the key while driving with 3.3 seconds on the clock and made both free throws, with the second hitting the front of the rim before falling through. Allen added two foul shots with 0.7 seconds left after Michigan (5-3) turned over the ball on its inbounds play and was forced to foul.
Down nine with just under 14 minutes left in the game, the Wolverines used a 13-4 run to tie the game at 46-46 with 9:16 to play and appeared to take control late in the game. Three-pointers from sophomore Jessica Minnfield (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic HS) and sophomore Carly Benson (Carney, Mich./Carney-Nadeau Public School) on back-to-back possession catapulted Michigan to a its largest lead of the game, 56-51, with 3:35 remaining, exciting the raucous, season-high crowd of 3,817. However, U-M opened the door to the Notre Dame comeback by missing six of eight from the free throw line in the game's final 1:01.
Junior Janelle Cooper (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance HS) paced a balanced Michigan scoring attack with 11 points, while freshman post Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Aden Bowman Collegiate) also reached double figures with 10 points, all in the first half. Sophomore Stephany Skrba (Toronto, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and contributed eight points, while Benson and Kalyn McPherson (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) also each scored eight points, with McPherson's effort marking a career high for the freshman.
Despite outrebounding the Irish by 13 (45-32) and holding Notre Dame to 35.5 percent shooting from the field, the Wolverines were hurt by a season-high 30 turnovers -- 15 in each half -- and made just half of their 20 attempts from the foul stripe.
Notre Dame capitalized on Michigan turnovers in the opening four minutes of the contest and sank three-pointers on consecutive possessions to make it 8-1 heading to the first media timeout. U-M went into the stoppage with more turnovers (five) than field goal attempts (four) but came out of the break and scored its first field goal, with Skrba connecting in transition off a long feed from freshman Sireece Bass (Detroit, Mich./Pershing HS) at 15:34. That basket started an 11-2 Michigan run in which Phillips scored the final nine points, converting off feeds from Cooper and sophomore Melinda Queen (Oak Forest, Ill./Carl Sandburg HS), draining a triple when left unguarded on the right wing, and tying the game at 12-12 following freshman LeQuisha Whitfield's (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King HS) nice entry pass.
Michigan took its first lead at 6:07 on a Cooper three-pointer, going up 15-14. The teams traded the lead seven times in the half's final six minutes, with neither squad leading by more than two. Benson converted a triple after an offensive rebound by junior Ta'Shia Walker (Lansing, Mich./J.W. Sexton HS) to give U-M a 25-23 lead with 1:50 left. After a pair of Irish buckets, Benson hit two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to tie the game, 27-27, going into halftime.
After Whitfield split a pair of free throws to give U-M a 28-27 edge early in the second half, Notre Dame again took advantage of Wolverine turnovers and gradually built a lead, using runs of 4-0, 6-0 and 5-0 to assume its largest advantage of the game, leading 42-33 with 13:34 to play. Michigan turned over the ball seven times in the half's first 6:26.
Skrba rebounded Bass' missed triple try and scored to stop the Irish run, and the Wolverines then received a spark from McPherson, who corralled her own miss, was fouled, and made both ends of a one-and-one to pull U-M with five, 42-37. Junior Katie Dierdorf (St. Louis, Mo./Visitation Academy) scored off a Skrba miss to make it 42-39 and force a Notre Dame 30-second timeout. McPherson hit a 10-footer from the left baseline with the shot clock winding down to draw U-M within one (42-41), Dierdorf answered an Irish hoop with a shot from the right elbow, and after a Notre Dame bucket, Skrba followed her own miss along the left baseline and was fouled. Her conventional three-point play completed the comeback, tying the score at 46-46 with 9:16 to play.
After Notre Dame's Allen made two free throws, Michigan had two chances to take the lead, but three-pointers from Cooper and Benson did not fall. However, Whitfield slipped ahead of the pack for a breakaway layup that tied the game with 6:19 on the clock, and McPherson drove the right side for two, providing U-M with a 50-48 lead. With the shot clock down to five, Minnfield canned a huge three-pointer to give the Wolverines a 53-49 cushion, and after a Notre Dame basket, Benson fired a three-ball from the right corner for a 56-51 lead with 3:35 left.
However, the Wolverines managed just two points in the final three and a half minutes, turning over the ball five times and not taking advantage of their trips to the line. Notre Dame's Ashley Barlow connected on a three from the right wing to pull the Irish within two, 56-54, and Cooper and Bass split a pair of foul shots each to give the Wolverines a seemingly comfortable four-point edge, 58-54, with 0:22 left. That's when Allen and Gaines took over and scored the game's final seven points.
Michigan concludes a two-game homestand by hosting Miami (Fla.) on Sunday (Dec. 3) at Crisler Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be televised by Comcast Local and radio coverage by WTKA (AM 1050).
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
