Michigan
8-9, 1-3Big Ten
Penn State
8-9, 1-3Big Ten
Michigan Shuts Down Penn State for First Conference Win
1/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team won its first Big Ten contest of the season, a 55-41 victory over Penn State on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 7) at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines (8-9, 1-3 Big Ten) swarming defense was too much for the Lady Lions (8-9, 1-3 Big Ten) to handle, and junior Ta'Shia Walker (Lansing, Mich./J.W. Sexton HS) provided the offensive spark for U-M scoring 15 points off the bench -- 13 in the second half -- and also added six rebounds.
Freshman Kalyn Mcpherson (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) finished with a career-best 12 points to go along with six rebounds and one steal. Sophomore Carly Benson (Carney, Mich./Carney-Nadeau Public School) added eight, and freshman Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Aden Bowman Collegiate HS) chipped in seven points.
The Wolverines held PSU scoreless for the first 3:12 of the contest, taking an early 4-0 lead on two free throws from McPherson and a post bucket from Phillips. U-M continued its tough defense and rebounding and kept a 4-2 advantage at 16:48.
Both offenses were sluggish in the next few minutes, but Penn State clawed its way back to gain its first lead of the game 8-7 at 12:14. Bensons three-point play at 10:18 gave the lead back to Michigan 10-9, but the Lady Lions answered to retake the lead 11-10. Walkers basket at 9:40 returned the advantage to U-M, and a pair of Stephany Skrba (Toronto, Ontario/Langstaff Secondary School) free throws extended the Michigan lead to 14-11 at 8:03.
The teams continued trading baskets -- and the lead -- throughout the rest of the closely battled first stanza. Sophomore Melinda Queen (Oak Forest, Ill./Carl Sandburg HS) ripped down an offensive rebound, finished the lay-up as she was fouled and completed the three-point play to give U-M a 22-20 advantage at 2:38, but Penn State again answered with an Amanda Brown post move to knot the score at the 2:07 mark. Another Queen put-back put the Wolverines back on top, and senior Kelly Helveys (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic HS) running jumper as time expired gave Michigan a 26-22 halftime lead.
Michigan shot 29 percent (9-of-31) in the first frame and won the rebounding battle 23-20, a total that included eight boards on the offensive glass. The Maize and Blue benefited from doubling the Lady Lions in makes at the charity stripe, with U-M completing 8-of-11 free throws in the first half compared to PSUs 4-of-5. Penn State went 33 percent from the field (9-of-27) including 0-4 shooting from three-point range.
Phillips extended the U-M lead to 28-22 with a right-handed baby hook at 19:01 of the second half, but Penn States Kamela Gissendanner -- who scored 11 first-half points for the Lady Lions -- quickly answered to cut it to 28-24. The teams then exchanged 4-0 runs to leave the score 32-28 Michigan at 14:23.
Walker kept Michigan ahead with back-to-back baskets; her second hoop gave U-M a 36-32 advantage at 9:15. Benson drilled a three-pointer from the right corner to hand Michigan a 39-32 lead at 8:30, and the Wolverine defense held strong to keep PSU scoreless until Gissendanners pair of free throws at 6:49 made it 39-34.
Walker stayed hot by nailing a three-pointer at 4:53 to extend the Michigan advantage to 44-34, and added a put-back bucket at 4:07 to grow U-Ms lead to 12 points. The Wolverines stayed solid on the defensive end to fight off PSUs comeback effort and sealed their first conference win of the season, 55-41.
The Wolverines return to Crisler Arena on Thursday (Jan. 11) to host Wisconsin. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start with radio coverage by WTKA (AM 1050).
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
