Michigan
10-17, 3-11
Northwestern
8-20, 2-13
Michigan Cannot Complete Comeback at Northwestern
2/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team suffered a tough 63-54 loss to Northwestern Sunday afternoon (Feb. 18) at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wolverines (10-17, 3-11 Big Ten) gave a spirited effort in the second half, cutting a 14-point halftime deficit to just two points with just over 10 minutes to play, but the Wildcats (8-20, 2-13 Big Ten) came up with the big shots in the end to win their home finale.
Michigan had three players finish in double figures, led by sophomore Carly Benson's (Carney, Mich./Carney-Nadeau Public School) 14 points and career-best 10 rebounds. Junior Ta'Shia Walker (Lansing, Mich./J.W. Sexton HS) and sophomore Melinda Queen (Oak Forest, Ill./Carl Sandburg HS) accounted for all of U-M's bench points, finishing with 13 and 11, respectively. Queen's 11 points marked a career high.
The Wolverines took control of the opening tip and got the ball to freshman LeQuisha Whitfield (Detroit,Mich./Martin Luther King HS), who drove to the hole and put home the game's first basket. That would be Michigan's lone field goal for 7:41, however, while the Wildcats found their touch early and often. Northwestern went on a 15-1 run over a span of 5:10 to establish a 15-3 advantage with 12:43 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats hit seven of their first 11 shots from the field, while U-M was only able to convert one of its first nine attempts.
Benson ended the scoring drought by knocking down a pretty one-hander off the glass, and Walker followed with a rainbow triple to cut the deficit to 15-8 at 10:09. Northwestern's A.J. Glasauer then caught fire, scoring six of her 14 first-half points over a span of 2:03 to propel the Wildcats to a 22-11 lead with 7:13 left until the break.
Walker and Queen combined to score Michigan's final seven points of the first stanza, while Northwestern was able to extend its lead to 14 points, 32-18, heading into halftime. The Wildcats shot 58 percent (14-of-24) in the first half compared to U-M's 23 percent (7-of-30).
The Wolverines opened the second half with a 12-4 run that trimmed the Northwestern lead to 36-32 with 13:41 to go in the game. The surge featured junior Janelle Cooper's (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance HS) first triple, back-to-back buckets in the post from Benson, and a huge steal and three-point play from Queen that capped off the run.
Glasauer stepped up and scored four of the Wildcats' next five points to push the lead to 41-34, but Michigan continued to claw its way back. Queen scored on a put-back, and Benson nailed a three-pointer from the left corner to bring the Maize and Blue within two points, 41-39, with 10:07 left on the clock.
Northwestern answered with a 7-2 run to keep a 48-41 lead at 7:21. Coming out of a U-M timeout, Walker canned her second triple of the game to bring the Wildcat advantage down to four points, but Northwestern scored its next four points from the foul line to sustain a 52-45 edge with 6:05 left in the contest.
Queen continued to come up with the big plays for the Wolverines, as she hit a triple in transition to cut the Wildcat lead to just four points with 4:20 to go. Northwestern, however, hit a series of big buckets in the final minutes to pull out the nine-point victory.
The Wolverines close out their road schedule on Thursday (Feb. 22) against Minnesota. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CST start at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., and can be heard live over the radio on WTKA (AM 1050).
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
