Michigan
7-1
Princeton
6-1
Wolverines Fall Behind Early, Cannot Catch Up at Princeton
12/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2015
» U-M suffered its first loss of the season after tying the best start in program history at 7-0.
» Michigan held a 35-31 advantage on the glass and has now outrebounded all eight of its opponents.
Site: Princeton, N.J. (Jadwin Gymnasium)
Score: Princeton 74, Michigan 57
Records: U-M (7-1), Princeton (6-1)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Dec. 13 -- vs. UCLA (Crisler Center), 2 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team fell in an early hole and closed the gap to six points midway through the third quarter but got no closer in a 74-57 loss to Princeton on Sunday (Dec. 6) at Jadwin Gymnasium.
Sophomore Katelynn Flaherty led the way offensively for Michigan, scoring a game-high 33 points. Junior Siera Thompson chipped in eight for the Wolverines, who shot 35.7 percent (20-for-56) from the floor. The Maize and Blue held a 35-31 advantage on the glass in the game, but Princeton made 50.0 percent (27-for-54) of its shots. Both teams struggled with turnovers, combining for 39 in the contest.
Michigan trailed 13-8 after the first 10 minutes of action as the Wolverines made just two field goals in the opening stanza, each coming from Flaherty. Flaherty and Thompson combined to go 4-for-4 from the line to account for U-M's other points.
The Tiger lead hovered around five points in the opening minutes of the second quarter, before Princeton scored with 5:03 on the clock to take a 25-15 lead. The Maize and Blue cut it back to single digits several times, but a Michelle Miller triple with 57 seconds remaining nudged the Princeton advantage back to 11.
Freshman Sam Trammel scored right before the second quarter expired off a Madison Ristovski steal, cutting Princeton's lead to nine, 33-24. Flaherty led all scorers with 15 first-half points as U-M managed to shoot just 24.1 percent (7-for-29) from the field in the first 20 minutes.
Michigan closed the gap to 38-32 off a Thompson jumper just 2:48 into the third, but Princeton scored 11 of the next 13 points to reclaim a 49-34 lead with 4:48 left to force a U-M timeout.
U-M allowed just five points the remainder of the third quarter, heading to final period down 54-40. Flaherty canned a triple with 4:16 left to trim the Princeton advantage to 13, 64-51, inducing a Michigan timeout.
Michigan could not close the gap in the closing minutes, dropping its first contest of the season.
U-M returns home for a Sunday (Dec. 13) contest against UCLA at Crisler Center. Tip is set for 2 p.m., and the game can be seen live on the Big Ten Network. [ Tickets ]
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Communications Contact: Sarah VanMetre
