Michigan
Colorado
Wolverines Trample Buffaloes with Strong Effort
11/21/1998 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Arena)
Score:Â Michigan 84, Colorado 78
Records:Â U-M (2-1), Colorado (1-1)
Next U-M Game:Â Friday, Nov. 27 -- vs. Coppin State (Cancun, Mexico), 4:30 p.m. CST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team produced six double-digit scorers for the second straight game en route to an 84-78 victory over the University of Colorado on Saturday (Nov. 21) at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines overcame a three-point halftime deficit (38-35) to outscore the Buffaloes 49-40 in the second half.
Junior Stacey Thomas (Flint, Mich./Southwestern Academy) and sophomore Anne Thorius (Horsholm, Denmark) each contributed 18 points to lead the Wolverines' offense. Colorado sophomore center Kami Carmann recorded a game-high and career-high 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
In a game with 13 lead changes -- nine in the second half alone -- the Big Ten-Big XII matchup proved to be an intense and exciting one. The lead never extended beyond eight points for either team and there were 11 ties during the two halves. Guard Linda Lappe got Colorado on the board first with a jumper at 18:47. Michigan grabbed the lead for the most of the next eight minutes. With a Jenny Roulier jump shot at 9:30, the Buffaloes owned the lead for the remainder of the opening half, although the Wolverines tied it up twice.
The second session developed into a real battle on both ends of the floor. For the first 14 minutes, the teams stayed within five points of each other. A Kenisha Walker (Grand Rapids, Mich./Creston HS) layup at 5:03 gave Michigan the lead for good, 68-67. The Crisler Arena crowd erupted two minutes later on a Thomas layup from freshman Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) in traffic underneath, giving U-M a 75-67 lead, its largest of the game. From there, Thorius took over at the line, sinking nine straight free throws before missing her 10th with 0:09 on the clock.
In addition to Thomas and Thorius, senior Ann Lemire (Fairgrove, Mich./Frankenmuth HS) reached double figures with 12 points, while Goodlow, Walker and sophomore Alison Miller (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) added 10 points apiece. Four of Michigan's starters (Thomas, Thorius, Miller and Goodlow) hit double figures.
Michigan takes back-to-back wins into next week's Nov. 27 game against Coppin State at the Torneo Cancun de Basquetbol at 4:30 p.m. CST in Cancun, Mexico. The winner of that game faces the winner of the Oklahoma-UAB matchup on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 6:30 p.m. CST. The semifinal losers play at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
NOTES
• Michigan shot 88 percent from the line (22-25), its highest percentage since shooting 90.9 percent (20-22) at Illinois on Jan. 11, 1998. In both games, Anne Thorius produced the majority of the shots, hitting all eight at Illinois and 9-of-10 against Colorado.
• Freshman Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) is perfect from the line so far this season. After going 4-for-4 against Colorado, she is now 9-for-9 in three games.
• Stacey Thomas recorded five steals against Colorado, giving her 12 on the year and a 4.0 average. She now has 172 career steals, fourth on Michigan's all-time list, 42 shy of third place.
• Anne Thorius added five assists, giving her 16 in three games (5.3 apg).
• For the first time this year, Michigan was outrebounded (37-32).
• Prior to the game, a ceremony honoring Michigan's NCAA Tournament teams (1990 and 1998) was held, and a banner commemorating the teams' accomplishments was unfurled.
QUOTES
Michigan Coach Sue Guevara
"This is the first game where we actually shot more free throws than our opponent, and that's because we've been talking about penetration. We only had 13 turnovers, we shot 88 percent from the line. The difference was also that we had (Ann) Lemire and Kenisha (Walker) back. There's no substitute for experience. Toward the end, we had Kenisha, Ann, Stacey (Thomas), Anne (Thorius) out there. They've all been in tough games. Raina (Goodlow) was the only freshman out there, but she's been playing better and better. We did a great job composing ourselves today."
On starting sophomore transfer Alison Miller at forward ... "Alison earned a starting spot. Even though she never played last year, she practiced with us every day. She got a lot of experience going up against a player like Pollyanna Johns."
U-M Senior Ann Lemire
On her first game of the season ... "It felt good just to get out there and help out. I've been playing in practice all season, so I've been preparing myself. I was just anxious to get in there. I've been ready, very ready."
U-M Junior Stacey Thomas
On the NCAA Tournament banner raising ceremony ... "It's a great honor to be included among a group of such good players. It's an honor to have that banner, and it's a motivator to know that it's been done before and we can do it again."
