Michigan
Illinois State
Wolverines Beat Redbirds for Record Eight Straight Win
12/12/1998 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Site:Â Normal, Ill. (Redbird Arena)
Score:Â Michigan 86, Illinois State 43
Records:Â U-M (8-1), ISU (4-5)
Next U-M Game:Â Monday, Dec. 28 -- at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.), 7:30 p.m.
NORMAL, Ill. -- With an 86-43 victory at Illinois State University on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 12), the University of Michigan women's basketball team set a school record with its eighth straight victory. The Wolverines introduced their fourth starting lineup of the year -- and first without a freshman -- and produced five double-digit scorers for the fifth time this season. Freshman Heather Oesterle (Mason, Mich./Mason HS) led all scorers with a career-high 17 points, adding six rebounds and three steals.
Michigan (8-1) led from start to finish, holding the Redbirds (4-5) to 17 first-half points and 36 percent shooting. The half closed with a triple from Oesterle at the buzzer, giving her 11 points in the game. The second half opened with another triple, this time from point guard Anne Thorius (Horsholm, Denmark). The scoring margin reached 40 with 7:58 on the clock on a Kenisha Walker (Grand Rapids, Mich./Creston HS) free throw. The lead ballooned to 45 three times in the closing four minutes before settling on an 86-43 final score.
While the Wolverines shot 45.6 percent (31-68) from the floor, 82.6 percent (19-23) from the line and 45.5 percent (5-11) from long range, they held Illinois State to 36.4 percent shooting (16-44). The Redbirds were also limited to 28.6 percent three-point shooting (2-7) and committed 30 turnovers. Michigan controlled the boards in the first half, 20-7, and finished the game with a 39-29 edge in the rebounding column.
Joining Oesterle in double-digit scoring were Stacey Thomas (Flint, Mich./Southwestern Academy) with 12, Walker with 13, Thorius with 14 and Ruth Kipping (Quincy, Ill./Quincy HS) with 11.
After a two-week holiday break, the Wolverines will open the Big Ten Conference season and cap a four-game road swing by facing Indiana University on Monday, Dec. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Bloomington, Ind.
NOTES
• Michigan's 1989-90 and 1975-76 teams strung together seven consecutive victories to set the previous school record.
• Multiple Wolverines set season and/or career-high marks against Illinois State. In addition to her career-high 17 points, Heather Oesterle tied a career mark with three steals. Kenisha Walker, who celebrated her 21st birthday on Saturday, scored a career-high 13 points while grabbing a career-best five steals. Freshman Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) recorded a career-high five assists.
• The Wolverines toyed with another starting five combination against Illinois State, their fourth of the year. Coach Sue Guevara started juniors Stacey Thomas and Kenisha Walker, redshirt sophomore Alison Miller, sophomore Anne Thorius and senior Ann Lemire against the Redbirds. Michigan opened the season with three starting freshmen (Ruth Kipping, Raina Goodlow, Alayne Ingram).
• Michigan has held three of its opponents to less than 20 points in the first half this year: Central Michigan (14), Cincinnati (19) and Illinois State (17).
QUOTES
Michigan Coach Sue Guevara
"My assistant coach, Molly Murray, did a nice job scouting Illinois State. We saw the game tapes of Illinois State with Michigan State, St. John's, Rice, so we knew the key was to stop Jenny Schmidt. She's the heart and soul of this team and we did a good job limiting her game. Their (Illinois State) bread and butter is the on-ball screen for Schmidt and we were able to trap their on-ball screen."
"Our defense spurs our offense and we were able to get some steals and make some layups off of them."
"This is our last game until Dec. 28, so this is the game they will remember for the next two weeks. So I asked the team, 'What do you want to remember?'"
On Michigan having five double-digit scorers ... "If you stop Stacey Thomas, you're not going to stop Michigan because we have so many kids contributing."
