Michigan
Cincinnati
Thomas Leads Wolverines Past Cincinnati
12/6/1998 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Site:Â Cincinnati, Ohio (Myrl Shoemaker Center)
Score:Â Michigan 66, Cincinnati 57
Records:Â U-M (6-1), Cincinnati (4-2)
Next U-M Game:Â Wednesday, Dec. 9 -- at Bowling Green State (Bowling Green, Ohio), 7 p.m.
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Junior team captain Stacey Thomas (Flint, Mich./Southwestern Academy) scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds to lead the University of Michigan women's basketball team to a 66-57 non-conference road win over the University of Cincinnati on Sunday (Dec. 6). Michigan (6-1) has now won six straight games, its longest winning streak since a school-record-tying seven in a row in 1989-90.
In the opener of a four-game road swing, things did not look good for coach Sue Guevara's Wolverines early as Cincinnati (4-2) jumped to a 12-0 lead. Michigan finally got on the board when Anne Thorius (Horsholm, Denmark) scored on a layup with 14:31 on the clock. After the Bearcats regained their 12-point edge at the 14:11 mark, Michigan held UC scoreless for nearly seven minutes and went on a 14-0 run of its own, capped by a reverse layup by Ann Lemire (Fairgrove, Mich./Frankenmuth HS) that made it 16-14 with 7:45 left in the half.
After a Cincinnati free throw cut the lead to one (16-15), Thomas knocked down a short jumper to start a 12-4 run that gave Michigan a 28-19 halftime edge. After going scoreless for the first 5:29 and falling behind 12-0, the Wolverines had outscored the Bearcats 28-7, led by Thomas' 10 points and four steals.
With Thomas hitting from all over the floor and the Wolverines making their free throws, Michigan maintained at least a seven-point lead throughout the second half. During one stretch early in the second period, Thomas tallied 10 straight Michigan points, scoring on a long jumper, a putback, a 17-footer and back-to-back fast-break layups.
Thomas finished 12-of-18 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line for 28 points, eclipsing her previous high of 23 against Bowling Green State (12/21/97). Lemire added 12 points, Thorius had nine points and a game-high five assists and freshman Ruth Kipping (Quincy, Ill./Quincy HS) contributed eight points and seven boards.
Michigan also enjoyed a good day at the line, making 17-of-18 for 94.4 percent, the third-best mark in school history (minimum 15 attempts). The Wolverines made their first nine free throw attempts before Kenisha Walker (Grand Rapids, Mich./Creston HS) missed the second of a two-shot foul with 3:55 left in the game, and then converted their last eight charity shots.
The Wolverines will return to the hardwood on Wednesday, Dec. 9, when they travel to Bowling Green State for a 7 p.m. contest.
NOTES
• The win over Cincinnati marked head coach Sue Guevara's 40th career victory. She is 40-22 in her third year at Michigan.
• Michigan's six straight wins is the third-longest winning streak in school history. The 1989-90 and 1975-76 teams posted seven consecutive wins. Michigan's longest winning streak in 1997-98 was four.
• The Wolverines snapped Cincinnati's four-game winning streak and ended the Bearcats' six-game home winning streak at the Shoemaker Center.
• As a team, Michigan is shooting 76 percent from the free throw line (133-175) after going 17-for-18 against Cincinnati. Sophomore Anne Thorius leads the team at the line, shooting 92.6 percent.
• In games against Central Michigan and Cincinnati over the weekend, Stacey Thomas averaged 21.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, two assists, one block and six steals per game. In just over two years, Thomas has 189 career steals, fourth on Michigan's all-time list. She is just 25 steals out of third place (Carol Szczechowski, 214). Lori Gnatkowski holds the school record with 266. Thomas also needs just five more points to reach the 800-point milestone, pushing her into 17th place on U-M's career scoring list.
• After hitting the century mark two times in the last three games, Michigan was held to 66 points by Cincinnati. Entering Sunday's game, Michigan had been averaging 84.2 points while allowing its opponents 58.7 points a game.
QUOTES
Michigan Coach Sue Guevara
"This was a good win for us on the road. Cincinnati is a good defensive team; they hold their opponents to 49 points. We started out slow, but the kids responded. They kept their composure and they kept their poise. We did a decent job on the boards, which we were concerned about because Cincinnati is big and athletic. The turnovers concern me. They came early, but then we settled down a bit."
"The difference was the bench -- Ann Lemire, Ruth Kipping. We got a lot of contributions from the bench. We started Heather (Oesterle) at the four, and she responded, she played well. This was a real team victory. I'm pleased with the way we're shooting from the free throw line. In a game like this, when it's tight, these are the games the freshmen and sophomores need to play in to get experience."
