Michigan
Northwestern
Wolverines Dump Northwestern for Fourth Straight Win
1/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team moved to within a half game of second place in the Big Ten Conference standings by beating Northwestern 74-59 this afternoon (Sunday, Jan. 28) in front of 2,421 fans at Crisler Arena. The win was the fourth straight for the Wolverines (13-7, 6-4 Big Ten). Five U-M players scored in double figures as Heather Oesterle (Mason, Mich./Mason HS) led the way with game highs in assists (six) and rebounds (nine) to go with 13 points.
Michigan junior guard Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) opened up the scoring with jumper in the lane, but Northwestern (4-15, 0-9 Big Ten) scored the next four points to take a 4-2 lead. That would be Northwestern's only lead of the game, however, as Michigan answered with a 13-2 run paced by seven points from junior forward Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) to lead 15-6 at the 13:41 mark. Goodlow led the Michigan attack with 11 first-half points.
The Wildcats were able to cut the lead to six at 21-15 before an 8-2 Michigan run gave the Wolverines their biggest lead of the first half at 29-17. Six of Michigan's eight points during the run came from freshman center Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS). Michigan maintained its 12-point lead until the 1:53 mark of the first half when Northwestern began a 5-0 run to end the half and shave the deficit to seven (34-27) heading into the intermission.
Each team shot .440 (11-25) from the floor in the first half, but Michigan gained its advantage by shooting 12-14 (.857) from the charity stripe. Smith led the Wolverines at the free throw line, going 6-6 in the first stanza.
Michigan was unable to pull away from the Wildcats in the second half as Northwestern closed the gap to as close as three, 50-47 at the 8:43 mark. The Wolverines also played much of the second half without senior guard Anne Thorius (Horsholm, Denmark/Rungsted Gymnasium), who injured her ankle with just under 16 minutes left in the game and did not return. Her status is day-to-day.
Oesterle helped pick up the slack in the Thorius' absence, scoring a layup to put Michigan up 52-47 and then assisting on a triple from Ingram in the corner to give the Wolverines a little breathing room, 55-47 with 7:08 left to play. Michigan had actually pushed its lead to nine (48-39) earlier in the half after consecutive steals from Smith and Oesterle led to fast-break layups for the Wolverines, but Northwestern continued to fight back.
After Michigan opened up its 55-47 lead, Northwestern could not come any closer than seven (60-53) as Ingram, who finished with 15 points and five assists, controlled the tempo from the point down the stretch. Michigan continued to be aggressive offensively and it paid off at the charity stripe as the Wolverines knocked down 27-35 (.771) compared to 9-17 (.529) for the Wildcats. Goodlow matched Ingram's 15 points as the top Wolverine scorers, while Oesterle chipped in with 13 and Smith provided 12.
Michigan concludes its two-game homestand with a 7 p.m. contest vs. Minnesota on Thursday (Feb. 1) at Crisler Arena.
N O T E S
Michigan is now 6-4 in the Big Ten and is alone in sixth place, but is just a half game behind second-place Penn State (6-3) and Wisconsin (6-3) following today's action. Illinois (5-3) and Iowa (5-3) are tied for fourth and are ahead of Michigan in the standings by percentage points.
Michigan center LeeAnn Bies (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS) extended her consecutive game streak of scoring in double figures by collecting 10 points to go with six boards.
Michigan's current four-game win streak is its second longest of the season. The Wolverines won five straight from Nov. 25 to Dec. 7.
Heather Oesterle's nine rebounds and six assists matched career bests for the Michigan junior.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Sue Guevara
On the game overall ... "I am glad it is over. First of all, you have to give Northwestern a ton of credit. They scouted us well and took us out of our inside game with tough interior defense. We did not play as well as we would have liked, but our kids sucked it up defensively down the stretch and gutted out a tough win."
On the play of Heather Oesterle ... "Heather is capable of doing a lot of different things. She is one of our most versatile players and I think that showed today. Heather only shot 7-of-12 from the line today and she is a much better free throw shooter than that, but all that means is that she will be in here early tomorrow working on that, which shows what kind of kid she is."
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
