Michigan
Virginia
Cardiac Kids Earn Comeback Victory in NCAA Opener
3/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team earned its first NCAA Tournament win in 11 years with an 81-71 overtime victory over No. 9 seed Virginia today (Saturday, March 17) at the Joyce Center. Thanks to a career-best 27 points from junior guard Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) -- all after halftime -- No. 8-seeded Michigan came back from 17 points down in the second half to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday (March 19, 7 p.m.) against No. 2-ranked Notre Dame.
Michigan junior forward Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) opened up the scoring with a hoop in the paint to give Michigan a 2-0 advantage. The Cavaliers (18-14) came right back with four points take a 4-2 lead. Virginia eventually extended its lead to seven (11-4) before the Wolverines answered with an 8-0 run. The Michigan run was paced by Goodlow, who drove to the hoop for one bucket and got loose in the paint for another. Following a bucket from Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS), the Wolverines had regained the lead, 12-11.
The Wolverines, however, struggled taking care of the basketball as several Wolverines turnovers -- Michigan had 13 in the first half alone -- led to 14 Virginia fast-break points and helped the Cavaliers to an 18-4 run and a 13-point lead (29-16). Smith hit a couple hoops for Michigan down the stretch in the first half as the Wolverines took a 33-22 deficit into the locker room.
Michigan shot just .333 (8-24) from the floor in the first half, while Virginia also struggled with a .382 shooting mark (13-34), but the Cavaliers got 10 more shot attempts due in large part to Michigan's turnover problems. Goodlow and Smith led Michigan with six points apiece in the first frame.
The Wolverines came out quickly in the second half on a pair of hoops from Ingram to trim the deficit down to seven (33-26). However, Virginia answered that with a 10-0 run to take a 43-26 advantage and seemingly had control of the basketball game.
Then Ingram took over. The junior guard scored 10 of Michigan's next 12 points as the Wolverines were back within seven (45-38) at the 13:58 mark. Following hoops in the paint by Goodlow and Smith, Ingram dropped in consecutive triples and sophomore center LeeAnn Bies (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS) followed with a jumper in the lane to pull the Wolverines within one (51-50) with 6:40 remaining.
Goodlow drilled just her second trifecta of the season to give Michigan a 53-51 edge with 5:54 left. The lead was Michigan's first since it led 12-11 at the 12:17 mark of the first half, and the Wolverines retained possession after a Virginia foul away from the ball. Bies was later fouled and completed the five-point U-M possession with a pair of free throws to finish off a 10-0 mini-run at the end of a 25-6 burst. Michigan shot .833 (5-6) from behind the arc in the second half, including 4-5 from Ingram and 1-1 from Goodlow.
Michigan eventually pushed its lead to eight (61-53) with 3:23 remaining, but Virginia forward Schuye LaRue scored eight points in the final 3:12 to lead an 11-3 Virginia run. Included among LaRue's eight points was a triple with eight ticks remaining to tie the score at 64. Ingram took the inbounds following the LaRue triple and tried to go coast to coast, but could not get a shot off and the Wolverines entered overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for second straight year.
Despite blowing the eight-point lead late, Michigan maintained its composure and controlled the extra session from the start. Bies and Ingram scored the first four points for Michigan in overtime before senior guard Anne Thorius (Horsholm, Denmark/Rungsted Gymnasium) scored her first field goal of the game and converted on a conventional three-point play to give the Wolverines a 71-64 lead.
Virginia chopped the lead to five (74-69) with a minute to play, but Michigan drilled its free throws down the stretch and walked away with an 81-71 victory. In addition to Ingram's 27 points, Smith came of the bench to shoot 9-10 from the floor and deliver 20 points, the second-best output of her career, and Bies added 15 points.
The Wolverines (19-11) will face No. 2-ranked Notre Dame, the subregional host and the Midwest Regional's top seed, on Monday (March 19) at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind. The 7 p.m. contest will be televised by ESPN.
N O T E S
Michigan's victory today was its first NCAA Tournament win in three tries under head coach Sue Guevara and the second ever by Michigan team in five games. The Wolverines' only other win was a first-round victory at Oklahoma State in 1990.
Alayne Ingram also corralled a career-high eight rebounds in the win, and she became the 14th player in Michigan history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau. Ingram now has 1,018 career points.
Michigan's victory not only gave Sue Guevara her first NCAA Tournament win, but she also has now matched Bud VanDeWege as Michigan's all-time winningest coach with 93 career wins.
Michigan's final field goal percentage of .545 (30-55) is its second-best total of the season. The Wolverines hit 17-26 (.654) in the second half and 4-5 (.800) in overtime for a .677 (21-31) shooting mark after halftime.
Michigan outscored Virginia 42-31 in the second half, which marked the 16th time this season the Wolverines have scored 40 or more points in the second half. In addition, Michigan is now 8-8 this season in games which it trailed at the half.
With eight rebounds, Anne Thorius surpassed the 400-rebound mark for her career, which makes her second Michigan basketball player -- and first woman -- to garner 1,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds in a career. The only other player U-M to turn that trick was Gary Grant from 1985-88.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Sue Guevara
On the game in general ... "What a great comeback by a bunch of kids who have never given up this season. The fact we keep coming back is a testament to these kids and the mental toughness they have. This is a blue-collar team and they always keep fighting."
On the play of Alayne Ingram ... "Ingram was great in the second half and did a great job of bringing us back, but this was not a one-person show in the second half. Smith was great after struggling the Big Ten Tournament and Thorius, although she did not score, played a very good defensive game and was strong on the boards."
Junior Guard Alayne Ingram
On her performance ... "Anne (Thorius) said to me that she did not want her career to end today when we were behind, and that just hit home. I knew I had to come in the second half and be more aggressive and the shots just started falling. We were not completely trying to get me open; I just took what the defense gave me and hit my shots in the second half."
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
