Michigan
Illinois
Bies' 36 Points Not Enough for Wolverines at Illinois
1/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Despite a career-high 36 points from LeeAnn Bies (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS), the shorthanded University of Michigan women's basketball team lost 92-78 to Illinois on Sunday (Jan. 27) in front of 8,967 fans at Assembly Hall. The Fighting Illini made 10 of 18 from three-point range and shot 58.3 percent (35-60) from the field to complete the season sweep.
| | Bies |
Only three others scored for the Wolverines (12-8, 2-7 Big Ten), as Jennifer Smith (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS) had 13, Heather Oesterle (Mason, Mich./Mason HS) scored five and Sierra Hauser-Price (Van Nuys, Calif./Notre Dame Prep HS) added two. Illinois (13-5, 6-2 Big Ten) received a team-high 21 points from Shavonna Hunter, with 15 of her points coming from behind the arc, where she was 5 of 6.
With three regulars -- Stephanie Gandy (Detroit, Mich./Northern HS), Tabitha Pool (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and Katrina Mason (Detroit, Mich./Murray-Wright HS) -- suspended for violations of team rules, the Wolverines dressed only seven players, and the starters accounted for 191 of the 200 minutes played in the contest.
The game began with a see-saw battle featuring five lead changes and three ties in the first four minutes, but consecutive three-pointers from Hunter and Tiffanie Guthrie capped an 8-0 Illini run that gave Illinois an 18-10 lead with 14:35 on the clock. Michigan ended the run with a three-point play by Bies.
An 8-2 run by Illinois, highlighted by Angelina Williams' six straight points, allowed the Illini to pull ahead by 10 with 7:41 left in the first half, and Illinois continued its strong shooting from behind the arc, as the Illini connected on seven first-half three-pointers, with their final three of the half giving them their largest lead of the half, 42-29, with 4:04 to go.
The Wolverines began to chip away at the 13-point deficit when Smith canned a turnaround jumper to spark a 12-2 run over the next 2:12 that brought the Maize and Blue within three at 44-41. The run was highlighted by four points by Smith and Michigan's lone three-point bucket of the game, by Ingram. With U-M down three with less than a minute to go, Illinois closed out the half on a 4-0 run to make the score 48-41 at halftime.
Coming out of halftime the Illini scored the first six points to go up 54-41 before buckets from Ingram and Oesterle cut the lead back to single digits, and four straight points from Bies got U-M within seven, 56-49, with 16:58 to play. The Wolverines were within eight (60-52) after Smith's three-point play, but Illinois countered with an 8-0 run to make the score 68-52. After Illinois built its lead to 17 points, the weary Wolverines cut the margin to 10 (78-68) with 6:11 to play, but they were unable to get any closer.
The Wolverines will begin a two-game homestand when they host Iowa on Thursday (Jan. 31) at 7 p.m. in Crisler Arena.
N O T E S
Junior center LeeAnn Bies became the 15th player in Michigan history to score 1,000 career points when she hit a field goal with 9:18 remaining in the game. Bies, who has six 20-point games this season, finished the game with 1,010 career points.
LeeAnn Bies' career-best 36-point effort is the highest scoring output by a Wolverine in nearly 10 years, since Trish Andrew scored 36 against Indiana on 2/28/92. Bies, Andrew and Diane Dietz (36 vs. Detroit, 2/28/90) are tied for third on Michigan's single-game scoring list. Dietz holds the top two marks, with 45 points against Illinois (2/27/82) and 37 against Grand Valley State (1/31/80).
Other U-M record book entries for LeeAnn Bies: tied for third in single-game field goals made (15) and tied for sixth in single-game field goals attempted (25).
Alayne Ingram's 22-point performance was her fifth game this season with 20 or more points.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Sue Guevara
On the game today ... "We know we had to pick our poison because last time Iveta Marcauskaite and Dawn Vana went nuts against us. Illinois was hitting 22 percent from three so we were going to force them to hit outside; they did. It was a case where I think they had too much and we had too little. It would have been nice to give our kids a little bit of rest. Our seven battled very hard. We had some good stretches but we had some lapses and Illinois took advantage. The good news is I found a starting five and we're going to stay with them the rest of the year."
On LeeAnn Bies ... "I thought she played her heart out. She responded to adversity today. She scored and got to the free throw line. I want to credit her for scoring her 1,000th point. She was a warrior tonight."
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
