Michigan
Massachusetts
Michigan Dominates Massachusetts for Third Straight Win
11/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team extended its season-opening win streak to three games tonight (Friday, Nov. 29) by beating Massachusetts 91-65 in front of 1,522 fans at Crisler Arena. Led by Jennifer Smith's (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt HS) 20 points, the Wolverines dictated the game on offense and defense, shooting 59.0 percent from the field while holding UMass to a 36.5 percent clip. On the glass, U-M out-rebounded the Minutewomen 39-31.
| | Smith |
Michigan began the scoring with a three-pointer from Niki Reams (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) from the left side for an early lead. After trading baskets Michigan scored five straight points courtesy of a Smith three-point play and a short jumper for a 10-7 advantage three minutes into the game. UMass broke back with its own 5-0 run to retake the lead 12-10. After the score was knotted at 14-14 near the midway point of the half, the Wolverines rattled off a 16-3 run to gain a 30-17 advantage with just under eight minutes left in the half.
Following a UMass timeout, the Minutewomen scored seven of the next nine points to cut the U-M lead to eight, causing the Wolverines to take their own timeout at 5:54. Four straight points from Pool out of the break reestablished Michigan's lead at 12 points. UMass made an attempt to again chip away at the U-M advantage with less than four minutes to play but the Wolverines picked up their offense and continued to stretch their lead to as much as 20. After 20 minutes of play, Michigan held a 55-38 advantage.
In the first half Michigan had double-digit scoring efforts come from Smith (11) and Pool (12). The duo split up the period as Smith scored all of her points in the opening eight minutes of play before incurring foul trouble. Pool then did the majority of her scoring in the latter part of the half. Helping the Michigan cause was the Maize and Blue bench, which outscored the UMass subs 18-3. Michigan was highly successful from the field as it converted on 73.3 percent (22-30) of its shots while UMass hit on just 37.5 percent of its attempts (15-40).
Pool opened second-half scoring with an athletic, up-and-under layup. A steal by Mie Burlin (Chalottenlund, Denmark/BMS-Herleb) then led to an uncontested layup and a 21-point lead. The Wolverines sustained their control on both ends of the court throughout the second half as they allowed the Minutewomen to score just nine points in the first 11 minutes of the second half. Meanwhile, Michigan pushed its lead to a game-high 34 points (81-47) with 8:50 remaining.
During the final minutes of the contest Michigan was able to empty its bench, with 11 of its 12 players scoring at least one point as the Wolverines eased their way to 91-65 victory.
Michigan closes out it four-game homestand with a 2 p.m. contest against Detroit on Sunday (Dec. 1) in Crisler Arena.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Sue Guevara
Opening statement ... "It was a nice win for us. We knew UMass was 2-0 coming in here. We knew that they had a nice inside-outside game. I thought our kids did a nice job of executing our game plan. I was really happy to see that 11 out of 12 players were in double digits for minutes. Everybody got good minutes tonight and that's a good thing because we have another game in less than 48 hours. This is the third game in a row that I've told our team that I love that we have a strong bench. Our bench play is going to make a huge difference for us down the line."
About the depth on the bench ... "I said to team in locker room that Raina (Goodlow) has been here for five years and I think this is strongest team we've had in that time. Our depth is young but we're getting them experience early. Our freshmen will be sophomores by the time the Big Ten season comes around. To go that deep onto our bench is a good feeling."
On the rebounding performance ... "Rebounding is one of our goals. We want to win the rebounding battle every game. We want that characteristic of being relentless. I think we were that way in the first half."
On being a consistently good rebounding team ... "It starts with going after the ball, reading its bounce. We want to make contact and go get it. It's an attitude. You have to be aggressive, tough and you have to really want it. We talk about how defense wins games and rebounding wins championships. We spend a fair amount of time rebounding."
On shooting tonight ... "We had good shot selection. Our perimeter play was a big question because I knew coming into the season we'd see a lot of zone. People have to stop Jen Smith and LeeAnn Bies. We had to establish an outside game. Our post players are passing back out where a player can catch and shoot. We're getting into good shooting position. I tell them how a particular Big Ten coach said we had weak perimeter play so I remind them about that sometime to motivate them."
N O T E S
Michigan set team season highs in points (91), shooting percentage (.590) and assists (19) while committing a season-low eight turnovers.
Jennifer Smith has scored in double digits in six straight games dating back to the final three games of last season, including 20 or more points in five of those six games.
Mie Burlin handed out a career-best five assists.
Rachel Cortis (Algonac, Mich./Harper Woods Regina HS) and BreAnne McPhilamy (Portage, Mich./Northern HS) scored their first career points, with two apiece.
Michigan's 91 points is the team's highest output since beating Iowa 91-80 on Feb. 14, 2002.
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
