Michigan
Michigan State
Michigan Drops Home Game to No. 23 Michigan State
1/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team suffered a 66-48 defeat to intrastate rival Michigan State (No. 23 AP/No. 21 ESPN/USA Today) Thursday night (Jan. 18) in front of 2,071 fans at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines (8-12, 1-6 Big Ten) had difficulties solving the Spartan defense, finishing the game shooting 29 percent (18-of-62) from the field and 19 percent (5-of-27) from three-point range.
Freshman LeQuisha Whitfield (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King HS) turned in one of the most impressive performances of her young career, finishing with a team-high 12 points and a career-best nine rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench. Freshman Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Aden Bowman Collegiate HS) posted nine points and six rebounds, while sophomore Jessica Minnfield (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic HS) chipped in nine points and a pair of steals. Junior Janelle Cooper (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance HS) recorded eight points, including a pair of triples.
Michigan struggled to find its touch early on, misfiring on its first seven attempts from the field as the Spartans built an 8-0 lead. A Kalyn McPherson (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) steal and layup at 14:06 gave the Wolverines their first points of the game and cut the deficit to six points.
After back-to-back MSU buckets pushed the score to 12-2, Michigan was able to slightly cut into the Michigan State lead thanks to triples from Cooper and sophomore Carly Benson (Carney, Mich./Carney-Nadeau Public School) followed by a basket inside by Whitfield. The result was an 18-10 Spartan advantage with 6:52 remaining in the first half.
MSU scored nine unanswered points over a span of 2:39 to increase its lead to 27-10. Another Cooper triple at 3:59 trimmed the lead to 14 points, and Michigan State took a 29-15 cushion into halftime.
The Wolverines finished the half shooting just 24 percent (6-of-25) while committing 14 turnovers.
The U-M defense allowed one Spartan field goal in the first 4:07 of the second half, but Michigan didn't fare much better, scoring four points to keep the MSU lead at 14 points (33-19). Michigan State extended its lead to as many as 20 points over the next 13:52 of play.
Trailing 56-36 with 3:55 on the clock, the Wolverines refused to quit and used a quick 6-0 run to come within 14 points with 2:43 left in contest. Michigan never backed down until the final whistle, cutting the deficit to as low as 13 before time expired.
The Wolverines have a week off before returning to action at Wisconsin on Jan. 25. The game against the Badgers is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CST start at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., and can be heard live on WTKA (AM 1050).
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
