Michigan
Indiana
Wolverines Claw Back to Defeat Indiana
1/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team earned an emotional 65-63 victory over Indiana Sunday afternoon (Jan. 28) in front of 1,501 fans at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines (9-13, 2-7 Big Ten) found themselves down by 17 points with 16:01 left in the game, but freshman LeQuisha Whitfield (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King HS) led a revitalized U-M squad by scoring all of her 15 points in the second half to guide the Maize and Blue to the comeback win.
Michigan tied a program best with 12 three-pointers made on 27 attempts. The Wolverines drilled eight triples in the second half, including six in the final eight minutes of the contest.
Whitfield hit a career-best three triples en route to her team-high 15 points, and added three rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes. Freshman Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Aden Bowman Collegiate HS) added 14 points, including a career-best 3-of-3 from three-point range. Sophomore Carly Benson (Carney, Mich./Carney-Nadeau Public School) also hit three triples to account for her nine points, and pulled down a team-high five rebounds. Freshman Kalyn McPherson (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) had an all-around solid performance, finishing with career-best totals of seven assists and five steals to go along with six points and four boards. Sophomore Stephany Skrba (Toronto, Ontario/Lanstaff Secondary School) scored seven points and collected four rebounds in the second half to help U-M get back into contention.
Michigan scored on its first possession on an inside move by Phillips. Indiana answered right back to knot the score, and the teams exchanged baskets -- and a series of turnovers -- to result in a 7-3 Indiana advantage at 15:44.
The Hoosiers extended their lead to 12-3 at 14:38, using inside and outside offense to keep the Wolverine defense off balance. A Nikki Smith triple, and a three-point play from Leah Enterline at 12:18, extended IUs lead to 18-3. Michigan finally found a spark offensively, as junior Krista Clement (St. Ignace, Mich./LaSalle HS) nailed a deep triple from the left corner to close the gap to 18-6 at 11:31.
A long field goal by Phillips, and a three-pointer from junior Janelle Cooper (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance HS), continued U-Ms comeback effort, cutting the Hoosier lead to 21-13 at 9:35. Phillips continued to show her range, bouncing in a triple at 8:06 to hold the Indiana lead at eight (26-18).
Benson drilled a three-pointer from the corner to further dig into the deficit, cutting the IU lead to six, 27-21, at 6:55. As halftime approached, both defenses tightened, leaving the Indiana lead at 31-23 at 2:14. The Hoosiers ended the first stanza with a Sarah McKay basket, and added an Enterline free throw, to hold a 34-23 advantage at halftime.
Phillips led U-M in the first half with eight points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, while Enterlines 11 paced the Hoosiers. The clear difference in the period, however, was Indianas 48 percent shooting from the floor (11-of-23), topping the 32 percent (8-of-25) total by the Wolverines.
IU opened the second half with a 6-0 run to pull ahead 40-23 at 16:53, but Michigan responded with a pull-up jumper from McPherson, another trey from Phillips and a Whitfield bucket to narrow IUs edge to 12, 42-30, at 14:36.
Both offenses began to find rhythm midway through the half. Phillips continued her hot shooting, canning her third triple of the afternoon at 13:13, and put-back baskets by McPherson and Skrba charged the Wolverines to again cut into IUs lead, 47-40, at 11:08.
Indianas three-point shooting spoiled U-Ms momentum, however, as McKay and Jamie Braun each connected from long range to extend the Hoosier lead to 53-40 at 9:55.
Michigan clawed its way back once again using the long-ball, as Whitfields triple at 6:39 -- followed by two consecutive three-pointers by Benson -- cut the Indiana advantage to two points (56-54) at 4:56. The fast-paced action pressed on, as Indiana responded with an Enterline trey at 4:33, but Whitfield kept U-M close with a running layup at 3:33 to cut it to three, 59-56, and, at 2:43, nailed a clutch three-pointer to knot the game at 59-59.
Skrbas pair of free throws at 1:46 completed the U-M comeback, giving the Wolverines their first advantage of the game, 61-59. MacKay quickly answered with a jump-shot to tie the score, but Whitfield hit another three-pointer to hand Michigan its biggest lead of the game, 64-61, at 1:17.
Down by three points, Smiths triple attempt to tie the game with eight seconds left was blocked by Skrba, and freshman Sireece Bass (Detroit, Mich./Pershing HS) hit a free throw with 6.9 seconds to give Michigan at 65-61 advantage. MacKay made a layup as time expired, but it wasnt enough as Michigan pulled off the thrilling two-point victory and avenged its 71-58 loss to the Hoosiers earlier in the season on Dec. 31, 2006.
The Wolverines travel to Champaign, Ill., to battle Illinois on Thursday (Feb. 1). The game is set for a 7 p.m. CST start at Assembly Hall and can be heard live over the radio on WTKA (AM 1050).
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
