Notes & Quotes: Michigan 63, North Carolina State 52
12/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
After using a different starting lineup against Southern California on Tuesday (Dec. 2), Michigan went back to its starting five of Jessica Minnfield, Stephany Skrba, Veronica Hicks, Carly Benson and Melinda Queen.
Minnfield and Benson made their 100th career appearances in a Michigan uniform.
Michigan went into the break with a lead for the seventh time in eight games this season. The only contest when U-M trailed at the break was at Southern Cal.
Carly Benson has made at least one three-point field goal in each of Michigan's last five games and has made at least two three-pointers in each of Michigan's last two games.
When playing on the Big Ten Network, Michigan is now 2-1 on the season and is 2-0 when Big Ten Network women's basketball analyst Vera Jones is on the call.
Michigan's nine turnovers are a season low.
Michigan's 11 assists are the most assists as a team this season. The Wolverines had 10 assists on three other occasions.
Jessica Minnfield tied her career high with five steals; she last had five steals against Michigan State (1/13/08) last season.
Veronica Hicks had a career-high five assists, besting her previous personal best of four made on two occasions.
Michigan was outrebounded for the second consecutive game and, for the third time this season, picked up a win when outrebounded.
Jessica Minnfield extended her free-throw shooting streak to 24-of-24 but had it snapped late in the game when she missed the back end twice.
Michigan's 33-19 halftime lead was its largest halftime lead of the season.
The Wolverines picked up their second consecutive ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory. Michigan defeated Miami (Fla.) in the Challenge last season, 65-50. The Big Ten picked up four victories in this year's Challenge.
Michigan evens the series with NC State to 1-1 all-time with tonight's triumph.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Kevin Borseth
On the game... "First off, it is great to be playing in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and it is even better to be hosting the event at our place. Coach Yow and her staff have a good team and we were privileged to be a part of this event for the second year."
On attacking close to the basket being a part of the game plan... "It's always going to be intentional. We just really haven't done a great job of it, but tonight I thought that we were able to get it going. Stephany (Skrba) did well on the block down low. KP (Krista Phillips) had a couple down there. We had some nice passes from the two bigs to each other cutting down there. It was a point of emphasis, and we have to get better at it each day."
On being able to score from both inside and outside... "They just really didn't put up a whole lot of resistance in passing lanes and those kinds of things and defensively it was really kind of different. They were in a 1-3-1 when we started, but they went into something different later and I'm not really sure what it was, a man, diamond in one or what, but it was very loose because they switched so much and I thought the cutters were able to get it inside behind the big kids. It was just the way they played it."
On the importance of this win..."Every win is a good win. We'll take any win that we can get and that win was a good win, obviously. Any time you don't do well one game, you obviously want to do well the next game. It's a big game going into Duke, but it won't be the deciding factor."
On the limited number of turnovers today... "They didn't really come out after us. Texas A&M really came out after us and they put pressure on you, and you have to be able to handle the basketball because they force you to make quick decisions. Duke is going to press us for 40 minutes. It becomes a lot more complicated when teams give you resistance, big time resistance. We haven't really demonstrated our ability to shoot very well. Akron and Belmont kind of laid back on us and we made shots. Tonight, it worked for us and we hit some shots early, and it helped us."
On Veronica Hicks' defense on NC State's Shayla Fields... "Roni (Veronica Hicks) really widened out on defense and did a great job. Obviously, it was a point of contention for us to make sure that she didn't get too involved. Normally we switch, but we didn't switch at all on her. Roni chased her well. Its high-energy when you have to do that, but Roni is long and pretty quick and determined to get it done, which was really good."
U-M Senior Guard Jessica Minnfield
On how Carly Benson's play helps the team... "It gives us a lot of confidence when Carly is hitting shots. When she's hitting the shots, everybody else feels like they can do it too."
On her five steals... "I was on my game tonight. I haven't had that many steals. It was just being in the passing lane like Coach Williams said, hedging out, getting my foot in the passing lane."
On getting tested late in the game... "I think that we needed that late in the game to let us know that we need to be on top of our game and that we can't let down in the second half. We have to come together and make sure that our focus is there all the time. " On the Duke game ... "If we could get it done, it would be a really big win for our program like the Vanderbilt game. It would be really good for us, going into Big Ten knowing that we can play with anybody."
U-M Sophomore Guard Veronica Hicks
On guarding NC State's Shayla Fields... "Playing her was a challenge. Coach told us she was a great shooter and can penetrate and pull up over the top. I think as a team, we played team defense and everyone was there to help when she had the ball, had a hand in her face and made sure that she didn't have a shot. It was a good team effort. We knew that she could score. We knew that we needed to be aware when Shayla Fields and Nikitta Gartrell had the ball if we could get it out of their hands, it would be good for us and be able to put us in a rebounding situation."
On playing ranked opponents... "It's good. You want to play the top teams in the country. We feel it will prepare us for Big Ten because we also have a few in the top 25 in our league. It's great competition. We just want to go out there and win. If we go into Big Ten with a winning record, it will let other teams know that we are here to play."
U-M Senior Forward Carly Benson
On hitting the early three-pointer shots... "I think they were good for us. They were rhythm shots and we were moving the ball for the most part, which was good for us. Coach tells us to take the first shot. Someone has to take it and to put it up and have confidence in it, and rebound, and it worked out well for us."
On starting the game fast... "It gave us a lot of confidence and having that lead let us do some other things. Veronica Hicks and Jessica Minnfield had great defensive games for us, and I think that we had confidence, and I think that will help us as we take on Duke and Notre Dame."
On if playing several ranked teams already helps with the upcoming stretch... "I think that it definitely helps and also having seniors in the starting lineups helps too. We aren't intimidated anymore and we're used to playing teams like that. We are ready to go play at Duke and come out with a win."
