Michigan
4-1
Stephen F. Austin
2-1
Wolverines Crush Stephen F. Austin Behind Arnold's Big Night
11/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2009
Site: Las Cruces, N.M. (Pan American Center)
Event: Aggie Hotel Encanto Classic
Score: Michigan 85, Stephen F. Austin 61
Records: Michigan (4-1), Stephen F. Austin (2-1)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Nov. 28 -- at New Mexico State - New Mexico State Aggie Classic (Las Cruces, N.M.), 7 p.m. MST
LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Freshman forward Sam Arnold (Medinah, Ill./Lake Park) had a coming out party against the Stephen F. Austin LadyJacks with a career-best 16 points and four rebounds to lead the University of Michigan women's basketball team to a 85-61 victory in the opening game of the Aggie Hotel Encanto Classic on Friday night (Nov. 27) at New Mexico State's Pan American Center.
Joining Arnold in double figures were sophomore forward Carmen Reynolds (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) with 16 points, junior guard Veronica Hicks (Chicago, Ill./Thornwood) with 12 points and freshman forward Rachel Sheffer (Watervliet, Mich./Watervliet) with a career-best 12 points. Classmates Reynolds and sophomore guard Courtney Boylan (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) led the Wolverines with seven rebounds each.
U-M, which led the game from start to finish, had a 40-8 advantage in the paint and had 21 second-chance points. Stephen F. Austin was led by Whitney Cormier, who had a game-best 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field.
The Wolverines, who had an eight-point lead at halftime, were led by freshman guard Jenny Ryan (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel Catholic Central) in the second half, as U-M opened with a 6-0 run, largely in part to two Ryan buckets, to extend its lead to 47-36 with just several minutes off the clock. Michigan began to take it to the LadyJacks on the inside in the second half with U-M's post players recording 19 second-half points and 22 points in the paint.
The Wolverines, anticipating an up-tempo game from the LadyJacks, came out firing on all cylinders in the first half and made their first shot, a three-pointer from Ryan, and jumped out to an early 11-4 lead. Michigan took advantage of the size of senior center Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Aden Bowman Collegiate) as the Wolverines dominated the battle of the paint 18-6 in the first half.
Stephen F. Austin settled in after the first several minutes of the game and forced the Wolverines into six early turnovers, which minimized U-M's season-best 51.9-percent shooting in the first half. U-M struggled with Stephen F. Austin's frenetic press but was able to get to the free-throw line to offset the turnover woes, going 9-of-11 from the charity stripe. The Wolverines' inside game made all the difference in the first half. U-M's post players Phillips and Arnold, who had 11 points in the first half, used their height to their advantage as the Wolverines took a 41-33 lead into the break.
Michigan concludes action at the New Mexico State Aggie Classic on Saturday (Nov. 28) against host New Mexico State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in New Mexico State's Pan American Center.
Contact: Jessica Poole (734) 763-4423
