Michigan
Detroit
U-M Cruises in Home Opener as Six Reach Double Digits
11/18/1998 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Arena)
Score:Â Michigan 96, Detroit 73
Records:Â U-M (1-1), Detroit (0-1)
Next U-M Game:Â Saturday, Nov. 21 -- vs. Colorado (Crisler Arena), 5 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team opened its home schedule by handing the University of Detroit a 96-73 loss on Wednesday (Nov. 18). The Wolverines scored more points in the first half than they had the entire game in their season-opening 57-45 loss at No. 20 Vanderbilt on Nov. 13, as Michigan bolted to a 55-30 advantage at intermission.
Both Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) and Stacey Thomas (Flint, Mich./Southwestern Academy) reached double figures in the scoring column by halftime. The pair finished the game as the high scorers with 22 points apiece. Four other Wolverines reached double digits as well as the Wolverines shot 53.5 percent from the floor en route to Michigan's highest offensive output since a 104-72 win over Furman on Nov. 29, 1997.
Michigan jumped out to an 11-0 lead before the Titans managed their first basket of the game. Michelle James nailed the first of her two three-pointers at 15:52 to put Detroit on the board. The Wolverines pulled out to a 26-point lead several times in the opening half before closing the session with a 55-30 advantage. By half's end, U-M had recorded eight steals and 14 assists and shot 63.2 percent while holding Detroit to 8-of-23 (.348) field goals and forcing 19 turnovers.
In the second half, Detroit cut the lead to 18 (70-52) on a pair of free throws from Anne Yoches. The Wolverines never let the Titans get any closer, however, going up by 26 on a triple from freshman Heather Oesterle (Mason, Mich./Mason HS). Both Thomas and Detroit's James fouled out at the three-minute mark, before Erica Lewis closed the scoring at 96-73 on a layup in the closing seconds.
Joining Thomas and Ingram in double digits for Michigan were freshman Raina Goodlow (Detroit, Mich./Dominican HS) with 12, sophomore Anne Thorius (Horsholm, Denmark) with 10, and sophomore Alison Miller (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) and Oesterle with 11 points each.
Michigan returns to action on Saturday (Nov. 21) with a 5 p.m. home game against the University of Colorado. Prior to the game, there will be a ceremony honoring U-M's two NCAA Tournament teams (1990 and 1998), including the raising of a banner commemorating the teams' accomplishments.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Sue Guevara
"Our offense came alive tonight. We were able to run the floor. But we're still not gelling as far as the post and perimeter. "We came out as focused as we needed to be. Our defense let down in the second half though. We just need to be smart. Handchecking is an emphasis this year so we need to play defense with our feet. We have a smart team, but I'm not seeing it as much as I want to. We have Colorado coming in Saturday, and they're a good team, so we need to play much smarter."
"Detroit is not as big Vanderbilt was, so when we had penetration, we were able to see better. Alayne (Ingram) and Anne (Thorius) were better in penetration tonight. We were able to hit some threes, and our shots were going in. Nothing was wrong with our offense, but we're still not clicking."
U-M Freshman Guard Alayne Ingram
"I just take what's given to me. If I get an open shot, I'll take it."
"Tonight, we were more conscious about being patient. Against Vanderbilt we took a lot of quick shots. Tonight we just settled down and tried to determine what would happen ourselves."
Detroit Head Coach Nikita Lowry
"I guess we had first-game jitters. Michigan played Vanderbilt last week and got a game under its belt, so I guess this was our game under our belt. We had key injuries to key people, but that's part of the game; people need to step up. We lost a first-round draft choice to surgery and an All-MCC player to surgery this week. It affected us a great deal, but we have to move on."
"Obviously, Alayne (Ingram) and Stacey (Thomas) are two players who will take this team (Michigan) places. They have a bright future ahead of them. It was a good game for us to get started with."
On returning to U-M, where she served two years as an assistant coach ... "I didn't really think about it. Now it's setting in, after the game, and it's nice to be back. Michigan was very good to me."
