|
2/26/02-
Week #10- Stumbling Towards Indianapolis
After coming so
close to an upset of powerful Purdue, the Michigan women’s basketball
team turned to the two remaining games on their regular season
schedule. Winning both of these would at least give them some measure
of confidence and momentum going in to the conference tournament.
Furthermore, they would boost their fading chances at an NCAA
tournament bid. The Wolverines would first travel to Evanston to take
on Northwestern, then return to Ann Arbor for a rematch with Penn
State.
Earlier in February,
Northwestern had given Michigan quite a scare at Crisler Arena.
Despite having no wins in Big Ten play, the Wildcats hung tough and
only lost by seven points. Nearly three weeks later, Northwestern was
still looking for their first conference victory as they welcomed the
Wolverines to their campus in the suburbs of Chicago. The scrappy
Wildcats once again refused to be intimidated by the women from Ann
Arbor, as they jumped out to an 8-4 advantage. Michigan came back to
lead by nine at the half, but this still left Northwestern in a
position to win.
In fact, the
Wildcats did rally early in the second half and led 48-43 as the clock
dipped under 13 minutes. Bies, Gandy, and Ingram then pushed the Maize
and Blue back in front at 57-53. The score remained close the rest of
the way, but Michigan held on by a final of 63-59.
Three players scored
in double figures for Michigan: Alayne Ingram with 18, Stephanie Gandy
with 17, and LeeAnn Bies with 15. Bies also led in rebounds with nine
and assists with five.
The regular season
finale featured the Wolverines versus Penn State. This would be the
final home game for seniors Alayne Ingram, Heather Oesterle, and
Susana Jara. Appropriately enough, Ingram opened the scoring with a
three point field goal. Jara also scored in the first half, and
Oesterle dominated the boards in the early going. Unfortunately,
Michigan struggled to put points on the board and the Nittany Lions
took a three point lead to the locker room.
After the break,
things got even worse for the Wolverines. The Penn State lead bulged
to double figures as Michigan was unable to break out of their
offensive doldrums. When it was all over, the Nittany Lions had
completed a season sweep of Michigan with a 65-47 win. Last season,
Michigan won three games over Penn State including a win in the Big
Ten tournament.
It was not hard to
find a reason why Michigan lost this game. They shot a horrible 25
percent for the game, including an ice cold 21 percent in the second
half. Penn State did not do all that much better, but then again they
didn’t really have to. Ingram scored 21 points in her final Crisler
Arena regular season game, and Oesterle led all rebounders with 10.
Bies was the other top Michigan scorer with 12, and no one else
generated much offense.
Michigan finishes
the 2001-02 regular season at 16-11 and 6-10 in the Big Ten. The 6-10
league mark is the worst in Coach Sue Guevara’s tenure, and the
overall record is only one win better than her first team which
finished 15-11. After winning 10 of 11 non-conference games, the team
stumbled badly against the conference schedule. They beat a strong
Iowa team twice, but were 0-6 versus the other top teams in the
league-Purdue, Penn State, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. If they could
have won half of those games, they would have finished 9-7. They were
also swept by both Ohio State and Illinois, both of whom finished with
worse overall records.
And so the
Wolverines head to Indianapolis for this season’s Big Ten tournament.
They face Illinois in the first round on Thursday February 28. Game
time is 3 pm. Michigan lost twice to the Illini in the regular season,
so they ought to be fired up for this one.
Michigan’s chances
at an NCAA bid are slim at best, unless they somehow manage to win the
Big Ten tournament and the automatic Big Dance invitation that comes
with that. They should make the NIT, especially if they can win at
least one or two games in the conference tourney. It is still puzzling
to me how it got to this point in the first place, considering the
fast start and the available talent.
Once again, I issue
a plea to the team. Go to Indy and give it all you have on Thursday!
Forget about the Penn State game, forget about all the other games you
could have won. You still have the chance to do great things this
season, so show your Maize and Blue pride and give us something to
shout about!
Until next time…Hail to the Victors and Let’s Go Blue!
Vince Prygoski
prygoski@umflint.edu
|
|
