The unranked and unheralded Michigan women's basketball team came within seconds of pulling off an upset of epic proportions last night in Hawaii, losing, 77-74, to top-ranked Stanford in the finals of the Hawaiian Air Wahine Classic.
The game, which ended just before press time, pitted the Wolverines against the heavily favored Cardinal.
Michigan fell behind by as many as 17 points in the second half, but junior center Pollyanna Johns and freshman guard Stacey Thomas led a comeback that brought the Wolverines within a point with 12 seconds to play.
Stanford's Kate Starbird hit the winning free throws to ice the game for the Cardinal, after missing the front end of a one-and-one and allowing junior forward Molly Murray to sink a 3-pointer and run the score to 75-74.
The close encounter with the country's top squad came after the Wolverines (5-1 overall) breezed through the Thanksgiving tournament.
While most people were gobbling up turkey, Michigan was feasting on opponents, defeating host Hawaii, 75-63, to reach the showdown against top-ranked Stanford. In the first round, Michigan carved up Virginia Tech, 79-63.
In Saturday's semifinal game against the Rainbows, the Wolverines led at halftime, 35-29. In the second half, Michigan guard Jennifer Kiefer hit her third 3-pointer of the game with 15:43 left, igniting an 11-point run to open a 52-38 lead which the Wolverines would not relinquish.
In all, Michigan had four players score in double digits, led by junior center Pollyanna Johns, who scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Kiefer added 16, including 4 of 6 from behind the arc, and Tiffany Willard and Stacey Thomas added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Hawaii was led by forward Nani Cockett's 32 points, but the Rainbows only shot 35.5 percent from the field.
Michigan dominated the Rainbows on the glass with a 54-33 rebounding edge and forced 15 Hawaii turnovers.
On Friday against Virginia Tech, Michigan went on a 13-1 run early in the first half to take a 19-5 lead. The Wolverines never trailed in the game, winning 79-63.
Michigan held a 56-36 advantage in rebounds over the Hokies, and has outrebounded every opponent this season.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
For in-depth coverage of the Wolverines' near-upset, read Daily Sports tomorrow.