Blue guards step up in Johns' absence to help beat Spartans

The thought of losing your best player to an injury is enough to make any team cringe.

But the dark cloud that formed Sunday at Crisler Arena had a silver lining for the Michigan women's basketball team.

With five minutes remaining in the first half, Michigan center Pollyanna Johns went out of the game with a knee injury. Johns, who played sparingly after picking up two early fouls, would not return to the game, logging just six minutes and three points in the contest.

Without their leading scorer and rebounder for the first time all year, the Wolverines faced a crucial juncture, both in the game and in their season.

KEVIN KRUPITZER/Daily Ann Lemire shined in Johns' absence, scoring 23 points.

Their inside strength considerably weakened, Michigan coach Sue Guevara called upon her perimeter players to respond.

Enter Ann Lemire, Molly Murray and Stacey Thomas.

The three starters, along with considerable help off the bench, made the program's record crowd at Crisler forget about the hole in the middle. They systematically dismantled Michigan State with penetration, ball movement and clutch outside shooting.

With 4:26 remaining in the first half and Johns icing her knee on the bench, Michigan found itself down, 29-28, to the pesky Spartans.

It was at this point that Murray, Michigan's career 3-point leader, and Lemire decided to assert themselves from long range.

For the remainder of the half, the two launched a barrage of 3-pointers at the hapless Spartans, hitting two each, with the clincher coming from Lemire with six seconds remaining.

When the dust settled, the Wolverines had taken a 10-point lead and Michigan State's confidence with them into the lockerroom.

In the second half, Murray and Lemire cooled off, hitting one more trey each, but another Wolverine would step up, as they had been doing all day.

Thomas, able to beat Michigan State's defenders off the dribble for pull-up jumpers and easy layups, broke the Spartans' back, never letting them cut the lead to less than seven.

Even more importantly, Michigan was able to shoulder the rebounding load usually assumed by Johns, who is averaging a Big-Ten best 9.9 rebounds per game. Lemire and forward Tiffany Willard, who filled in for Johns, grabbed eight boards each, while Thomas grabbed seven.

"With Pollyanna out, Stacey and I knew we had to go to the boards," Lemire said.

The two 5-foot-10 guards used the same quickness that allowed them to penetrate and score to keep the rebound game even with the taller Spartans, whose frontline featured two 6-4 players.

While the victory over the mediocre Spartans, who have had just one conference victory all season, may not seem impressive in the grand scheme, it was something much bigger for the Wolverines.

This is a game they easily could have lost.

Johns, also second in the conference in scoring, had clearly been the go-to player for Michigan, leading the team in scoring in 12 of its 17 games. With her out of the game, it was anybody's guess how the Wolverines would respond.

"If you take away someone who gives you 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, that's a pretty big hole," Guevara said.

But the Wolverines filled that hole, in the process proving that they can handle the adversity that is thrown at them by the turbulent conference season.

01-20-98