Lions knock out Blue in overtime

INDIANAPOLIS - Their faces said it all.

Long and pale, eyes red from recent tears, dejection painted all over them.

The Michigan women's basketball team's 87-81 overtime loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal was tough for Michigan coach Sue Guevara and guards Ann Lemire and Molly Murray to swallow. And it showed.

"The feeling I have in my gut right now is killing me," Murray said. "I know we have the NCAA Tournament to look forward to, but I've got to get over this feeling first."

Penn State's Jamie Parsons sealed the Nittany Lions' (8-8 Big Ten, 17-12 overall) victory when she sank two free throws with 12 seconds left in overtime, giving the seventh-seeded Nittany Lions the 87-81 lead.

MALLORY S.E. FLOYD/Daily Michigan's Ann Lemire fights for the ball with two Wisconsin players in Indianapolis.

But it was two turnovers by freshman point guard Anne Thorius in the overtime period that probably cost Michigan (10-6, 19-9) the game.

With 1:27 to play in overtime, Penn State's Helen Darling passed the ball out of bounds. As Thorius took the ball upcourt off the inbounds, she stepped on the sideline.

But that wasn't the killer. With 27.9 seconds to play and the Wolverines trailing by two, the freshman tried to find center Pollyanna Johns in the low post. But her pass was too far out in front of Johns, and the ball rolled out of bounds.

The Wolverines made quite a run in a frenzied final 30 seconds of regulation to force overtime at all, and appeared to have the momentum heading into the extra stanza.

With 27.3 seconds left in regulation, Andrea Garner hit a jump shot over Johns, giving the Nittany Lions a 73-70 lead. With 11 seconds remaining, Murray missed a 3-pointer to tie, but Stacey Thomas got the offensive rebound and tipped the ball to Lemire. Lemire hit the game-tying 3-pointer from the right side of the basket with 6.6 seconds to play.

But the Lions weren't done. After a timeout with 3.1 seconds left, Garner somehow got open off the inbound pass for an easy jump shot two feet in front of the net, but it clanged off the rim. Clara Carter grabbed the rebound and put up a shot at the buzzer, but Johns swatted it away, forcing overtime.

Murray led the Wolverines with a season-high 25 points and was named to the All-Tournament team. Lemire added 22 as the two guards made up for a lackluster performance by Johns, who finished the game with just six points. Garner led the Lions with 25 points and six rebounds, and Helen Darling added 20.

The Wolverines had one of their better offensive performances - they shot 54 percent from the floor and 59 percent from beyond the 3-point arc - but they struggled defensively.

Michigan often failed to box out, and was outrebounded, 36-35, including 18 Penn State offensive boards. The Wolverines couldn't stop Garner in the low post, especially with Johns out much of the game with foul trouble.

"Any time you shoot (that well), you should win the ball game," Guevara said. "The problem is that we didn't play defense on the other end."

Despite the loss, the tournament was a success for Michigan.

The Wolverines won their first-ever Big Ten tournament game in the quarterfinal match, a 79-70 victory over sixth-seeded Wisconsin (9-7, 21-9) on Feb. 28.

Thorius led the Wolverines in perhaps her best game of the year, scoring a career-high 23 points and getting six assists. Kenisha Walker added quality minutes off the bench, scoring a career high 12 points on six of 10 shooting. LaTonya Sims led the Badgers with 23 points and seven rebounds.

The Wolverines used a 16-4 run midway through the second half to take a 67-56 lead, then held off a late Wisconsin surge to secure the win. The Badgers pulled to within five with 30 seconds to play, but Thorius scored the last four points and stole the ball once to give the Wolverines the nine-point victory.

03-09-98