Guevara 'cross' with sloppy 'M' victory

Michigan 71, Holy Cross 55

After solid road victories last weekend against Colorado and Colorado State, the Michigan women's basketball team flew home on a Rocky Mountain high heading into games with Cincinnati and Holy Cross at Crisler Arena.

But two lackluster offensive performances - a 67-59 win against the Bearcats Wednesday and a 71-55 win over the Crusaders on Saturday - didn't just leave the Wolverines crawling away with a pair of ugly victories and a 4-0 record. It also gave future opponents a glimpse of how to slow down Michigan's running game.

"It's really pretty simple," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "I think that every opponent left on our schedule should play us in a zone.

DANA LINNANE/Daily Even fighting through double-teams like this one, Michigan's Stacey Thomas still managed to lead the Wolverines to a 71-55 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday.

"If you look at our point production from this game and our last game compared to when we were out in Colorado, our post players were active in the game and scoring, but against the zone, we have had trouble getting the ball into the post."

Forward Ruth Kipping and center Alison Miller, Michigan's primary threats in the paint, combined for just 10 shots in the two games.

"Part of that is because we were not being patient against the zone," Guevara said. "Our post players have got to make sure that they are cutting into gaps, and once they do, the people on the perimeter have to be patient and let them hit the gaps."

Guevara expects Providence (1-3) to also play a zone against the Wolverines tomorrow when it visits Crisler.

After Providence, the Wolverines head to Houston for the Gene Hackerman Rice Invitational. All four made the WNIT last season.

"We have a lot of work to do before we go down to Texas," sophomore Raina Goodlow said.

If Michigan's starters don't

against the Providence zone, Guevara could turn to the bench . Against Cincinnati, reserves Kenisha Walker and LeeAnn Bies combined for 15 points and eight rebounds.

The offense could get its biggest lift from Goodlow's return. She lost her starting spot when she injured her knee in the first exhibition game. In her first prominent appearances since then, she scored 10 points and had six rebounds against Holy Cross in 18 minutes.

"She is still a little bit rusty offensively," Guevara said. "But she did a nice job of driving to the basket from the high post, and she got some rebounds for us.

Senior co-catain Stacey Thomas shone as another bright spot for the Wolverines, turning in her usual solid performance. Using her 3-point shot to spread Holy Cross's zone, Thomas dribbled through the Crusaders for easy layups.

"Thomas opened up our zone a little bit," Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons said. "We knew (Ingram) and (Thorius) could shoot the three, but we didn't know (Thomas) could shoot it that way. She did a great job of opening up our zone by hitting that three because she is such a great penetrator."

While Michigan struggled in its past two games, the defense has been solid, holding both opponents under 60 points. The Wolverines shut down their opponents by stopping their leading scorers and forcing other players to step up their scoring.

Against Cincinnati, the Michigan 'D' held senior sharp-shooter Madinah Slaise (19.7 ppg last year) to two points and a 1-for-12 performance. On Saturday, the Wolverines hounded Holy Cross's Anne Kinne, denying her open looks at the basket and holding her to 11 points. She hit four of 12 shots, including just two of nine from beyond the arc.

"(Kinne) is our best scorer," Gibbons said. "She had 24 the last game but did not have a good game offensively (tonight). You've got to give a lot of credit to (Michigan) because they did a great job on her defensively."

11-29-99