Bench leads 'M' into Big Ten season By Raphael Goodstein Daily Sports Writer While most students were vacationing and watching bowl games, the Michigan women's basketball team was stuck in Ann Arbor with three crucial games that were as close to must-wins as the December and January schedule could provide. Three wins later the Wolverines find themselves tied for first place in the Big Ten and a three-game losing streak - a series in which their interior presence was exposed - has been replaced with a three game winning streak. The best part of Michigan's winning streak was its bench's dominance. Outscoring their opponents' benches 73-12 in the three games, the reserves showed why they and the rest of the team could contend for a Big Ten title. Michigan (10-3 overall) is now 2-0 in the Big Ten heading into Thursday night's game at Indiana. The Wolverines' three-game losing streak came after their most successful start in school history at 7-0. But their problems were nothing that a game against Central Michigan couldn't fix. The Wolverines beat the host Chippewas 73-61. More importantly the Wolverines' lowpost scored 47 points, including 19 from freshman LeeAnn Bies who also chipped in 11 rebounds. "I had a lot of fans there," Bies, a Lakeview native said. "I just wanted to go out there and play well for them." Michigan's bench outscored the Chippewas' 22-6. The reserves kept scoring in both Michigan's 67-64, win over Michigan State and its 77-53 win over Minnesota. They whitewashed the Spartans' bench 19-0 and outscored Minnesota's 32-6, getting14 from sophomore Heather Oesterle and 12 from junior Alison Miller. "Everyone has really accepted their roles on the team," junior Anne Thorius said. "Everyone understands that you can come off the bench and contribute and we understand that if we are going to win the Big Ten title, we need the bench to play well." Interestingly, Thorius, normally a starter, came off the bench against Central Michigan. The point guard has not played up to pre-season expectations, and Michigan coach Sue Guevara started freshman Infini Robinson in her place. The change did little to spark Thorius, who finished with six points in 27 minutes. Robinson finished with two points in 12 minutes. "I talked to coach about that and I felt that I was not contributing as much as I should," Thorius said. "We agreed that Infini has played well in practice and that it might be something that could help light a spark for me and the team." Michigan briefly celebrated the win and got ready for their Big Ten opener with Michigan State, the team that most expect the Wolverines to battle with for a top-half of the conference finish and a NCAA Tournament bid. Thorius was back in the starting lineup, but Thomas carried the Wolverines. Thomas scored 21 points, recorded eight steals, and held Michigan State's all-Big Ten small forward Maxann Reese to 10 points. "Everyone against State was excited and ready to play them," Thorius said. Originally on page 3B in the 1-5-2000 issue of the Daily.