Thorius is glorious, gives Thomas rest By Raphael Goodstein Daily Sports Writer With nine minutes left in the Michigan women's basketball team's 74-67 win over Purdue, senior forward Stacey Thomas went to the bench. At the time, Michigan held a four-point lead. It seemed likely that after Michigan's all-America candidate caught her breath, she would be back in the game. But five minutes later, she was still on the bench and Michigan's lead was still four. Why did Michigan coach Sue Guevara feel so confident Saturday without Thomas? Because junior point guard Anne Thorius was playing the way she did last year, when she averaged 11 points per game and had the third highest assist total in school history. This season, Thorius averages only 6.4 points per game. Guevara benched her for a game three weeks ago. She then bruised her quadricep in practice, causing her to miss Michigan's 77-72 loss at Indiana Thursday night. But Saturday, Thorius finally performed to expectations. "I know I haven't been playing my best basketball this year," Thorius said. "But I'm going to contribute in every way that I can." Thorius's contributions came when it mattered most - at the end, with Thomas, the team's go-to player, on the bench. "She's a very good ball handler, she's smart and she can hit her free throws," Guevara said of her late-game strategy. "We wanted the ball in her hands or in Stacey's hands." When Thorius had the ball, she did not disappoint Guevara. Consider: n Purdue had boiled Michigan's lead to one, when Thorius calmly hit an open 3-pointer. n With Michigan's lead at four and Thomas still on the bench, Thorius dribbled right, did a spin move to lose Purdue's Kelly Komara, and kissed a left-handed layup off the backboard. n After Purdue trimmed the Wolverines' lead to four, again, Thorius drove to the hoop where she spotted an open Alison Miller for a layup. From there, Thorius nailed all four of her remaining free throws to ensure the win. "I had to beat my man to the basket and then either take it all the way or pass it off to one of the shooters," Thorius said. She did both, to the tune of 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. On defense, Thorius helped hold her defensive assignments, Kelly Komara and Shinika Parks, to 3-for-12 shooting. Komara and Parks also totaled nine turnovers, and only six assists. "I just want to distribute the ball and play tough defense," Thorius said. "I take pride in my defense. I don't want my man to score." Thorius Originally on page 8B in the 1-10-2000 issue of the Daily.