Third time's a charm

JEFF HURVITZ/Daily

Alayne Ingram and Anne Thorius lead the Michigan offense once again from the guard positions.

Michigan banks on experience as the backcourt returns for its third year in a row

By Benjamin Singer Daily Sports Writer

Anne Thorius and Alayne Ingram complement each other well. Don't go so far as to claim one is the yin to the other's yang, or that they are polar opposites with a magnetic attraction.

Rather, with guards Thorius and Ingram on the court, it is more like connecting two puzzle pieces. Where one leaves off, the other picks up. One thrives on assists and the other on shooting. They join together to make one unit.

Such has been the case for two years. The prospect of starting side by side for a third year in a row holds excitement for not only the two individuals, but for the Michigan women's basketball team. The backcourt is back again.

A Horsholm, Denmark native, Thorius has three years of running the point under her belt. She brings in other international experiences, such as a captain of the Danish National Team at age 17.

At Michigan, she has racked up 389 assists, 13 behind all-time team leader Lori Gnatkowski, whose record has stood since 1984. Thorius is the first Michigan player with three consecutive 100-assist seasons.

"To accomplish that (record) will make me feel good," Thorius said. "It's the one part of my game that I am most complete in."

The junior, Ingram, plays the aptly named position of shooting guard. She is sixth on Michigan's career 3-point list with 81 and is second in free-throw shooting percentage at .848. Her 12.4 points per game last year is the highest for returning players on the team.

She makes herself an inviting recipient for a Thorius pass.

"Anne is very good at creating. Alayne loves to take that big shot," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "Anne knows when Alayne is hot, you feed that fire."

Ingram has worked on her sweet stroke for years.

Being a prominent shooter is "what I want to do," Ingram said. "But one of the things I want to work on this year is my defense. I know I can score, and so do my teammates."

Both hold a position of leadership for the Wolverines. Thorius has the official title of senior co-captain along with Katie Dykhouse. Unofficially, she has been dubbed by teammates "the glue that holds Michigan together."

"Age and international experience help me," Thorius said. "I know that when I'm not playing well, it's not time for me to take over, it's time for other people to take over and feed off their energy."

Though Ingram is a year younger, she is anxious for a similar role. After two successful seasons of reaching the postseason at Michigan, the entire junior class has stepped into a leadership position for the six underclassmen.

"It's all about how you impact your teammates, and I think that my class and myself, we impact them in a positive way," Ingram said.

Their experience translates into more than emotionally guiding the team. The guards are comfortable next to each other on the floor, where they have been the past two years.

"Over the years, we've gotten used to each other," Ingram said. "We feed off each other so well because we know what excites us."

Ingram set up a scenario. Thorius pushes the ball up on a fastbreak. Ingram sits on the perimeter. Thorius kicks it off to Ingram.

"For me to hit the shot from her pass is going to get me excited," Ingram said. "For her to throw me the ball on the pass gets her excited."

Such situations are like a second nature now for the Thorius-Ingram duo.

"We learned how to read each other's games," Thorius said. "I know exactly where to find Alayne when I'm out on the court."

"I know where to be," Ingram interjected.

"It's not always a matter of verbal communication," Thorius continued. "It's just natural."

The interdependence the players display during games gets disrupted for practices. They can go from friends to foes once the competitive juices start flowing.

"There have been times in practice when we're on opposite teams and it gets heated because we both want to win," Ingram said. "Anne and me, we disagree more than anybody. I disagree with her."

Ingram tried to think how often.

"All the time," Thorius chimed in.

"One time, we just kept talking back and forth," Ingram recalled. "Coach finally said, 'Will you two just shut up?'''

The trash-talking and disputes during closed-door scrimmages are beneficial to the growth of their relationship and the team.

"It brings a competitive drive you need to have in practice," Thorius said. "I think it's just a friendship that develops into competitiveness on the floor."

Thrown onto opposing teams in these intrasquad matchups, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

"Not playing with each other in practice helps us to see how good we are for each other," Ingram said. "We can understand how it is not to have each other on our team."

They rarely deal with separation anxiety during games. Thorius started all her games as a freshman. Ingram joined her in the backcourt in her freshman year. Ingram found herself on the bench for the ninth game.

"I had struggled," Ingram said. "I was starting to think about it too much. Basketball is just a game. You play it."

Her struggles meant she didn't get to play it - at least not at the game's first whistle. Guevara decided to use her off the bench rather than let her start.

"I was crushed, I was upset and I was angry," Ingram remembered. "But I told her that was fine because I was going to be back in the starting lineup. I worked hard for it and giving it up wasn't something I wanted to do."

Ingram came off the bench six times - a number she knew without hesitation even two years later - before she was a starter again.

Thorius has only seen two games at Michigan without starting. Both came last year. The second time she sat down was because of a deep thigh bruise she suffered at Indiana. But it was the first game she didn't start that hurt more than any injury.

"It was terrible," Thorius said of watching the tipoff against Central Michigan from the bench. "I was playing horrendous. I did not have my head in the game at all."

Similar to Ingram, Guevara called Thorius into her office and explained why she lost her starting position.

"Last year in the nonconference schedule, Anne was struggling," Guevara said. "I thought she was hurting the team more than helping the team."

For the first time in her career, Thorius entered into a game after it was already underway.

"For some reason it's such a different feeling coming off the bench," Thorius said. "I remember feeling more nervous than I've ever been. It was a lack of confidence in myself. It was a lack of confidence from the coaches, I felt."

Her sixth-man role was short-lived as she exhibited the ability Guevara had expected from her before.

"Once she got into that game, the way she ran the team - it was a kick in the butt," Guevara said.

She was back in the lineup the next game in time for the Big Ten season. In conference games, she averaged 11.4 points and 5.1 assists.

Ingram and Thorius, like the Wolverines themselves, find that no matter what they accomplish, they are always underestimated by outsiders.

"I know how badly they both want the respect as one of the best backcourts," Guevara said.

Michigan is counting on the past couple of years to add up.

"We definitely build on the experiences year after year," Thorius said. "Now we're coming down to that third season. That's what is going to give us an advantage against other backcourts in the Big Ten."