Second half shooting hurts Michigan

Women's hoops struggles with turnovers, 3-pointers, preventing any late comeback

By Benjamin Singer

Daily Sports Writer

No matter how close the score looked in the final eight minutes, the reality was that the Michigan women's basketball team never put a scare into Ohio State as the Buckeyes won, 76-68, at Crisler Arena this past Sunday.

Ohio State (2-4 Big Ten, 12-4 overall) entered the game limited to a seven-player rotation. The Buckeyes dressed just six players in their last game, a 75-73 loss to Illinois, but nine were ready to play for the Michigan game. Two new players joined the team Saturday to fill the vacancies left by five serious injuries, four of which were season-ending. But coach Beth Burns was not anxious to use the newcomers, keeping Ohio State with a shallow bench.

"We have been hit with more in the last three weeks than some people can (be) in a lifetime," Burns said. "I just can't say enough about the toughest group of human beings I've ever been around."

The Wolverines (2-4, 9-7) wanted to tire out the Buckeyes, but when they tried to set a fast pace by running the court, they often lost the ball. They ended the game with 20 turnovers, 12 coming from guards Alayne Ingram and Anne Thorius.

The momentum tipped over to Ohio State when a 10-2 run put the Buckeyes up 60-55 with 7:21 remaining. The surge was helped in large part by back-to-back Ohio State steals on careless Michigan passing. Jamie Lewis hit two of her four 3-pointers to cap the run.

The Wolverines had no way to answer the challenge as Ingram kept launching 3-point attempts that did not fall, finishing 0-for-5 from behind the arc. The best Michigan could do was trade baskets by passing inside, as it had done for most of the game.

While moving along two points at a time, Michigan couldn't muster up enough defensive stands to help close the gap. Not only were Lewis and her 20 points a threat from the outside, but Ohio State forward Courtney Coleman broke her career-high in points for the second-straight game with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

Both teams shot over 50 percent in the first half, but just Ohio State maintained its average in the second. After the break, Michigan shot just 39 percent.

The Buckeyes moved cleanly through the lane, both with Coleman's posting-up and the dribble penetration of guards Lauren Shenk and Tomeka Brown.

"We were running a defense that we ran the other night against Penn State," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "The only problem was when the ball did go down on the block, we didn't get quite the help" from the post players.

BRAD QUINN/Daily

Post-players Raina Goodlow, Jennifer Smith, Katie Dykhouse and coach Sue Guevara look on as the Wolverines cannot stop hot-shooting Ohio State in the second half.