Michigan State University
Michigan
Michigan Downs Spartan Women In Big Ten Opener
12/30/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 1999
Ann Arbor, Mich. - The Michigan State women's basketball team dropped a 64-61 decision to Michigan tonight at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams. The Spartans and Wolverines are now both 9-3 overall. The contest went down to the last minute for the third time in the last four meetings between the archrivals.
?This is getting to be very typical of our games with Michigan,? Spartan coach Karen Langeland said following the contest. ?Everyone associated with each of these programs knows each other so well that I think it will always be a game like this.?
MSU trailed by just four points (28-24) at the half despite shooting a dismal 28 percent from the field and turning the ball over 13 times. The Spartans stayed in the game in large part due to a poor shooting half by the Wolverines (.343) and by outrebounding Michigan, 27-17 in the opening 20 minutes of the game.
The Wolverines led for much of the second half, but didn't go up by more than six points in the final stanza. After trailing 56-50 with less than five minutes to play, four straight free throws by Becky Cummings pulled the Spartans to within two at 56-54 with 3:56 to play.
The Spartans had an opportunity to tie the game with an easy layup off a fastbreak, but couldn't hit the basket and instead the Wolverines took a 59-54 advantage when Alayne Ingram hit a desperation three-pointer as the shot clock was about the expire with just 2:25 left in the contest.
MSU was able to pull within one at 59-58 when junior Donita Johnson converted a driving layup with 1:10 remaining in the game. Following a 20 second timeout by Michigan, the Spartans were called for a foul and Anne Thorius hit a pair of free throw to give the Wolverines a 61-58 lead with 39 seconds left.
After a Spartan timeout, Johnson missed a long three-pointer, but Kristen Rasmussen grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled with 18 seconds left. Rasmussen made one of two free throws and MSU was forced to foul. The Wolverines converted three of four free throws in the final seconds for the final margin of victory.
?There were two key stats in this game,? Langeland said. ?One was our turnovers and the other was Stacey Thomas' steals. That was the ball game right there. Every time we turned the ball over, they seemed to go down and score.
?I thought we executed our offense well,? the Spartan mentor added. ?I thought we had great shot selection, but we missed a lot of layups and that is very unusual for us. We played good defense, we rebounded better than we have in the past couple of games, we just couldn't take care of the basketball.?
Cummings had the best game for MSU, tying her career high with 23 points and equaling the MSU single-game record for free throw percentage with a perfect 11-for-11 performance from the charity stripe. Senior Kristen Rasmussen posted her fourth straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while senior Maxann Reese was the only other player in double figures with 10 points. The Spartan bench was held scoreless for the first time this season, while MSU lost for the first time in 17 games when holding its opponent to less than 70 points.
Senior Stacey Thomas paced the Wolverines with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight steals, while Raina Goodlow added 10 points.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday, Jan. 2 when they host Ohio State at 2 p.m., at the Breslin Center.
