Michigan State University
Michigan
Women's Basketball Falls to Michigan, 58-49
1/25/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - One can throw away all the records when Michigan State and Michigan meet. In yet another classic battle in the instate rivalry, the Wolverines escaped from the Breslin Center with a 58-49 win over Michigan State on Thursday night (Jan. 25) before a season-high attendance mark of 7,323 fans.
Neither team could muster much on the offensive side in the first half as the game see-sawed back and forth with each team clinging to short-lived leads before a Christie Pung three-point bucket gave MSU a 10-9 advantage with 8:46 left. The Spartans would extend the lead to five (17-12) on a Vnemina Reese three-point jumper and take a six-point advantage (21-15) into the locker room at the half.
In the opening 20 minutes which seemed to be ruled by defense, U-M shot just 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from the field and MSU, 34.8 percent (8-of-23). Michigan would convert nine Spartan turnovers into five points, while MSU could not capitalize on seven Wolverine turnovers.
Michigan came out of the locker room at the half, going on a 6-0 run to even the score at 21 with 15:55 remaining. Christie Pung broke the Spartan scoring drought, hitting a three-point basket at the 15:32 mark to give MSU a three-point advantage (24-21).
The lead would seesaw back and forth before U-M freshman Jennifer Smith hit a layup with 6:13 remaining to give the Wolverines a 38-36 lead. MSU would pull within one (40-39) on a three-point play by Vnemina Reese with 4:54 remaining. However, the Wolverines outscored the Spartans, 18-10, down the stretch to claim their 12th victory of the season.
Vnemina Reese led Michigan State with a career-best 23 points. Christie Pung added 11 points, while Abby Salscheider and Erin Skelly each chipped in five.
LeeAnn Bies led Michigan (12-7 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Raina Goodlow finished with 11 and Alayne Ingram, 10 to complete the Wolverines in double digits.
Michigan State (8-10 overall, 2-5 Big Ten) returns to action this Sunday (Jan. 28) when they travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions. The MSU-PSU game can be heard live on heard live on The Fan 730 AM - WVFN or at www.msuspartans.com.
MSU Notes -- The 7,323 fans was the fifth-largest crowd in MSU women's basketball history.
-- Sophomore guard Vnemina Reese finished with a career-best 23 points.
-- Julie Pagel finished with 11 rebounds for her fifth career game in double-digit rebounding.
-- The Spartans have held opponents to 60 points or less on 11 occasions this season.
-- MSU's bench mustered only two points by Jennifer Callier in the loss. It marked the ninth straight game that the opponent has outscored MSU's bench.
