By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – After as furious a seven minutes as Hec Edmondson Pavilion had seen in a while, the Washington Huskies got exactly what they wanted as time ticked away Sunday.
Well, not exactly. That would have been a victory over Michigan, the 16th-ranked women’s team in the country.
The Huskies did, however, put the ball into the hottest hand on the floor – guard Loree Payne’s – for an open 15-foot shot that would have changed the outcome in the final game of the Pac-10/Big Ten Challenge.
Instead, Payne’s shot rimmed away and Kellie O’Neill’s desperation heave from the other side of the basket bounced off as time expired on a 71-70 victory by Michigan.
As the 7-1 Wolverines danced at midcourt, the Huskies walked away with a greater sense of what life is like against an opponent with a dominating inside presence.
Led by 6-foot-3 junior forward LeeAnn Bies and 6-3 sophomore center Jennifer Smith, Michigan out-rebounded Washington 50-35 and forced the Huskies into a school-record 36 shots from 3-point range, more than half of their field-goal attempts for the game.
“They had 18 (3-point attempts) in the first half and I told my staff that there’s no way they’re going to put up 18 more in the second half,” said Michigan coach Sue Guevara, who won her 100th career game. “Wrong.”
“I thought they left us open quite a bit,” said Payne, who scored 23 points, tied a UW record by making seven 3-pointers and set a UW record with 15 attempts from beyond the arc. “When you’re open like that, you’ve got to take those shots.”
The loss didn’t leave UW coach June Daugherty discouraged.
“That is a very good team that we had a chance to beat,” Daugherty said. “It didn’t happen, but we’re seeing a lot of improvement from this team. It was a great experience for us and we will take this and build on it.”
The Huskies (5-4) are off until Dec. 21, when they open Pacific-10 Conference play at home against Washington State. WSU (2-7) lost to Indiana 64-37 in the first game Sunday.
Michigan led 60-55 with 6:42 remaining before Washington went on a 10-0 run during a stretch of physical play so intense that hardly any battle for a rebound ended without someone sprawled on the floor.
Payne made two 3-pointers, including a 20-footer from the left wing that gave UW a 65-50 lead, and the Huskies held the Wolverines scoreless for four minutes with an all-out assault on every loose ball.
In the end, however, Michigan’s inside presence was too much.
After the Huskies’ Andrea Lalum made a 3-pointer for a 70-69 lead with 45 seconds remaining, Bies coolly dominated the rest of the game, scoring seven of the Wolverines’ final 10 points. She grabbed an offensive rebound with 13 seconds left, then was fouled and made two free throws that put Michigan ahead 71-70 with 10.7 seconds remaining.
“In the second half, Bies really got going,” Daugherty said. “We tried to switch our looks defensively to keep it out of her hands, but she kept finding ways to get the ball.”
Still, the Huskies had an excellent chance to win it in the final 10 seconds. Guard Giuliana Mendiola penetrated, then kicked the ball to the most dangerous shooter on the floor.
“My shot happened to be on tonight,” said Payne, who took Mendiola’s feed along the left baseline. “I felt really good.”
This one, however, bounced off the rim. O’Neill got the rebound on the other side and took a final shot that hit the rim just before the buzzer.
“We got the look we wanted and we also got the backside (rebound),” Daugherty said. “It didn’t fall.”
Indiana 64, WSU 37: Indiana pulled away from seven-point lead after a sluggish first half and cruised past Washington State in the opening game.
Point guard Heather Cassidy led all scorers with 15 points for Indiana (5-3), including 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range. Brittney Hawks scored 10 points and was the only scorer in double figures for WSU (2-7), which shot 27 percent and committed 26 turnovers.
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