The first four-and-a-half minutes of the Michigan's women's basketball team's season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday were about as ugly as it gets.

The two teams combined for 11 missed shots, eight turnovers and eight fouls before a media timeout at 15:26.

And that's when the Wolverines turned to their bench on the way to a 80-50 win against the Lady Lions.

Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett brought in five reserves - juniors Krista Clement and Ta'Shia Walker, sophomore Melinda Queen and freshmen Sireece Bass and Krista Philips - to replace the starters.

Walker hit a baseline jumper and then a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the Wolverines' next two shots to give Michigan's offense some life.

Led in the first half by Walker's 11 points and Philips's seven points and five rebounds, Michigan's second unit scored 30 first-half points and orchestrated a 41-20 lead at halftime.

"All of our players can be starters any given day," sophomore Ashley Jones said. "So when you come off the bench, we just want you to bring more energy to the game, and that's what our bench did for us today."

Michigan's win halts a 17-game losing streak that dated back to December of last year and gives the Wolverines (1-0) their first winning record in almost two years.

Junior Janelle Cooper prevented Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-1) from getting back into the game in the second half. After missing all three of her first-half 3-point attempts, she stayed with her shot and went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc in the second half. She finished with a team-high 18 points.

And while senior Kelly Helvey and sophomore Ashley Jones didn't really look for their shots (Helvey scored five points; Jones went scoreless), the duo provided hustle plays that were key to victory. Jones set the rebounding tone for the team, grabbing eight while adding a steal and a block. Helvey had five steals and also brought in five rebounds.

"Little things can give us energy - a loose ball, a rebound, a blocked shot, stuff like that," Jones said. "That's all we needed - a little bit of energy and (to) feed off it."

While Michigan's bench gave the team an insurmountable lead, the Arkansas-Pine Bluff couldn't rely on that luxury. Due to injuries, they dressed just eight players.

The shorthanded Lady Lions were also undersized. They ran into, literally and figuratively, a bigger and stronger Michigan team. Arkansas-Pine Bluff started the game with four guards and a forward, and that forward, Ciara Shields, didn't even crack the six-foot mark. Despite their smaller size, the Lady Lions stuck with their normal gameplan: attacking the basket. Their guards penetrated fairly well, but the team was just 6-for-26 inside the paint.

"It was pressure from them," Arkansas-Pine Bluff coach Danny Evans said. "I guess (we) thought (the Wolverines) were bigger. I don't know. Hey, you miss a layup, you miss a layup. . We had a lot of opportunities that we should've capitalized on and we didn't."

A point of emphasis for Michigan, who will host Ball State tonight at 7 p.m., will be to cut down on turnovers. It had 23 on Saturday. Burnett said that early-season turnovers don't worry her too much if the team is making the correct pass, but she is unhappy with the amount of unforced turnovers the Wolverines committed.