Queen steps up as Michigan claims victory in Big Ten home opener

By Ryan Kartje
Daily Sports Writer  On  December 28th, 2008

Throughout the women’s basketball season, coach Kevin Borseth has seen a multitude of players step up to lead the Wolverines on offense.

And in his team’s Big Ten home opener last night against Northwestern, Borseth’s number one scoring threat of the past two weeks, senior forward Stephany Skrba, was held to just three points on 2-of-7 shooting.

But no one told the Wildcats (0-2 Big Ten, 4-9 overall) that Michigan had another scoring threat on the floor.

Senior forward and Illinois native Melinda Queen tallied a career-high twenty points to lead the Wolverines (1-1, 8-5) to their first Big Ten victory of the season.

“She’s always been able to put it on the floor,” Borseth said. “But now that she's hitting some three-pointers, she's really kept us in several games and was a difference maker today.”

The team-leading performance wasn’t Queen’s first time in the limelight this season. She notched 16 points in Michigan’s 65-50 victory over Cincinnati on December 19.

The win was also a big boost for a Wolverine squad that was crushed by 20 points in their Big Ten opener against rival Ohio State.

In that game, the Wolverine defense gave up a season-high 70 points to the Buckeyes. But it was that very same defense that held Northwestern to 54 points in one of the unit's best performances of the young season.

“I was proud of the way that we were able to hold our defensive pressure and maintain our defensive energy," Borseth said.

And if they can sustain that defense, the Wolverines' offensive depth could be what keeps them in Big Ten title contention.

Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:16:15 -0500