Michigan lady cager Thomas provides defensive spark, improving offensively

By DONNIE COLLINS
Collegian Staff Writer

This season, Stacey Thomas stole the show. Literally.

In fact, compared to her peers in the Big Ten, the Michigan junior guard has been nothing but a slick, unashamed thief sporting the maize and blue.

Throughout her junior campaign, Thomas did her best imitation of Robin Hood -- taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Her 97 steals, good for fourth most in the NCAA, may have fallen a mere three short of the century mark, but Thomas still recorded 29 more steals than Penn State's Helen Darling, who finished second in the conference in the category.

With evident defensive prowess and a continually rising offensive game, Thomas has led the Wolverines (16-10, 8-8 Big Ten) to a first-round encounter in the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament with Minnesota at 8 p.m. tomorrow at The RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

There, Thomas and her Michigan teammates hope they can steal the thunder the top five teams in the conference earned during the regular season.

After all, steals are what Thomas does best.

"I think it's something that I'm naturally good at because I like to anticipate the passing lane," Thomas said of her defensive ability. "Basically, I just try to anticipate what the defender is going to do. I get my hands on a lot of loose balls and a lot of deflections. I guess it's kind of a natural ability."

It may always have been that way for the Flint, Mich., native. However, dominating a basketball game wasn't always this easy.

Offensively, it was said Thomas needed work on her inconsistent jump shot. And even with her inherently great defensive ability, she was in dire need of some practice defending against upper-echelon players.

Last summer, Thomas took the necessary measures to become the well-rounded player her coaches knew she could be when she earned a spot on the United States Select Team along with fellow Big Ten stars Ukari Figgs and Katie Douglas of Purdue and Penn State center Andrea Garner.

The team toured Puerto Rico, Spain and Poland during a 15-day jaunt around the globe. Against other national teams, Thomas and her U.S. Select Team teammates amassed an impressive 7-1 record. But more important than the record or the joys of tourism, Thomas gained an invaluable opportunity to compete against some of the best players in the college game.

This season, the results were evident. Thomas averaged 14.6 points and grabbed nearly eight rebounds per game, and she completed the all-around command of her game by dishing out 50 assists.

"What it really did was it opened her eyes to what she has to do to get to the next level," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "She found out that she obviously needed to work on her jump shot, and that jump shot has improved. But I think it was more getting that experience and playing with better kids."

After being named an alternate on the U.S. Select Team the year before, Thomas also learned a lesson in determination to even make the team in '98.

Now, Thomas knows that without hard work and determination, all the talent in the world is rendered useless. She also has learned during her three-year stay in Ann Arbor that a team needs more than just one player posting impressive numbers to build a conference champion.

"That's what we need on this team -- leadership, and somebody to step it up," Thomas said. "I want to be that go-to person. My statistics are going to be needed for the team to do well. But everybody else on the team is going to have to step up and contribute as well."