Veronica Hicks

EAST LANSING — Veronica Hicks walked out of the Breslin Center tunnel early Sunday evening and heard cheers.

“Roni, 1,000. Roni, 1000,” the crowd of more than a dozen people chanted, still holding their signs from the game that read "1,000."

“Roni 1,000. Roni 1,000,” they kept going as Hicks, a guard and the lone senior on the Michigan women's basketball team, made her way across the court to the awaiting throng.

Hicks scored her 1,000th point on a runner early in the second half during Michigan State’s 69-56 win over Michigan. She entered the day four points shy of 1,000. Afterward she was most frustrated that she didn't reach the milestone until the second half.

After she hit the shot, she said, ‘Thank you, God,’ and then ran back to play on defense as the small contingent of Michigan fans behind the bench inside a sold-out Breslin Center had something to cheer about for one of the few times Sunday.

“I heard, but it wasn’t before a dead ball or anything, so I had to get back on defense,” Hicks said. “… I didn’t see the signs or anything.

“I know they had been waiting a whole half, only four points away and it took me to the second half to get it. So it was like ‘Oh my goodness, when can we hold these signs up.’”

While Hicks expressed disappointment with the loss, especially to a rival she’d beaten just once in her career, she was happy to reach a personal goal.

Hicks, who scored nine points Sunday, is currently at 1,005 points and is 15 points from moving into the Top 20 all-time at Michigan in scoring. Carly Benson, who played from 2005-09, is No. 20 at 1,020 points.

“I’m happy that it happened, I’m appreciative that it happened, and I still have more games to go on it, which is great,” Hicks said. “The most frustrating thing about this evening is the loss, but I don’t connect it with the thousand points.

“Both events happened and are mutually exclusive.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein