4 Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 21, 1984 Van D1 By BRAD MORGAN What do consistent execution, mental toughness, and giving 100 percent at all times add up to? For the Michigan women's basketball team anyhow, the answer to that question is "A New Beginning"-the slogan for this year's hoopsters and fir- st-year head coach Bud Van De Wege, Jr. VAN DE WEGE, a 1980 University graduate, has worked in the men's program for the past eight years, in- cluding the last three as an assistant to Bill Frieder. He takes over from Gloria Soluk, who compiled a dismal 66-120 record in her seven years at Michigan and left Van De Wege a program on the decline. With a new head coach, new players, and a new outlook on the game, it's un- derstandable then that the team has selected that slogan for its motto this year, and Van De Wege views that new beginning in promising terms. "We've got to be realistic and not ex- pect too much too soon, but I know we'll improve," Van De Wege said. "We've set only the most basic, fundamental of goals-to go out and improve each game from now until the end of the season." THIS IMPROVEMENT will hinge on the players learning Van De Wege's system and then learning to play it con- sistently. Consistency, in fact, is one of the problem areas that Van De Wege sees right now. "We need to execute a lot better, to get a higher degree of consistency in execution," he commented. "They (the players) don't always focus in on the play they're supposed to be running, but that will come with experience." Saturday at 2 p.m. against Northern Michigan, that experience will come in the form of senior co-captain Diana Wiley. WILEY, A CENTER from Flint Beecher High School, is a three-time letter winner at Michigan and one of only two seniors on the team (the other is co-captain Connie Doutt). More im- portantly, she is considered by Van De Wege to be the team's leader on the court. "She's definitely our leader. She takes charge. She always makes her best effort to be a leader, and we really need her out there," the coach said. Joining Wiley in the starting lineup Saturday in Crisler Arean will be 6-0 Wege takes helm Women cagers open Saturday vs. NMU junior Wendy Bradetich, the team's leading scorer (18.2 points per game) a year ago, at one forward spot; 6-0 freshman Lorea Feldman at the other; 5-8 junior Orethia Lilly and freshman Kelly Benintendi (5-9) will start at guards. SARAH BASFORD, a highly touted high school star from Farmington Our Lady of Mercy who was considered Michigan's top recruit, was set to start at guard but was scratched after stret- ching ligaments in her right thumb in practice Monday. The injury will keep Basford on the sidelines for four weeks, an untimely blow since she had been playing well up to that time. "She started slowly but has really emerged in the past week. She always executed the play the way you want it done," said Van De Wege of his top freshman. While this frosh class is really a product of ex-coach Gloria Soluk, Van De Wege is optimistic about recruiting in the years to come, especially in-state players. The program has been criticized in years past for neglecting in-state talent and recruiting poorly, but Van De Wege says that period is over. "OUR PHILOSOPHY now is to turn our recruiting to the state of Michigan," he said. "We have to let players know we're interest and also what kind of program we have for them here. "I feel that even if a girl doesn't go here, from now on we should at least be one of her final choices," he continued. While recruiting is important, it's still the play of the team and their ability to improve on last year's 2-16 Big Ten record (4-22 overall) that will be remembered, a fact Van De Wege is well aware of. "WE CAN IMPROVE, and still not move up in the Big Ten because the league is so improved," explained the coach. "What I'm more concerned with though is our approach to the game mentally. If we keep our intensity and mental toughness at a high level, we are very capable." Indeed, the Big Ten is improved. Ohio State, 17-1 in the conference a year ago, is returning four starters and is favored to repeat as champion. Close behind, though, will be Iowa, Michigan State, Illinois, and Indiana, with the Hawkeyes expected to give the Buckeyes their stiffest challenge. With these obstacles staring him in the face, Van De Wege's main first- year goal is a simple one. "MY BIGGEST goal is just to see them play as hard as they can and as smart as they can," he said. This statement fits in well with Van De Wege's personal philosophy of how he wants the team run. "My only real philosophy is that my players always give me 100 percent and never just go through the motions. They have to compete," he emphasized. WILL ALL this mental toughness and emphasis on execution lead to im- proved results? Van De Wege thinks so. "Eventually we're going to start doing things right, and it's going to pay off." With that type of attitude, it shouldn't take long for the "New Beginning" to lead to a "New End"-more games in the win column for the women's basketball team. ByDouglas B. Levy lucky Blue gets big bowl L UCK IS a beautiful thing. Said the wiseman: "I'd rather be lucky than good." As Bo Schembechler would most assuredly agree, "That sucker is right." In a season where nothing has gone its way, Michigan stands on the precipice of a remarkable turn-a-round. The 6-5 Wolverines are on the verge of being officially invited to the Holiday Bowl and a matchup against the nation's numero uno - Brigham Young. Talk about luck. It's all over the place. Michigan is lucky just to be enter- taining visions of possibly bowl hysteria. And let's face it, Brigham Young is lucky to even have an opportunity to be declared the 1984 National Champion of college football. Michigan happens to be a quality team, despite the 6-5 record, the sixth- place finish in the Big Ten standings, the fact that the Wovlerines haven't won two consecutive games in seven weeks and the fact that the squad hasn't been listed among the nations top twenty since long before Indira Gandhi's assassination (that was crude). And as the legend so astutely pointed out at his press luncheon on Monday past, "What are there, 18 bowls? That's 36 teams that have got to play in a bowl game," reasoned Schembechler. No doubt about it, the Wolverines are one of the best 36 college teams in the United States. Just for the fun of being realistic, let's examine the BYU Cougars, who boast a team consisting two-thirds of Mormons (the religious persuasion that reigns supreme in glamorous Utah). Brigham Young, under the guidance of 13-year head coach, Lavelle Ed- wards, has put together an 11-0 1984 mark. And the Cougars can even claim to be legitimate. Since 1976, BYU has compiled a beautiful 91-18 record and has played in something like seven-consecutive Holiday Bowls. Ho hum. But who have these jokers played? The Cougars compete in the Western Athletic Conference. It's a friendly conference, it plays tackle football and the teams have nice, bright-colored uniforms. But to give you an idea of the level of football played, Northwestern would be top dog in such a league. Brigham Young, under the guidance of 13-year head coach, Lavelle Ed- wards, has put together an 11-0 1984 mark. And the Cougars can even claim to be legitimate. Since 1976, BYU has compiled a beautiful 91-18 record and has played in something like seven-consecutive Holiday Bowls. Ho hum. But who have these jokers played? The Cougars compete in the Western Athletic Conference. It's a friendly conference, it plays tackle football and the teams have nice, bright-colored uniforms. But to give you an idea of the level of football played, Northwestern would be top dog in such a league. Wow, BYU has given the professional ranks such luminaries as quarter- backs Gifford Nielson, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Brigham Young's great-great-great grandson and next year, Robbie Boscoe. Ho hum. The Holiday is still the most minor of bowl games. It is played on Decem- ber 21, before Christmas vacation even begins at most universities. Except for this year, no one in his right mind would care about the outcome of the Holiday Bowl. Put BYU on the same field with Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin or even Notre Dame and see what would happen. In 1982, Ohio State was condemned to San Diego and annihilated the Cougars, 47-17. How lame is the Holiday Bowl? Indiana went in 1979 and came away with a 38-37 thriller. Who does BYU play during the season? Teams like Tulsa, Colorado State, Wyoming (a lot of fine talent comes out of Wyoming), New Mexico, Utah and Utah State. How unimportant is the Holiday Bowl? Well, it has never had a television contract and it doesn't have one this year. But this year is different, a national championship is on the line. Luck is beautiful. -4 Junior Wendy Bradetich, shown here in action earlier in her career, is back to lead Michigan into its season opener Saturday agianst Northern Michigan. Bradetich led the team in scoring a year ago. Daily Photo METRO AIRPORT THANKSGIVING SPECIAL $750 ROUND TRIP N Advance Ticket Purchase Required TICKETS AVAILABLE AT: U of M Student Union Ticket Office Ann Arbor Bus Station CONTINUOUS SERVICE FROM THE UNION TUES., NOV. 20th, WED. NOV. 21st - ALL DAY THURS. NOV. 22nd - TILL NOON SHORTWAY - JETPORT EXPRESS 800-552-3700 FOOTBALL CHAMPS GET CROWNED: Righteous Ones keep title 4 The dynasty rolls on. After winning residence hall championships in '82 and '83, the members of the Rumsey 'A' team decided to move into the indepen- dent league as the Righteous Ones. They have now won two-straight in- dependent titles. An amazing fourth-quarter rally gave the Righteous Ones their latest cham- pionship Monday with a 22-14 victory over Legal Soul. Trailing 14-6 with less than three minutes left, Righteous Ones quarter- back Dave Collins threw fourth-down bomb to Tom Phelps. The conversion was good, tying the score at 14. And when the Righteous Ones got the ball back, Phelps threw another fourth-down pass deep to John Bonnell. Bonnell made an over-the shoulder grab to clinch the championship. West Quad Chicago 14,J Reeves Rollers 0 In residence hall action, the West Quad Chicago Creamers shut out the Reeves Rollers 14-0 to capture the B playoff crown of the "B" division. Ray Bauer had two interceptions and Steve Ludwig added another for the Creamer defense which blanked the opposition in all its playoff games. Quarterback Allen Wolfson was USE DAILY CLASSIFIEDS ice the win. . Party Animals 12, Bush Busters 8 "We may be small, but we're scrap- py." That was Party Animal Phuong Hoang's comment after her team beat the Bush Busters 12-8 to clinch the Women's "B" crown. The Party Animals took the lead in the second quarter when Krista Dunton returned an interception 45 yards for the first score of the game. Gwendolyn Haynes caught a Barb McQuade touch- down pass entry in the third quarter to put the Animals on top 12-0. Bush threatened late in the game, but was unable to score more than one TD on the Animal defense. McQuade, who manages the Party Animals in additon to playing quarterback, remarked "They had a definite size advantage, but we played them tough." 0 4 responsible for both the Creamer touchdowns, running one in and passing for the other. Sigma Alpha Mu 0, Phi Delta Theta 0 In the defensive battle of the year, Sigma Alpha Mu out-penetrated Phi Delta Theta by mere inches to capture the fraternity "B " championship. The game was pulled out by the Sa- mmy defensive line of Rich Wiener and Jeff Yosowitch, who sacked the Phi Delts' quarterback on their third down in overtime. On the Phi Delts' last play, they completed a pass that left them a few inches short of the 50-yard line. Sammy quarterback Paul Scnell tossed the ball out of bounds on fourth down to IM roundup was compiled by Jon Hartmann SCORES Fraternity A - A Playoffs sigma Alpha Mu beat Sigma Phi Epsilon in overtime Psi Upsilon beat Phi Gamma Delta in overtime Sigma Alpha Epsilon beat Sigma Alpha Mu in overtime Phi Delta Theta 20, Psi Upsilon 0 Fraternity A - B playoffs Alpha Tau Omega 16, Chi Phi 12 Phi Kappa Tau 14, Kappa Sigma 0 Lambda Chi Alpha 14, Alpha Epsilon Pi6 Alpha Phi Alpha 10, Triangle 0 Alpha Tau Omega 50, Phi Kappa Taiu0 Alpha Phi Alpha 14, Lambda Chi Alpha 8 Independent A - A playoffs Righteous Ones 14, MBA#10 BSH's 14, Patterson Dental 0 Ledger's Unlimited beat Elitest Bast in overtime Legal Soul 14, Bruisers 6 Righteous Ones 28, BSH's 22 Legal Soul 24, Ledger's Unlimited 22 Davis AL's top rookie NEW YORK (AP) - Seattle first baseman Alvin Davis, who started the season in the minor leagues, yesterday Twins was fourth with five. Davis, 24, started the season with the Mariners' Salt Lake City farm club and l