The Michigan Daily- Sports Tuesday- January21, 1992 - Page 5 A(,A AA AA(AAAA A AAAA BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK Coaches guide 'M' into rigorous year by Ryan Herrington and Jeff Williams Daily Basketball Writers In this the information age, it is only fitting that we take some time and get to know what the Michigan women's basketball team is all about. Starting from the top. Michigan head coach Bud VanDeWege enters his eighth season at the Wolverines' helm. Having compiled an 86-112 overall record and a 38-88 Big Ten record, VanDeWege has the third longest tenure of active Big Ten coaches. He was named Big Ten coach of the year in 1990 when his team finished 20-10 and went to Michigan's first NCAA tournament. The Wolverines lost in the second round to North Carolina State. First-year assistant coach Nikita Lowry is no stranger to the Big Ten. Having played four years at Ohio State, Lowry was a member of three Big Ten Championship teams. She was a Kodak all-American and a member of the Big Ten's all-decade team. Lowry was the Big Ten scoring leader in both 1988 and 1989. After her college career she played one season of profes- sional basketball for Bari, Italy. TAKING THE HIGH ROAD: Last Friday's game against No. 11 Northwestern marked the Wolverines' fourth contest versus top-15 ranked opponents in the Last six games. The Wildcats easily defeated the Wolverines, 83-57. Michigan faced No.15 Washington in the Seattle Times Husky Classic over winter break and lost, 67-62, but bounced right back to defeat then-No. 11 Western Kentucky, 77-73, to take.third place. It marked the Wolverines' first victory over a team ranked that highly in the polls. Michigan's next contest was its Big Ten opener against No.10 Purdue, in which the Wolverines were defeated, 85-68. In addition, the Wolverines play 15 of their 28 games against teams that saw postseason action in 1991. MORE TOURNAMENT NEWS: The Wolverines had two all-tourna- ment players in the Husky Classic. Char Durand and Trish Andrew were among the five players named by the coaches and the media during the break. Durand led Michigan in scoring in both games, scoring 19 against Wash- ington and 21 in the Wolverines' victory over Western Kentucky. In that game, she set new tournament records for free throws in a single game (11- 14) and free throws attempted for the tournament (20-25). She sank four free-throws in the final seconds of the Western Kentucky game to ice the victory for the Wolverines. Andrew set a career-high in rebounds with 20 in the Wolverines' loss to Washington. She set tournament blocked shots records for a single game (7 against Washington) and overall blocked shots (10). Andrew also con- tributed 15. points against Washington and 18 against Western Kentucky. Junior forward Nikki Beaudry tied Michigan's free-throw percentage record with an 11-11 performance against Western Kentucky. SHOOTING WOES: Thus far in the 1991-92 season, the Wolverines have shot under 40 percent in seven games out of 11, winning only one of those contests. TOP OF THE HEAP: Michigan has three individuals among the confer- ence leaders in statistical categories. Andrew leads the conference in re- bounding with a 12.1 average and in blocks with 4.3 per game. Her 4.3 also leads the entire nation. Beaudry leads the league in free throw percentage at 84 percent. Leah Wooldridge is the conference's most accurate shooter from three-point territory, shooting an even 60 percent. She hit on a Wolverine season best with three three-point shots in Michigan's 67-58 victory over Indiana State, Dec. 21. A LITTLE OLYMPIC FLAVOR: Five Wolverines participated in the 1991 Olympic Sports Festival tryouts. Among them were Andrew, Nuanes, Shimmy Gray, LaTara Jones and Valarie Turner. INJURY UPDATE: Jones, a sophomore forward, saw her first action of the year in the game against Washington. She had been sidelined with a dis- located knee and spent the first month of the season in rehabilitation. Sophomore forward Michelle Hall is still sidelined by a broken bone in her right foot. Hall suffered the injury after playing only two games. Against Central Michigan Dec. 3 she made six steals, which remains a sea- son high for the Wolverines. HITTING THE BOOKS: Junior Jen Nuanes was the third Michigan basketball player ever to receive academic all-Big Ten honors when she re- ceived the honor in 1991. Trish 1 Andrew lights by Tim Spolar Daily Basketball Writer Sunshine. While Ann Arbor residents haven't seen much of the sun lately, one need only attend a women's basketball game at Crisler Arena to catch a few of her rays. So far this season, Trish Andrew has been the brightest spot for the Wolverines in a somewhat turbulent season. Yet the name 'Sunshine' is nothing new to An- drew. She has heard it for quite a while. "I nicknamed her Sunshine a long time ago, and if you hang around her for a while you can see why," Daniel Andrew, one of her five brothers, said. "She's always laughing, just cutting herself up and laughing about it. It just really describes her personality." Andrew, a 6'2" junior, starts at center for the Wolverines. An hon- orable mention all-Big Ten selec- tion last year, Andrew is the team's leading returning scorer and rebounder. Andrew is also Michi- gan's all-time blocked shots leader, having led the conference each of her first two years. This season, Andrew has been dominating in every game Michi- gan has played. She is fourth in the conference in scoring, first in re- bounds, and first in the nation in shot blocks, swatting over five each game. However, Andrew is not the typical 'big' player. She prefers the three-point shot to a low post hook, but is deadly no matter where she shoots from. While the Wolverines have other scoring op- tions, none have been as consis- tently dominating. "(Trish) is such a great player, especially in her shooting," team- mate Jen Nuanes said. "We've come to expect consistent great play from her. For example, she has this habit of yelling 'off' after she shoots, to let us know that she thinks she's missed. When we hear that, we know it's going in and we don't even go for the rebound. Hopefully some of her game will rub off on the rest of us." With ability like this, and the numbers to back it up, an attitude is nearly inevitable. However, An- drew is the exception that forces one to say 'nearly.' Her trademark off the court is an outgoing, ami- able personality, a far cry from the prima donna personna that so often enshrouds athletes of this caliber. "Off the court, she just has a tremendous personality and atti- tude," Michigan coach Bud Van- DeWege said. "She stays loose and has a great sense of humor. I think she's really got a good balance in her life." Yet, from speaking with An- drew, one wouldn't even know ets the sun shine in up Michigan on and off the court she's on a varsity team. She is mod- est to the point that when one first meets her, the modesty seems nearly false. Asked to list the strengths and weaknesses of her game, Andrew rattles off fault af- ter fault before conceding that she "can shoot a little bit." Those closest-to her, however, insist that her modesty is entirely genuine. "She is very self-critical and very modest," Daniel stated. "If you talk to her, she never thinks she is great; it is just her personality and it has always been that way." exciting to hear." This desire to be the absolute best brings an intense, unforgiving style of play on the court, almost as if she expects perfection every time she touches the ball. Andrew will bury five 18-footers consecu- tively, but show no emotion while running the court back to her de- fensive position. However, after a missed shot or a lost rebound, An- drew is furious with herself all the way down the court. "You see Trish and you don't expect her to be a fierce competitor t r t s t I letes. "We had a very athletic family. My father put us in every sports program that existed," Andrew said. "We could pick any sport we wanted. I swam and played basket- ball, but you just had to be activein something. "Originally, I played lots of sports, but I eventually narrowed it down to swimming and basket- ball, and I chose basketball." The choice came at an age when Andrew was able to see that the advantage of her combination of natural gifts and competitiveness could take her a long way in the game she loved. "When you're by far the tallest one out there, starting in the fifth or sixth grade, it makes it easier to excel," she said. "You feel like it's something you could be good at if you kept working. I just took hold of the advantage and used it to my benefit." Andrew did continue to work through junior high, and began to reap the benefits in high school. After transferring to New Trier High in the suburbs of Chicago, Andrew's star began to shine as a junior. However, her senior year was one that most prep stars can only dream about. She was named a high school all-American after she led New Trier to a 29-2 mark be- fore bowing out in the champi- onship game. With such accolades under her belt, Andrew was one of the few athletes to have their choice of col- legiate programs. Her reasons for choosing Michigan speak strongly of both her character and her accep- tance of the present realities of women's athletics. "I saw a lot of players basing their choice just on the school's basketball program," she said. "I realize as a female athlete that I'm going to school and that I should take advantage of the fact that someone is going to pay my educa- tion. However, I realized that there is nothing out there (athletically) for me after I graduate. Sure I'd like to be on a team that was guar- anteed NCAA tournaments. But at the same time, I knew that the most important thing I'd do in col- lege is get an education, because that's going to help me in the fu- ture." While an education may be of primary concern to Andrew, it is her personality that is most impor- tant to those around her. "Basketball is a game for her and something she enjoys," Daniel said. "We just want her to keep en- joying the game and never look at it as a burden or a job. "If Bud ever takes the smile off Sunshine's face," he chided, "then he'll have to deal with the broth- ers." Andrew The self-analysis may stem from a burning desire to compete and win. While she shrugs off per- sonal statistics as meaningless and focuses nearly every ounce of en- ergy into the good of the team, the drive to be the absolute best has given her a few goals to chase. "I look at personal achieve- ments like if it happens, that's great, but it's not what I'm after," she said. "Sort of the icing on the cake idea. (Assistant coach) Nikita (Lowry) walked in this year and said 'Hey, this is what I want from you and I know you can do it. All- Big Ten first team this year, all- American senior year.' That was because of that pleasant de- meanor," VanDeWege said. "She takes things easy, but she's a fierce competitor and I think that' s the side of her most people don't real- ize. She really battles and doesn't back down from anybody or any game situation. She's very tough." That toughness may come from being the second-youngest of seven siblings. Growing up with four older brothers who went on to compete in collegiate athletics (three in swimming and one in bas- ketball), friendly games of one-on- one provided Andrew with bigger, better competition - the sharpen- ing stone for all developing ath- CAGERS Continued from page 1 Franke, who finished with 20 and 15 points respectively, the Badgers pushed the lead to as large as 27 points in the first half before going into the lockerroom ahead, 49-28. "It was a great first half," Wis- consin coach Mary Murphy said. "Mynette really picked it up (today) and I thought Barb re- bounded well. We need to start get- ting some people into double fig- ures in rebounds." To their credit, the Wolverines did not stop playing in the second half as they continued to search for a lineup which would score. Michigan was able to trim the lead down to 14 with five minutes remaining in the game before Wisconsin re- grouped and made sure there would be no surprise comebacks today. "We tried to slow down the tempo and lull them in the second half and we got the lead to 14," Michigan coach Bud VanDeWege enough about Trish Andrew," Mur- phy said. "She's the best center in the Big Ten." If Sunday's performance was ugly, then Friday's 83-57 thrashing by Northwestern was even worse. The Wildcats executed a zone press to near perfection, outscoring Michigan 26-4 in an eight-minute span early in the first half. The Wildcats constantly forced Michigan ballhandlers to pick up their dribble and throw errant passes to Wildcat defenders, as evi- dent in the fact that Michigan had 26 turnovers and Northwestern ac- cumulated 20 steals. "I don't think we've executed the press that well all season," Wildcat point guard Moira Ken- nelly said. "1 know, being a guard, that the press can be so discouraging, especially when you can't even get the ball inbounds." When the Wildcats weren't scor- ing off the press, they were able to set up a half court offense which exploited Michigan's zone with shooting from the floor. "I think Northwestern is under- rated athletically," VanDeWege said. "Certainly (Savage) is one of those people. She's so smart and an- ticipates so well." While Michigan showed signs of inconsistency, its anchor, Andrew, recorded her usual numbers - 24 points, 10 rebounds, eight blocked shots - while no other Wolverine cracked double figures in any cate- gory. "Trish had the team on her back all night," VanDeWege said. "I've never seen a player have to carry a team that much - ever." Andrew was visibly frustrated during the game and afterwards. "This was probably the most discouraging game I've ever played in the game of basketball in my life," shetsaid. "I don't even know an adjective to describe how we played that is acceptable." VanDeWege will now be chal- lenged to refocus his group to sal- vage the remainder of the Big Ten "."" " l lENO'S TJ91 No. 10 12 21 23 24 25 30 32 33 42 44 45 50 54 Name Stacie McCall Molly Heikkenen Valarie Turner Jen Nuanes Sherell Stanley Carrie Stewart Nikki Beaudry Leah Wooldridge Yeshimbra Gray LaTara Jones Char Durand Trish Andrew Michelle Hall Rhonda Jokisch Pos. G Height 5-foot-5 Clas Jr. G-F 5-foot-11 F G F G-F F; G. F F G F-C F-C C 5-foot-11 5-foot-6 5-foot-11 5-foot-11 6-foot-0 5-foot-6 5-foot-11 6-foot-0 5-foot-9 6-foot-2 6-foot-3 6-foot-1 Fr. So. Jr. Jr. Fr. Jr. Sr. So. So. Sr. Jr. Jr. So. ROSTEk s Elig. Hometown Jr. Columbus, Ohio Fr. Howell, Mich. Fr. Gahanna, Ohio Jr. Denver, Colo. Jr. Dowagiac, Mich. Fr. Olathe, Kan. Jr. Grand Blanc, Mich. Sr. Anderson, Ind. Fr. Flint, Mich. So. Chicago, Ill. Sr. Applegate, Mich. Jr. Northbrook, Ill. So. Milford, Mich. So. Clarkston, Mich. I I I I