Page 6-The Michigan Daily- Sports Monday - March 9, 1992
MICHIGAN WOMEN RUNNERS QUALIFY RELAY TEAM
Quartet bests standard by five seconds Jeff Williams.
by Rich Mitvalsky
Daily Sports Writer
In its final opportunity to qualify for the na-
tional track championships later this week, the
Michigan women's 3200 meter relay team
blasted through the field, and the qualifying stan-
dard, in Ames, Iowa over the weekend.
Heading into the competition, the Wolverine
relay, consisting of seniors Carrie Yates and
Amy Bannister, junior Kristine Westerby, and
sophomore Jessica Kluge, was tied for 10th in
the national standings. However, the Wolverine
quartet finished in 8 minutes 39 seconds, demol-
ishing the 8:44 automatic qualifying time. The
relay improved upon its national ranking as well,
skyrocketing to fourth in the standings.
"We knew we were capable of running that
fast," said Yates, who led off the relay. "All sea-
son long we ran this race right after running other
events, so our legs weren't fresh. This time, be-
cause we only had to run this race, we were all
fresh."
The foursome's time ranks them behind
Villanova, Wisconsin, and Texas heading into
next week, and represents Michigan's lone per-
sonnel for nationals, to be held in Indianapolis
this Friday and Saturday. Bannister also qualified
previously in the open 800-meter run.
In Ames, the Wolverines pursued a slightly
different strategy in effort to qualify for nation-
als. The relay team changed its order prior to the
event, allowing Yates to lead off.
"It took a monumental effort on all of our
parts, and we were very excited," Yates said.
"The four of us just had to run well on the same
day. Kristine (Westerby) ran a monumental race
herself."
Westerby recorded a personal record by three
seconds in her leg of the relay, while distancing
herself and her teammates from the remainder of
the field.
In other competition, Wolverine runners trav-
eled to Eastern Michigan attempting to duplicate
their teammates' performances.
"Our main goal was to qualify for nationals,
and some people made the provisional cuts,"
sophomore Chris Szabo said.
Among Michigan's best performers at Eastern
Michigan were junior Amy Buchholz, rookie
Courtney Babcock, and Szabo, each in the dis-
tance events. While Szabo's 9:51.7 time in the
3000-meter run was good enough for a personal
record, Buchholz and Babcock both surpassed
national provisional standards in their races,
making them eligible for a final selection for na-
tionals. Buchholz raced to a 16:41 in the 5000-
meter run, while Babcock finished in 4:49.8 in
the one mile race.
"I had hoped to run a bit faster than I did, but
my main goal was to make the provisional time
in my race," Babcock said.
Women cagers post
rare comeback
BIG TENS
Continued from page 1
pinning Rawls. His brother, Jesse,
and Tomek also suffered setbacks in
the first round. Rawls lost by deci-
sion to Wisconsin's John Harms and
Tomek to Purdue's Larock Benford.
"That (James' loss) was a huge
shock to us," Bahr said. "We did not
I have to push harder
the next couple of
weeks.'
- Joey Gilbert
get the good' performances that
we've had all year and it hurt us
psychologically."
Bahr added that the absence of
Sean Bormet (158), last year's Big
Ten runner-up, to a knee injury, was
also a factor in the team's final fin-
ish. Chad Biggert, who took
Bormet's place, finished eighth.
Biggert lost to Northwestern's Dave
Blanke, 15-9, in his final match.
Earlier, Biggert had defeated Tim
Conley of Michigan State, 12-1.
Five Wolverines now must pre-
pare for the NCAA championships,
to be held March 19-21 in Oklahoma
City. Michigan will look to improve
upon its 12th-place finish a year ago.
The Michigan women's basketball team lost to Michigan State, 58-52
Friday, but it showed something that has been sorely lacking the entire sea-
son - the ability to come back.
All too often the Wolverines have kept the game close in the first half,
only to come out completely flat and lifeless in the second. The team that
enters the lockerroom is not the same one that leaves it. Friday's game was
no exception.
Although Michigan led most of the first half, the score was knotted at 26
at halftime. The Spartans came out more aggressively in the second half,
and the Wolverines fell into a deep hole after a 12-2 State run. It appeared
as though Michigan would bury itself in yet another 20-point loss.
The defense continually allowed State guard Christine Powers to get
open for jumpers and the rest of the Spartans made lay-ups at will. Powers
hit 8-12 from the field and 4 of 4 from three-point range before she was
forced to the sidelines with a knee injury.
When Powers wasn't hitting shots, Marline Ferguson was. Michigan's
lack of defensive pressure allowed her to score six points in slightly over a
minute, including a play in which she slipped behind the entire Wolverine
team for an unnoticed lay-up. In the first half they held her to 0-3 from the
field but were unable to contain her in the early going of the second.
Michigan showed the type of uninspired defense that has been its downfall
this year.
However, even with those two great performances the rest of the
Spartans shot poorly from the floor and that allowed Michigan to keep the
lead under control. With 5:21 left in the second half, the Wolverines began
what became their most impressive comeback of the season. A 13-point run
pulled them within one point of tying the score with less than a minute to
go. Michigan displayed a sense of poise and intensity that hasn't been seen
much this season.
"It was important that we made that run," coach Bud VanDeWege said.
"It showed a lot of competitive heart and desire."
During that five-minute span, Michigan played inspired basketball at
both ends of the court. All five players were into the game and working in
unison. The Wolverines stepped up their defensive pressure and made the
stops necessary to allow the offense to make a run.
Jen Nuanes capped off the effort with a three-pointer and two clutch free
throws to close to 53-52. Increased intensity brought the Wolverines to the
brink of pulling off a remarkable comeback. Unfortunately the Wolverines
were unable to lift themselves over the top and execute in the last 30 sec-
onds of play.
"We said that even if we were down by 20 we were going to make an
attempt to come back, we were going to stick it out until the end," Trish
Andrew said. "We definitely proved that we have the heart."
The postgame conversations this year have continually focused on inten-
sity and the will to win. On the court Friday, the Wolverines spoke volumes
on the subject.
,::
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Michgan's Joey Gilbert tries to hold off Iowa's Tom Brands during their championship match at the Big Ten AP'HOTO
championships. Brands defeated Gilbert to take the 134-pound title.
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simply unable to get any second
chance opportunities.
In their final;,, Durand and
Wooldridge were the leading scores
for Michigan with nine and eight
points, respectively.
Friday's game against the
Spartans was unlike any other at
Crisler this season. Playing in front
of the most vocal crowd of the year,
the Wolverines were able to jump
out to an early nine point lead
thanks to some inspired play.
"I have never seen so many peo-
ple before," Michigan's Trish
Andrew said. "When you come out
and you see fan support like that and
you hear that band playing, right
away I was saying 'God, this is
Michigan basketball right here.' I
stood out there and said, 'I have a
feeling for what the guys (Michigan
men's team) must feel."
However, the Spartans regained
their composure behind the strong
shooting of Christine Powers, who
was five for six in the first half
with three pointers and evened the
score at 26-26 at the half.
The Spartans continued their
resurgence in the beginning of the
second half, going on a 17-4 run in
the first nine minutes thanks to the
clutch play of Marline Ferguson,
who scored all 10 of her points in
the second half and grabbed nine re-
bounds. She also led the break for
MSU, dishing out seven assists on
the night.
The Spartans had raised the lead
to 14 points with 5:21 left. Yet, un-
like in past efforts when Michigan
I
has not been able to mount a late
comeback, the Wolverines took con-
trol. of their own destiny, holding
MSU scoreless for almost five
minutes while compiling 13 points
to cut the lead to one. The team was
lead by strong play inside from
Michelle Hall and outside from Jen
Nuanes.
"We started playing more ag-
gressive offensively," Hall said.
"We started rebounding and look-
ing to the outside and that built up
our confidence. "
PENN STATE (88)
FG FT Rib.
Min. M-A M-A O-T A F Pts.
Coleman 25 4-4 3-4 0-1 4 1 11
Kretchmar 10 3-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 6
ikenberg 27 1-5 2-2 1-4 1 1 4
Robinson 21 4-10 0-0 2-8 1 2 9
Mack 18 2-4 2-2 0-0 0 4 6
Holloway 8 2-7 4-4 1-5 1 1 8
Thayer 5 3-3 0-1 1-2 0 0 6
Dougherty 18 3-7 0-0 0-1 2 3 8
Donovan 18 0-2 0-1 2-3 1 2 0
Masley 9 1-3 0-0 2-5 0 1 2
Lazor 9 1-2 4-4 1-5 0 1 6
Phillps 23 7-10 1-2 6-10 1 3 15
Henry 9 2-6 3-3 2-4 0 0 7
Totals 20033-671 9-23 18.53 1221 88
FG%- .490. FT%- .830. Three-point goals: 3-
8, .375 (Dougherty 2-4, Robinson 1-1, Eikenberg
0-2, Kretcbmar 0-1). Team rebounds: 5. Block:3
(Phillips). Turnovers: 18 (Eikenberg 5, Coleman 2,
Kretchmar 2, Mack 2, Maslay 2, Lazor 2.
Robinson, Dougherty, Phillips). Steals: 10 (Phillips
3, Dougherty 2, Donovan 2, Masley 2, Mack 1).
Technical fouls: None.
MICHIGAN (47)
FOa FT Rob.
Min. M-A M-A O-T A F Pts.
McCall 14 2-4 2-2 1-2 0 3 6
Heikkinen 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Turner 7 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Nuanes 14 1-6 4-4 1-1 0 3 7
Stewart 9 0-4 4-4 2-3 0 0 4
Beaudry 21 0-3 0-0 1-5 0 5 0
Wooldridge 33 2-5 2-2 0-1 1 1 8
Gray 27 1-10 1-3 3-5 0 2 3
Durand 32 3-6 3-4 0-3 1 0 9
Andrew 19 2-6 0-0 0-2 1 2 4
Hall 20 3-6 0-3 1-3 0 5 6
Totals 20014-5316.22 9-27 322 47
FG%- .264. FTO/, .727. Three-point goals: 3-
10, .300 (Wooldridge 2-4, Nuanes 1-4, Stewart 0-
1, Gray 0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocks: 3 (Gray,
Andrew, Hall). Turnovers: 23 (Beaudry,
Wooldridge4,'Nuanes 3, Gray 3, Durand 2,Wall 2,
McCall, Andrew). Steals: 16 (Nuanes 4,
Wooldridge 4, Andrew 3, Beaudry 3, Gray, Hall).
Technical fouls: None.
Penn State .............40 48 - 88
Michigan..........25 22 - 47
At Cr'sler Arena; A - 895 (est.)
Yesterday night's game
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Michigan's Char Durand goes for a rebound in Friday's game against
Michigan State. The Wolverines lost that game as well as last night's
contest with Penn State.
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