Page 6-The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - February 8, 1993 FU LL CO UR T PRESS Record just a part of the learning process by Rich Mitvalsky Daily Basketball Writer CHAMPAIGN - Frustration. Yes indeed, that's a bit of an understatement. It's more like the knotted lump imbedded firmly in your throat as the clock ticks away at the final seconds of another loss. What does it take? How long's the bus ride home? When will we win? Will we win ... ever? "Now, it's just a feeling of numbness," senior co-captain Nikki Beaudry said following Michigan's 82-62 weekend loss at Illinois. These questions invade the souls of the Michigan women's basketball team. And at the head of the frustration, bitterness, and numbness is first year head coach Trish Roberts. Roberts entered the season sporting an enviable.719 winning percentage over a four-year span at the University of Maine. The apex of her stay at Maine was her team's 1989-90 campaign, during which her Black Bear squad captured the North Atlantic Conference championship and received aWNIT bid. The Wolverines, with their loss to Illinois, dropped to 1-17,0-9 in the Big Ten. For Roberts, that's quite a change. When Roberts entered this season, she readily discarded her past accom- plishments, zeroing in on the task at hand -making Michigan a winner. She set her sights high. "Our goal right now is to have a winning record at the end of this season," Roberts said before Michigan's first game. 'Right now, we just want to win a game. Just one, that's all.' Trish Roberts women's basketball head coach She may have been aiming a bit too high. If the Wolverines were to win each of their remaining games, they would knot their conference record at 9-9. And that really is not at all plausible, with the likes of Iowa and Minnesota slated for upcoming road contests. Roberts' preseason prognostication has been replaced by more of wishful plea than anything else. "Rightnow, we just want to win one game. Just one, that's all," she sighed after the Illini loss. But as desperate as Roberts' and Beaudry's comments sounded, and as empty as the Wolverines felt following the defeat, there is still something there. A small spark. Not a fire - no, that was squelched about four losses ago. But something. As vague as that "something" maybe, the Wolverines are riding a barrage of confusing emotions through the conference season, emotions that gnaw at their insides. Yet, the team emerges at the beginning of each new game as invigorated and as optimistic as ... well, moreso than you'd expect from a oh-ferred hoops squad. Credit who? Credit Roberts. To say the least, it goes against conventional wisdom to credit the head coach of a 1-17 squad that readily admits it is not playing up to it's potential. OK, it really goes against conventional wisdom. But understand this: Trish Roberts not only empathizes with her players - she sympathizes with them, and shows it. Atatime when many coaches helplessly watching an 82-32 careerrecord deflate to an 83-49 markmight allow anger tomitigate their relationship with their team, Roberts remains most evidently tied to her team's plight. Almost every coach enters the press room angry when their team plays an uninspired game. Some coaches walk away from aclose loss, pleased that their team plays up to their ability. But a significantly smaller number of coaches becomes choked up when poignant questions probe sharply at the difficulties of their teams. Roberts is such a coach. During recent press conferences, Roberts has appeared not so much as a head coach, assessing the damage in an administrative and methodical fashion, but more as a companion in a trip gone tragically awry. Playing with acastof only seven, Roberts continually and fairly attributes Michigan's defeats to fatigue and lack of numbers. Yet, Roberts herself seems to be growing a bit annoyed at repeating herself, even if she is right. Why? The answer may lie at the heart of her torment. Roberts is first and foremost an educator of basketball. Her players, even the incomparable Trish Andrew, the three-point bomber Jen Nuanes, and the animated and quick-to-smile Stacie McCall, are her students. And what educator true to her cause doesn't feel genuinely responsible for her students? Similarly, what resolute educator doesn't find a thrill in seeing her pupils succeed? Roberts anxiously awaits that experience here at Michigan. Tired women cagers fall to Illini, 82-62 Lack of depth wears Wolverine lineup down; Andrew still scores 22 by Jaeson Rosenfeld Daily Basketball Writer CHAMPAIGN - When the ball isn't rolling your way, even the good breaks turn sour. Early in Friday night's 82-62 loss to Illinois (3-6 Big Ten, 8-10 overall), the Michigan women's basketball team looked to be in good shape when the Illinois frontline got into foul trouble. Less than seven minutes into the game, forwardsAnitaClintonandLolita Platt; and center Cindy Dilger each had two personal fouls. Michigan (0-9, 1- 17) had just run off 6 straight points to close the Illini lead to 14-13. At this point, Illinois coach Kathy Lindsey calledatimeoutand was forced to switch her team into a 2-3 zone. And what appeared to be a blessing for the Wolverines suddenly became a curse. "I wasn't sure how (the 2-3 zone) was going to work," Lindsey said, "but we figured we were fouling so much we had to do something." Lindsey'sdoubts about the zone were quickly put to rest as the Illini went on a 15-3 run, extending a one-point mar- gin to a 13-point lead they would never relinquish. Cold perimeter shooting and a dismal performance on the boards cost the Wolverines dearly in Illinois' five-minute run. "I think what kind of threw us off was they went into a zone -a 2-3 zone, " Michigan coach Trish Roberts said, "and we kind of went stale. (We) didn't hit any outside shots." Unfortunately forMichigan, Illinois guard Mandy Cunningham was any- thing but cold from downtown. The 5- foot-7junior buriedapairof three point- ers in the run, including one from the baseline to give her team a 29-16 edge. Meanwhile, forward KrisDupps crashed the boards for nine first-half caroms, leading her team to a 31-18 rebounding edge at the break. All 10 Illini seeing first-half action grabbed at least one board. "We were doing agoodjobrebound- ing out of the zone, which is sometimes a concern," Lindsey said. Illinois' prowess on the boards was of equal concern to Roberts, who saw it as the key to her team's demise. "You can't give a team that many rebounds in the first half and expect to win ball games." Roberts said. However, the Wolverines did keep it close for much of the second half, look- ing as if they would make a run at the Fighting Illini. The Illinois' lead hov- ered around 11 points for the first ten minutes of the second stanza, with Michigan having several opportunities to make runs. In the end, Dupps' game-high 22 points wore the Wolverines down. "When you're playing seven of eight kids, that says the differencerightthere," Roberts said. "We just did not have the bench to bring in the fresh bodies to give the kids a break. "Because we are low in numbers, those last seven or eight minutes of the game are really where we don't seem to be able to pull it out." Indeed the Illini did dominate the last 8 minutes of the game, turning an 11-point bulge into the final 20-point margin of victory. Illinois went on a 16- 7 run to close the game, keyed by 7 points from Robin Preacely and Michigan's poor shooting. Like many other teams, Illinois' exploiting of Michigan's thin bench was all part of the game plan. "It was important to get our transi- tion going against them because we wanted to wear them down," Lindsey said. "We knew their numbers were down." Lindsey had a full bench and uti- lized a host ofpost players to slow down the Wolverines' inside attack. Fresh- man center Cindi Hanna, who saw 21 minutes of action, could see the effects of the substitution on Michigan center Trish Andrew. "Trish Andrew I don't think went out of the game at all, so you could really see the fatigue in her face," Hanna said. " We tried to take it at her and we had the deeper bench and we could do that." While Andrew certainly tired down the stretch, the senior still turned in a solid 22 points, 12 boards, and seven blocked shots for Michigan. "We knew Andrew was going to score some points," Lindsey said. "We figured if we could keep her around 20 (we could win)." The Wolverines' next contest comes Wednesday at Big Ten rival Michigan State. The Michigan women's basketball team had another tough weekend, falling to Illinois in Champaign, 82-62. The team shot at a .340 rate. MICHIGAN (62) FG FT Reb. Min. M-A M-A O-T A F Pt. McCall 26 1-7 0-1 0-2 1 1 2 Nuanes 38 6-14 2-3 3-8 4 4 15 Andrew 40 8-23 6-7 5-12 2 4 22 Gray 30 2-4 0-0 3-6 1 3 4 Stewart 31 1-8 4-6 2-6 22 6 Beaudry 33 4-8 5-8 2-4 2 3 13 Heikkinen 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 22-64 17-25 15-40 1217 62 FG%- .344. FT%- .680. Three-point goals: .077. Team rebounds: 2. Blocks: 7. Turnovers: 23. Steals: 11. Technical fouls: none. Michigan.................34 28 - 62 Illinois;.........43 39 - 82 At Assembly Hall; A-741 ILLINOIS (82) FG FT Reb. Min. M-A M-A O-T A F Pts. Estey 35 4-8 1-2 0-3 51 9 M.C'ham 20 3-8 2-2 2-4 1 1 10 Dupps 31 9-17 4-5 3-12 2 2 22 Platt 19 3-8 2-3 4-7 2 3 8 Clinton 15 6-10 3-4 2-5 0 3 15 Preacely 26 5-13 5-6 2-5 3 0 15 Hanna 21 0-1 0-0 0-3 0 2 0 Inman 16 0-0 0-0 1-3 2 2 0 Booker 7 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 1 3 Dilger 5 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 2 0 Ruholl 4 0-0 0-1 0-1 0 1 0 Me. C'ham 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 200 3167 17-23 15-48 1519 82 FG%- .463. FT%- .739. Three-point goals: .429. Team rebounds: 2. Blocks: 1. Tunovers: 22. Steals: 10. Technical fouls: none. 1 BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK I Statistic of wome I by Rich Mitvalsky Daily Basketball Writer Statistics rarely lie. That's the bottom line when reviewing the quantitative assessment ofMichigan's women's basketball team. And at the halfway marker in the conference season, as their 0-9 conference record would indicate, despite some outstanding individual performances, the Wolverines are having problems in some key areas. BOTTOM OF THE BARREL: There are seven such categories in which the Wolverines have a firm hold on last place in the Big Ten. They include: scoring defense (76.9), scoring margin (-12.5), field goalpercentage(.384), three-pointpercentage(.274), opponents three-pointpercentage(.40 1), steals (8.0), and turnover margin (4.4). Michigan ranks second to last in a few more: scoring (64.4), field goal percentage differential (-.045), and opponents re- bounds (41.9). BIG TEN LEADERS: Five returnees from one year ago once again lead their respective statistical categories this season. Minnesota's Carol Ann Shudlick tops all in scoring (23.6), Shirley Bryant of Indiana leads in field goal percentage (.652), Iowa's Laurie Aaron leads in steals per game (4.5), while Wolverine Trish Andrew bests the rest in both rebounds (12.3) and blocked shots (2.94). ANDREW DOMINATES: Andrew's total of 50 blocked shots this season ranks her first individually, but her numbers alone would place her in a tie for third in the team category with Northwestern. An- drew is third in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 19.6 points per game, but is absent from the top ten in field goal percentage. OLD STOMPING GROUNDS: Wolverine head coach Trish Roberts'trip to Illinois over the weekend marked the first time she has returned to champaign in a coaching capacity since she served as an assistant coach to former Illini head coach Laura Golden. Under Roberts' tute- lage, the Illini finished 13-15 in the 1984-85 season. HOME, SWEET HOME: Andrew, anatie of Winnetka, Illinois, is playing the only time in her home state this season, as Michigan will not travel to Northwestern because of the newly created Big Ten schedule. Opposite of Andrew, Illinois guard Jill Estey hails from Plymouth, Michigan,just outside of Ann Arbor. Estey was a Michi- gan First-Team All-State prep selection. Perhaps a bless- ing in disguise for the Wolverines, as Northwestern is posing a problem for all Big Ten teams this season. STRENGTH OF THE BIG TEN: Most everyone re- members the preseason hype surrounding the men's conference schedule strength. In fact, the Big Ten was tabbed as the most difficult of them all for men's basket- ball. The women are not to be outdone. The Associated Press Top 25 has three Big Ten teams ranked in the top ten: No.3 Iowa, No.4 Penn State, and No.6 Ohio State. Other conference team receiving votes include Minne- sota, Northwestern, Indiana, and Wisconsin. THIEVERY: Senior guard Jen Nuanes leads the team in steals with 43 this season. Thatnumber ranks her sixth in the Big Ten with a 2.7 average. Nuanes remains a threat in two other categories as well, including three point goals per game where she is eighth (1.4), and shoots at a .300 clip from that range, placing her tenth in accuracy. s tell the story n s hoops Blues TIRED LEGS: When each player on a team averages 28 minutes per game, the legs are bound to go. Subtract sophomore Molly Heikkinen's two minute stint in the Illinois game, and that average increases to 33 minutes for six players. The Illini dressed 12 players, all of whom saw action Friday evening against Michigan's crew of seven. And the legs went. With nearly ten minutes remaining, the Wolverines cut the Illini lead to nine. However, the could get no closer. The final nine minutes saw Illinois take advantage of Michigan's fatigue by stepping up the tempo of an already quickly paced contest. PLAYING TO POTENTIAL?: Sporting a 1-17 record this season, a pointed question may present itself: are the Wolverines simply playing up their potential, but realizing that this potential falls short of their competition? No. Although the defeats have an evident wearing effect on both coaches and players, and although each game seems a repeat performance of the preceeding contest, senior Nikki Beaudry said she feels that the team can better its performance. "In no way are we playing as well as we can. You haven't seen one player on this team play as well as she is capable," Beaudry commented following their loss in Champaign. "We can play better, but its just a matter of stepping up. Right now, we are at a plateau, and its going to take something inside of us to get off of that plateau." "The problem right now is the fact that we have seven bodies to play in a game, andeveryone else has more," Roberts said. "We just get run down, and so tired. But no one has given up on this team, no one." * 650' Gulf Beach Frontage " 2 outdoor/i heated indoor pool « Sailboat, Jet Ski & Parasailing * Color cable TV, gameroom -Tiki Beach Bar, Volleyball Read the i43atitI 0 ________________________________________ I, x %' }'f.{ 1n"?fir{'r":vr,.v.. r :v:: " {{.:;."';:" {}}r ;:r ;: 1: { ,. }'". Vii:};:: ' "r. f.;." .;.f; :1, Jrr."rYJ J}:r "..tJ!!""f "J :t IN. N C1MNA QARDEN Restaurant m t-a tB I Pt-: r e rDo You? - wasmaiah- - i Ad