The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - February 15, 1993 - Page 5
* F U L L C O U R To Women cagers fall just short once again
_ PRESS _Late Wisconsin run keeps Blue winless in Big Ten in 79-75 home loss
Another loss gives
no answers for
M'
by Rich Mitvalsky
Daily Basketball Writer
You probably know he s. . . In fact. anyone who has so much as
browsed through an .xltion of the Daiy this term undoubtedly knows
the story. It goes something like this: the Michigan women's basket-
ball team played a competitive basketball game against its most recent
Big Ten opponent until the five minute mark. Right'?
And so it did Friday evening.
Michigan coach Trish Roberts accurately and painfully pointed out
her plight to the press immediately following Michigan's 79-75 loss to
Wisconsin Friday. The Wolverines had just dropped their eleventh
contest by less than ten points. And you can bet that each one of those
particular losses has followed the same script.
This season has posted several obstacles for the Wolverines. With a
first-year head coach, change was inevitable. Then the injury bug hit,
leaving Michigan to play its conference games with eight players, six
of whom actually see any playing time at all. Most recently, questions
asking if Michigan can win a single Big Ten game this season have
surfaced.
Hmmm.
I don't want to put my answer in print. I mean, geez, of course they
should win one. Look at the odds. And the law of averages. I don't
think hunger for a win is a real problem here, but a very real as-
sessment of the facts tells us that, uh, well ... don't hold your breath.
The problem is that Michigan's performance was not bad against the
Badgers. That may sound a bit odd for a problem, but the Wolverines
played not only with vigor and inspiration. They also had some ex-
'... the legs were bound to go. And they will
continue to go. With six players running an
uptempo game, it just doesn't matter how
well-conditioned you are. At some point,
you'll hit a brick wall.'
tended streaks of some darn good basketball. Michigan even blended
splendid point distribution with vastly improved rebounding, both
offensively and defensively.
Take the second half for example. Michigan just couldn't get any
closer than nine or 10 points midway through the half. A Robin Threatt
triple with 10 minutes to go re-established the Badgers' comfortable
margin. What happened next was simply out of character for the
Wolverines.
For the first time this season, Michigan went on an emphatic run.
And this streak of 13 unanswered points which gave the Wolverines a
71-69 lead with six minutes remaining had all of the characteristics of a
team we had not seen yet this year. Of course there was senior Trish
Andrew netting swinging one-handers through the lane. But there was
another senior, Nikki Beaudry, accompanying Andrew, picking up the
garbage and putting it away. A Jen Nuanes three-point bucket certainly
aided the cause, too.
But one thing stood out - the face of sophomore Shimmy Gray as
the Wolverines daunted the Badgers. Gray had converted on a driving
lay-in, as well as on a 16-foot jumper. And when Michigan took the
lead, Gray thrust her arm into the air and yelled something inaudible to
her teammates as Wisconsin took a time-out. Indeed, there was spirit.
And even we at press row did something illegal by press conduct
standards. We cheered. And kept cheering. Oh yes, we threw away the
book on press conduct, ignoring all of the cruel and unusual punish-
ments which you figure go along with such a violation. It had been that
long since this team had showed such life and emotion.
But, back to one fact that may seem unclear. Gray's inspired words
were unheard - that's a fact. But get this - the sound from the crowd
drowned her out. Even the fans were into this one, as fraternity and
sorority brothers and sisters filled up at least a few more of the seats,
chanting the names of particularly comely Badgers in attempt to distract
their focus from the game.
Well, the Wolverines took their token 71-69 lead and then scored
four whole points during the final six minutes. Yes, they lost.
I guess it was a bit anticipated - the loss, that is - considering
that Roberts has attributed many of Michigan's losses, and especially
those which were decided in the final moments, to their lack of
numbers. By tipoff time Friday, soph Molly Heikkinen had added her-
self to the Wolverine's extensive injury list with a bum thumb. With
six players, the legs were still bound to go.
And they will continue to go. With six players running an uptempo
game, it just doesn't matter how well-conditioned you are. At some
point, you'll hit a brick wall.
If you're Robert's squad, you smash head-long into that wall after
about 35 minutes of basketball.
by Mike Hill
Daily Basketball Writer
Another bag of candy was
flashed in front of the Michigan
women's basketball team. But, yet
again, just as the Wolverines were
poised to snatch it, it was just out of
reach.
Wisconsin (4-6 Big Ten, 7-12
overall) played the taunting bully
Friday night, holding off a late
Michigan surge at Crisler Arena to
hand the Wolverines (0-11, 1-18)
their eleventh loss by less than 10
points this year, 79-75.
With less than nine minutes to
play and trailing by 11, Michigan
staged a 13-0 run. The spurt was
highlighted by a pull-up triple from
senior Jen Nuanes and a Stacie
McCall to Shimmy Gray fast-break
layup. Center Trish Andrew capped
it with a jump hook, giving the
Wolverines the lead, 71-69, with
6:02 remaining.
"Our man-to-man defense, I
thought, was the key to the turn
around," Michigan coach Trish Ro-
berts said. "It was a shock to us. We
didn't think we could stay up with
them. We felt that (Badger guard
Robin) Threatt was extremely
quick. We didn't feel we could
match up with them. But when our
zone wasn't working, we switched
to man and we saw that we could
stay with them."
Remembering past Michigan
games, onlookers had to be wonder-
ing when the fun would end. Their
question was soon answered. when
Wisconsin coach Mary Murphy cal-
led a timeout. The Badgers re-
sponded, countering the Michigan
ambush with a game-deciding 8-0
run. And the Wolverines could only
muster four points in the final six
minutes.
"I think that was just great
coaching," Murphy said, laughing.
"Sometimes (our players) listen and
sometimes they don't. We just
bench because you know that things
can start happening when she gets
some confidence. I'm not surprised
by anything she does or Nuanes
does or Trish does or Nikki
Beaudry."
After losing by only six to the
Badgers in Madison earlier this sea-
son, the Wolverines were surprised
by Wisconsin, who jumped to a
comfortable 14-point lead early in
the second half.
After leading, 41-35, at the
break, the Badgers seemed to have
pulled away when junior guard
Dolly Rademaker buried one of her
four three-pointers for a 57-43 ad-
vantage. And when center Jen
Waterman cooled off, sophomore
Camille Williams took over.
But like many of Michigan's
losses this season, the Wolverines
just couldn't come up with a bucket
when it was needed most.
WISCONSIN (79)
FG FT Rob.
Min. M-A M-A O-T A F Pts.
Williams 32 8-10 8-9 6-7 1 2 24
Waterman 32 7-13 0-1 5-12 0 3 15
Shreve 34 0-2 0-0 0-3 11 0 0
Threatt 25 6-16 0-0 2-6 4 4 14
Rademaker 27 8-18 0-0 0-5 2 2 20
Bostrom 12 0-1 0-0 0-2 0. 2 0
Johnson 17 3-8 0-0 1-2 1 3 6
Winkler 11 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 2 0
Leet 10 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 200 32-71 8-10 14-41 1919 79
FG%- .450. FT%- .800. Three-point goals:
7-18. .389 (Rademaker 4-8, Threatt 2-6,
Waterman 1-2, Bostrom 0-1, Johnson 0-1).
Team rebounds: 2. Blocks: 2 (Waterman,
Williams). Turnovers: 18 (Rademaker 6,
Johnson 5, Threatt 2. Bostrom, Leet, Shreve,
Waterman, Williams). Steals: 7 (Threatt 2,
Bostrom, Johnson, Rademaker, Shreve,
Waterman). Technical fouls: None.
MICHIGAN (75)
FO FT Rob.
Mn. M-A M-A O-T A F Pts.
Stewart 28 4-14 0-4 5-9 1 1 9
Beaudry 39 4-15 4-6 4-8 0 5 12
Andrew 32 5-22 10-12 8-16 2 2 20
Nuanes 35 6-10 0-0 2-6 4 2 14
McCall 35 1-3 2-2 1-2 3 2 4
Gray 31 8-17 0-0 4-8 2 3 16
Totals 200 28-81 16-24 24-53 1215 75
FG%- .346. FT%- .667. Three-point goals:
3-10, .300 (Nuanes 2-6, Stewart 1-3, Andrew 0-
1). Team rebounds: 4. Blocks: 4 (Andrew 3,
Gray). Turnovers: 16 (Stewart 5, McCall 4,
Nuanes 4, Andrew 2, Beaudry). Steals: 12
(Beaudry 4,Andrew 3 McCall 2, Stewart 2,
Gray). Technical fouls: None.
Wisconsin........41 38 -79
Michigan..........35 40 -75
At Crisler Arena, A-856
The Wolverines again fell short in their attempt for their first Big Ten win.
needed to catch our breath and say
this is what we're going to do. Trish
(Roberts) went to man (to-man de-
fense). We were shredding up the
zone pretty well. Her changes hurt
us, but we were kind of able to get
our sanity back. We momentarily
lost our minds before getting back
into reality."
Michigan received the kind of
balanced scoring Roberts has been
looking for. After shooting only 1-
for-7 in the first half, Andrew came
back strong to lead the Wolverines,
notching 20 points to go along with
16 rebounds. Niuanes, Gray, and
Nikki Beaudry also scored in dou-
ble figures. Gray posted her best
game of the season, scoring a ca-
reer-high 16 points.
"Shimmy's a great player,"
Murphy said. "I remember recruit-
ing her. She's one of those players
that you're glad when she's on the
BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Badgers knock
heads with Blue
by Jaeson Rosenfeld
Daily Basketball Writer
During the first half of Friday's Michigan-
Wisconsin contest, Badger forward Robin Leet
wrestled for a rebound with Michigan center
Trish Andrew under the Wisconsin bucket.
Neither gave in and the two fell to the floor with
Leet's head taking the brunt of the fall, making a
large audible whack throughout Crisler Arena.
A 20-minute injury timeout ensued, in which
the Wisconsin training staff and Crisler emer-
gency personnel immobilized the forward's neck.
This was nothing new for the junior nursing stu-
dent. It was the second time in three weeks her
head has met the floor with great velocity.
"She did the same thing at Northwestern on
SportsChannel two weeks ago Sunday and had a
concussion," Badger coach Mary Murphy said.
"So she hit the same spot again."
Unfortunately for Leet her second head-bang-
ing experience also marked the end of one of her
season goals.
"We went over our team goals last week and
her goal was not to hit her head again," Murphy
said.
Leet was treated and released from the
University Hospital.
In the Michigan-Wisconsin game at Madison,
Wolverine point guard Stacie McCall suffered
a slight concussion in a similar incident.
PLACES TO GO, PEOPLE TO SEE:
Friday's contest also marked the second leg of the
big-screen TV contest sponsored by the Michigan
Athletic Department. The contest will award the
fraternity or sorority with the most fans in atten-
dance at the designated games with a big-screen
television.
Unfortunately the competition didn't provide
all of the extra fan support the Wolverines had
hoped it would create. After being counted for the
contest standings early in the first half, a large
portion of the Greeks left Crisler.
HEY LADIES, GET FUNKY, Some of the
fraternity members who chose to stay provided
comic relief in the second half while also scaring
most of the Wisconsin team right out of Ann
Arbor.
Apparently impressed by Badger senior Jen
Waterman (apart from her playing ability),
some fraternity members started a "Jen
Waterman" chant in the middle of the second
half.
Later, one c f the brothers of the fraternal order
offered his most sincere admiration in a bench
side serenade to Wisconsin freshman Tracy
Winkler. Murphy and her players were truly
impressed to see that chivalry was not dead in the
Wolverine State.
"You've got some wild guys here it
Michigan, don't you?" Murphy quipped. "They
were out there looking for Valentines' dates or
something. It's a long commute but I guess they
(her players) are worth it.
"Don't you have any girls here?"
LICENSED TO ILL: Michigan senior Jen
Nuanes braved severe cold symptoms and pro-
vided the Wolverines with solid play from the
guard position. She was a perfect four-for-four in
the first stanza, on her way to 14 points, six re-
bounds, and four assists. Nuanes hit on six-of-10
from the field in 35 minutes of play.
LOOKING FOR A PARTY?: After a nine-
day layoff, the Wolverines will return to action
Sunday Feb. 21 against Ohio State. The Crisler
Arena contest has been labeled "Hoop Happenin"'
day and will feature corporate mascots and a half-
time slam-dunking exhibition by the American
Flyers. SportsChannel America will carry the 1
p.m. tipoff live, and festivities begin at 11 a.m.
Rumor has it that only those under 18 years of
age will be allowed to sit on Tony the
Tiger's lap, so bring your fake IDs.
Orangemen topple
" injured men's gymnasts
Women gymnasts top
school record, CMU
by Scott Burton
Daily Sports Writer
Going into Saturday's meet
with No. 5 Syracuse, the Michigan
men's gymnastics team fully ex-
pected to be the Orangemen's equal,
even without Brian Winkler, Royce
Toni and Seth Rubin.
Unfortunately, the Wolverines
found out how much they miss their
injured stars in their 274.85-269.80
loss to the Orangemen.
"It was a tough meet," Michigan
coach Bob Darden said. "We needed
a good meet to beat Syracuse, and
we just didn't have a good meet.
"We had some very good per-
formances, but not the number we
needed for a full team effort, and
that's where Syracuse pulled away
-'-- .......3 .1---
Michigan's early frustration was
furthered by its substandard perfor- * , .
mance on the vault, parallel bars and -.. .
high bars. Although the top two or :
three Wolverines in these events
placed strongly, Syracuse took ad- -
vantage of Michigan's lack of depth
to pull away for the win. , - -}-
"We had three major breaks on .
high bars that distanced Syracuse#
away from us," Darden said. "Its
wrote the whole scenario for us on '?.-{<
the day - a couple of key perfor-
mances from us that gave Syracuse
the tenths they needed to develop a $
better score."f
Some of the frustration on the£
day was eased by Michigan's per-=
formance in an event that had been a
sore spot all year - the still rings.>
n...a e n- o ~ n a nC
by Mike Rancilio
Daily Sports Writer
Even before the final results were
announced at the Michigan women's
gymnastics meet, the team knew it
had completed something special.
The Wolverines huddled around
the vault after the meet against
Central Michigan with a good idea
that they had won the meet. What
they were waiting for, though, was
the team score. It came, and the
celebration followed.
Michigan, 193.45, to CMU's
188.00.
The new team record was a
reward for a outstanding team effort.
Nearly every gymnast had a hand in
the outcome, as steady scores
dominated the statistical rundown.
"Sometimes it's that first big one
(performance) that sets the mood for
the rest of the meet," Plocki said.
"The team really came through and
did an excellent job."
Even though Wymer and Kelly
Carfora took their usual position on
top of the all-around board, with
38.90 and 38.85, respectively, this
accomplishment was more than just
a two-gymnast effort. Sandwiched
between the all-around
performances were Tina Miranda's
9.75 and 9.7 on the bars and beam,
respectively, Dianna Ranelli's 9.75
on the vault, and Ali Winski's 9.75
floor exercise.
But the performance that best
epitomized the Wolverine's depth
and team effort was that of Debbie