Page 6-The Michigan Daily-Sports Monday- March 15,1993 Cagers come up short at Purdue Women end season with typical 59-56 loss in West Lafayette Al by Jaeson Rosenfeld Daily Basketball Writer If there has been one word that has characterized the Michigan women's basketball team's season, that word is almost. The Wolverines have 'almost' won on many occa- sions, but have fallen short in the fi- nal minutes. For much of the season, the Wol- verines had 'almost', but not quite enough players to be competitive in a Big Ten game. The Wolverines' lost their final game of the season Saturday at Purdue, 59-56, on a trick play that 'almost' worked. Michigan (1-17 Big Ten, 2-25 overall) trailed Purdue (8-10, 16-11), 57-56, with 4.3 seconds left when Carrie Stewart fouled Boilermaker Cindy Lamping. Lamping missed the front end of the one-and-one and center Trish Andrew grabbed the board and called timeout with 3.5 seconds remaining. Michigan coach Trish Roberts then drew up a trick play in the hud- dle. Forward Nikki Beaudry was to throw the ball from the left baseline to teammate Carrie Stewart, who was also out of bounds on the op- posite side of the court. Stewart was then to trigger the ball to an open Wolverine downcourt. The play worked to perfection, with two Wolverines open down- court. Unfortunately for Michigan, the play came after a missed basket and therefore was illegal. Throwing the ball down the baseline is only le- gal after a made basket, and the ref- erees nabbed Michigan for the viola- tion and awarded the ball to Purdue. Stewart then fouled Lamping again, and Lamping hit both ends of the one-and-one this time, giving Purdue its final victory margin. Michigan coach Trish Roberts, admitted that she overlooked the rule book on the game's pivotal play. "I take credit for that," Roberts said. "That was a coaching error on the inbounds play." Poor execution on Michigan's part in the game's final minute was also responsible for the defeat. Michigan pulled to within one point with Andrew's lay-up with 26 sec- onds left and then were not able to foul a Boilermaker until 4.3 seconds remained. "I don't know that everyone was aware of the plan, or they didn't know how much time was left on the clock," Andrew said. "We should have fouled immediately. There was no real reason we shouldn't have gotten a foul. It was definitely our fault." After losing to Purdue by 35 points in January, the Wolverines' three-point loss marked quite an im- provement. In Roberts estimation, guard Jen Nuanes presence in Michigan's lineup and Stacy Love- lace's absence on Purdue's side made the difference. "Stacy Lovelace (out with an in- jured hand) was a big part of the first game for Purdue," Roberts said.. "We had only one guard in game one, Stacie McCall, and when she got tired it really hurt us." Beaudry led Michigan against the a ,ixy;:. ' ? . 'You realize what you could have accomplished throughout the whole season. It would be nice to go back and change some games in the past. I definitely think that there were some close ones we should have won.' - Trish Andrew Boilermakers, scoring 15 points in 26 minutes of action. The senior forward hit on 7-of-16 from the field, following up her 15 points and 11 rebounds against Indiana. The Wolverines leading scorer, Andrew, scored 10 points, well be- low her average of 19.5 points-per- game. While Andrew did grab 13 caroms, her last game at Michigan was a disappointing conclusion to a fine senior season. "She got the shots," Roberts said, "but they just wouldn't fall." Fortunately for the Wolverines, the shots were not falling for the Boilermakers either, who shot just 41.2 percent from the field. Purdue's effort left coach Lin Dunn less than pleased with her team's performance. "I thought our efforts were just not good," Dunn said. "I was pleased we hit the free throws in the end, but I didn't feel we made enough of an effort to score in transition." Like many opposing coaches, Dunn said that Michigan is a better team than its record might indicate. "I felt Michigan played very hard and very intensely for a 2-25 team," Dunn said. "The game's effort and intensity (went) Michigan's way." Like many games, however, the Wolverines did not come with big plays down the stretch, leaving the players wondering 'what could have been?' "You realize what you could have accomplished throughout the whole season," Andrew said. "It would be nice to go back and change some games in the past. I definitel'y think that there were some close ones we should have won." ERIK ANGERMEIER/Daily While Trish Andrew was a statistical terror during her four years at Michigan, her Wolverine teams were nowhere nearly as successful. MacDonald learns valuable lesson at NCAAs by Tonya Broad Daily Sports Writer In the grand scheme of things, older may be better. Michigan freshman track & field runner Scott MacDonald found that xout Friday during the NCAA National track meet in Indianapolis, Ind. were he was unable to qualify for the finals on Saturday. MacDonald was ranked sixth in the mile going into Friday's semi- final as well as the only freshman in the pack. MacDonald could have used some experience, or even a little luck, to overcome the misfortune of drawing the first of two heats. The field was split into two heats, with the first three finishers in each heat and the next four fastest times qualifying for the finals. Racing in the first heat became a tactical mind game. No one could go out too fast without risking fatigue in Saturday's final, while a bad time would not ensure a place in the final. Michigan assistant coach Ron Warhurst commented that Mac- Donald ran the best tactical race that he could, considering he drew the worst of the two heats. "The first heat was real tactical," Warhurst said. "He (MacDonlad) was in second place with a lap to go and he got bumped on the curve trying to be passed. He might not have been used to the huge pack (at the end of the race.) It was a definite learning experience for him." MacDonald ran consistently, posting a time of 4:09.81, while the winning time was 4:08.90 (for the first heat.) The problem occurred in the tactics used to post that time. MacDonald kept with the pack which ran a slow first half mile, then stuck with the group throughout a blistering second half-mile which ran a negative split. (The second half mile with a split of 1:58-1:59 sec- onds was faster than the first half mile.) "Early in the race everyone was bunched up," MacDonald said. "We :went out slow, then a couple of us decided to make our move at the same time. The guy in front of me stumbled, and I got spiked on both shins. I just ran out of gas at the end. I couldn't get my legs to turn over." Some may not feel heat assign- ments were that important, but in retrospect, the top seeded person coming into the meet was in the first heat and failed to make the finals. "I was pretty confident going in," MacDonald said. "I had nothing to lose but I was unlucky being in the first heat. Everyone finished close together. (Six people came within 0.5 seconds of each other.) The second heat just watched and knew all the times. They knew all they had to do was run a little faster." Warhurst was happy with MacDonald's overall performance despite his not making the finals. "He didn't make the finals but he won't dwell on it," Warhurst said. "It's a learning experience he'll take with him (into the outdoor season.)" 'M' women finish 33rd at NCAAs by Elisa Sneed The Michigan women's track team sent three members to Indian- apolis for the NCAA championship. Senior Molly McClimon and sophomores Courtney Babcock and Karen Harvey culminated their in- door seasons this weekend at the Hoosier Dome. "The NCAAs are the highest level of competition," Michigan as-' sistant coach Mike McGuire said. "Just getting to nationals is a tribute to all three and their great seasons." Babcock and McClimon were among 16 runners who had qualified for the 3,000-meter event. Babcock, the fifth seed, and McClimon, the sixth, both made it through the pre- liminary heats into Saturday's final of 12 competitors. In the finals, McClimon and Babcock finished fifth and sixth, respectively. In the mile, Harvey missed the finals by less than a second. As a team, Michigan tied with Clemson for 33rd. McClimon, who has been on and off for the past year and a half due to extensive knee surgeries, expressed satisfaction about her performance. Her time of 9 minutes, 20.29 sec- onds was just ahead of Babcock, who finished in 9:22.16. "I was really happy to make the final," McClimon said. "My goal was to be in the top six. I felt really good in the prelims, and felt I could run with the top seven." McClimon also felt that running in the second heat on Friday gave her an advantage. "It's a real tactical race; I ran just to. get into the final," she said. Harvey, who had qualified provi- sionally for the mile with a time of 4:49.87, was the 13th seed for the preliminaries on Friday. The sopho- more narrowly missed qualifying for the finals by .95 seconds. "I had a tough heat, a lot of big names and I was intimidated in my first NCAA," Harvey said. "I ran in the first heat; I needed to run faster." Harvey did indeed run with the best. Clare Eichner of Wisconsin, the Big Ten and NCAA mile champ- ion, ran in the same heat as Harvey. Inexperience also hindered Har- vey's performance. "There is a big disadvantage to the first heat, especially in distance events," McGuire said. "Karen ran very competitively, and did a fine job for her first time. We all learned a lot, but Karen probably learned the most." Harvey thought that she would be better prepared next time. "Now I know it's there. I need to be brave and have better tactics," she said. Surpassing their previous top in- door finish of fourth, the Wolverines had their best performance ever in this year's Big Ten Indoor confer- ence championship. Ranked third in the Big Ten after their indoor season, the women's track and field team strives to do at least that well in its upcoming out- door season. "We'll be competitive," McGuire said. "We're looking forward to con- tinued improvement and growth." *F U LL COU RT PRESS{ Women cagers can only improve on -25 by Mike Hill Daily Basketball Writer Just when you write the Michigan women's basketball season off, the Wolverines pull something like this. It's as though another team stepped into their baggy maize and blue uniforms and played the final two gamesof the season. Michigan 67, Indiana 54? Come again? Is there peace in the Middle East? Did Roseanne all of a sudden slip into a size 7? Then Michigan comes back with a three-point loss to Purdue Saturday night? Didn't it lose by 35 points to the Boilermakers earlier this season? The Wolverines must be wishing the season wasn't over. They're just starting to get it right. Things finally are starting to click. Thankfully, for this group of extremely nice people, an abysmal 2-25 season didn't end on'a sour note. But, to be completely honest, thankfully it is over. So, if anything, you would think the season-ending trip to the Hoosier State would be somewhat of a building block for next year. Maybe not. Coach Trish Roberts loses five players to graduation, including starters Trish Andrew, Jen Nuanes, Nikki Beaudry and Stacie McCall. Most ob- servers might say, "This team lost a school-record 19 straight games. No matter who they lose, they can't be much worse next year." That observa- tion is probably true. However, when a team dresses only seven players on a regular basis, that leaves only two players for next year's team. I seem to remember the Wolverines having enough problems with five on the court. x Forwards Carrie Stewart and Shimmy Gray are the only players return- ing for Michigan who have received substantial playing time. Roberts will have to depend on the knowledge she has gained throughout this long strug- gle to get her through another season like this one. , Pistons stop Bullish comeback, 101-99 AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Joe Dumars scored 27 points, passing the 10,000-point plateau as the Detroit Pistons hung on to de- feat the Chicago Bulls, 101-99, yesterday. The Bulls were playing without injured starters John Paxson, Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright, but nearly overcame a 14-point third-quarter Piston lead. Detroit led, 54-47, at the half, and quickly stretched the lead to 14 with a 9-2 run to start the second that in- cluded seven points from Dumars. But the Bulls came with back with a 15-4 run of their own to pull within three, 67-64. Back-to-back jumpers by ex- Piston Darrell Walker late in the quarter gave the Bulls a two-point lead, but Bill Laimbeer tied it at 76 with a buzzer-beating jumper. The lead went back and forth for most of the fourth quarter, and was still tied, 95-95, with 3:34 to play. Alvin Robertson gave Detroit a two-point lead, then the Pistons' I Ei~IN I Isiah Thomas and B.J. Armstrong of Chicago each hit a pair of free throws to make it 99-97 with 1:48 left. Robertson hit one free throw, but Scottie Pippen hit a jumper to cut Detroit's lead to one. The Bulls had two chances to re- gain the lead, but Jordan and Pippen each missed jumpers, the latter with 8.5 seconds left. Chicago fouled Terry Mills, and he hit one of two from the line, leaving the score 101- 99 with 4.4 seconds remaining. Armstrong had to shoot from center court as time ran out, and missed to give Detroit the win. Dumars led Detroit, while Mills had 23 and Thomas 21. Michael Jordan led all scorers with 28. The Pistons hit 83 percent of their shots in the first quarter, led by Mills' per- fect 7-7. If nothing else, Roberts has learned patience in her first season in Aln Arbor. Roberts, who may be the classiest coach I've ever encountered, is going to need this kind of patience to endure what may become a long No- building process. Bud Van DeWege, who resigned as Michigan's coach after a 7-21 cam- paign a year ago, may have said to himself during the year that he certainly could have won more than two games with his former team. Considering the team's rash of injury problems, it's doubtful. But dare to dream anyway, Bud. The truth of the matter is that even if it were the case, a Van DeWege- coached Michigan squad would continue to be a bad team on the road to mediocrity. With Roberts in place, the Michigan women's program and its future are being taken seriously. The best way to tell is to check .the recruiting stats. Roberts has already nabbed two quality players in Catherine DiGiacianto of Troy, Mich. and Amy Johnson of Ottawa, Ill. And she is extremely confident about plenty more high school seniors announcing their intent to play for the Wolverines on the mid-April official signing day. : Plus, freshman Jennifer Brzezinski can be a major contributor if her in- jured knee heals. Guard Tannisha Stevens, who lost sight in her left eye from a freak accident, plans to work out all summer so she can make a 6 0 Born -t USA This New Balance athletic shoe was made in the United States. But that's not the only reason to buy it. More importantly, its available in a full range of widthsVhich means it fits well and therefore per- forms well. comeback to the hardcourt next season. e WEST Certainly, next season isn't going to be as bad as it might have first ap- peared. And you have to be happy for the seniors, who didn't have to leave without a Big Ten victory in their last hurrah. Next year, with a slew of new players, Roberts can start fresh. After all, there's only one way to go. r .r : t!:' r,.