6 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSTuesday - Tuesday, January 18, 1994
Women drop a heartbreaker, 64-63.
Last-minute Wolverine comeback falls short against Wisconsin
By BOB ABRAMSON
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
In the end, Shimmy Gray couldn't
hold the tears back.
With Wisconsin leading, 64-62,
and 2.7 seconds left in the game, Gray
stood at the free throw line, needing
to make both attempts to tie the game.
She buried the first, but the second
rolled off the side of the rim. A last-
second, putback attempt by Jennifer
Brzezinski fell short, and the Badgers
(1-3 Big Ten, 8-5 overall) escaped
Crisler Arena with a 64-63 victory
Sunday, preventing the Michigan
women's basketball team (0-4, 3-10)
from obtaining its first Big Ten vic-
tory of the season.
"I'm not a very good free throw
shooter," a somber Gray explained.
"But I just knew I made the second
one. I didn't even think about it.
"Then, when it went off, it was
like my whole life flashed before me.
Other than hurting my knee, it was
probably the single biggest heartbreak
that I have had playing basketball."
Even with the miss, it was Gray-
who finished with seven points and
six boards - who kept the Wolver-
ines close in the final minute. Trail-
ing, 64-60, with 1:25 remaining, she
nailed two pressure-filled, free throws
to cut the lead down to two.
"Shimmy's feeling really bad right
now," Michigan coach Trish Roberts
said. "We just tried to tell her that one
shot didn't win or lose the game for
us. There were a lot of things down
the stretch that had we have done, the
score wouldn't have been what it was."
Similar to the game against Michi-
gan State last week, it was a tale of
two halves for the Wolverines. Michi-
gan trailed, 31-19, at halftime, giving
up numerous fast-break points and
shooting a dismal 28 percent. Michi-
gan point guard Jennifer Kiefer didn't
even attempt a shot in the entire half.
"It was the first time since the Big
Ten had started that we really got our
transition game going," Wisconsin
coach Mary Murphy said. "In the sec-
ond half, we didn't do as good of a job
of rebounding and that was the key.
We weren't able to get out and run."
Michigan came out with a ven-
geance in the second stanza, shooting
48 percent behind the play of Kiefer
and Silver Shellman. Trailing, 37-21,
the Wolverines went on a 21-8 run,
cutting the lead to three, 45-42.
But easy inside baskets by the
Badgers' Jennah Burkholder (14
points) and Barb Franke (12), a prob-
lem that plagued the Wolverines all
afternoon, increased Wisconsin's
margin once again, 55-45.
With 6:20 remaining, Wisconsin
started to pull away from the Wolver-
ines, running out to a 60-47 advan-
tage. But Shellman and Brzezinski
brought Michigan back into the game.
Shellman, who exploded for 21
points, including four three pointers,
hit a three-pointer and a baseline
jumper in consecutive possessions,
and Brzezinski converted two lay-ins
to cut Wisconsin's lead, 64-60.
Of course Michigan would fall
short once again, but the ending cer-
tainly struck some fear in the hearts of
the Badgers.
"It was very nerve-wracking giv-
ing the ballgame away down the
stretch, when I thought we were in a
pretty good position," Murphy said.
"But their post players did a great job
of aggravating our post people.
"They just stayed with it and were
very hungry for a victory. I am glad
they didn't get it against us, but they
are going to get some along the way."
If Michigan is to be victorious in
conference play, it is going to need
consistent play from its backcourt for
the entire contest, not just one half.
Freshman guard Amy Johnson,
who previously shot 1-14 against
Detroit-Mercy and 4-11 against
Michigan State, went 3-14 Sunday.
Kiefer didn't come alive until the
second half, finishing with eight
points, nine assists and four steals.
"We came so close," Roberts said.
"But I think we are going to need
more production out of our guards.
Kiefer went the whole first half with-
out taking a shot, and we told her we
cannot have that. She needs to be
more of an offensive player.
"Amy is in a big slump and she's
been inconsistent all year. She can
come out and look like an All-Ameri@
can against Indiana and Purdue, and
then at Michigan State, she didn't do
very well. We just have to get her to
play consistent."
WISCONSIN (64)
FU FT RES
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Rademaker 31 2-10 1-3 0-2 4 0 5
voigt 37 5-10 1-2 2-7 7 0 13'
Johnson 21 3-7 1-2 0-5 0 1 71
Wiiams 36 4-9 1-3 1-4 5 2 9
Cattanach 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 O
Burkholder 28 7-8 0-1 2-6 2 3 14
Franke 36 5-11 2-2 0-9 3 2 12*
Winkler 12 2 2 0-0 1-5 1 2 4
Totals 200 28-57 643 7-40 2210 64
FG%: .490. FT%: .426 Three-point goals: 2-8,
.250 (Rademaker 0-3, Voigt 2-2 Williams 0-2
Johnson 0-1). Blocks: 2 (Rademaker. Franke).
Turnovers: 23 (Voigt 6, Franke 4. Johnson 3,
Williams 3, Burkholder 3. Rademaker 2, Winkler
2). Steals: 7 (Johnson 3, Rademaker 2,
Burkholder, Winkler). Technical Fouls: none.
Amy Johnson attempts a shot over a Wisconsin player in the Badgers' 64-63
victory over the Wolverines. Michigan remains winless in Big Ten play.
Blue shows mental
toughness andst loss
By J.L ROSTAM-ABADI
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
Like many other sports enthusiasts this past holiday season, I finally ordered
my very own Sports Illustrated subscription, and with it, became the proud owner
of the Michael Jordan thrill-pack.
I was intrigued to discover all the on and off the court occurrences involved
with the game. The intimidation. The mental game.
Jordan tells an opponent during one game, "I'm going to shoot this one with
my eyes closed," referring to his second free throw, and he does. After connecting
on the attempt, you can see the smile on his face. It is a vision which is hard to erase.
Another scene has Jordan going face-to-face with another defender, talking
trash, trying to psych each other out.
It was deja vu Sunday at Crisler
Arena, when the Michigan women's
basketball team took on Wisconsin.
O URT The Wolverinesmay havebeen slightly
undersized--the Badgers sported nine
R Eof 12 players 5-foot-10 or over - but
SMichigan was definitely up for the
mentalchallenge.
- Wisconsin seemed to dominate the
first half, snatching up every rebound
like they were the last drops of water on the planet and led at halftime, 31-19.
But then it was Wolverine time. With the clock reading less than 15 minutes,
something sparked the Michigan offense. It was a Maize and Blue rampage.
Everything started dropping for Michigan freshman point guard Jennifer
Kiefer, who hit two from three-point land.
Fellow rookie Silver Shellman, who had a slow first half, followed suit,
adding 14 of her 21 points in Michigan's second-half surge.
Three minutes ticked by and the Wolverines were still going. The crowd of
over 2,000 was going crazy. With the aid of the pep band's distracting antics,
Michigan showed off its true colors.
Desperate defenders wildly flapped their arms in the air, shouting, "Ball! Ball!
Ahhhh!" in an attempt to intimidate the opposition. But the Wolverines kept
filling the lanes. Michigan's efforts brought it within three points of the Badgers.
Thundering steps and slick shots filled the rest of the half. The Wolverines
weregrabbing the rebounds now. Wisconsin had been temporarily stunned. The
Badgers concentration had been disturbed.
Meanwhile, Kiefer had all the right moves, feeding passes to her teammates.
Michigan's defense was as tough as the offense was successful, forcing Wisconsin
mistakes.
Yet asthe gamecame down to the final few minutes, the Wolverines could nothold
on, losing by a measly point, 64-63. Alas, all the mental toughness in the world could
not makeup for the physical presence the Wolverines lacked in the first half.
Was this dynamic display of second half ballplaying just a fluke? Or rather,
just a taste of what the future holds for Michigan women's basketball?
To play in a conference like the Big Ten, a team needs to be ready for the mental
game. It can get quite hot out on the floor and the Badgers were getting burned. They
broke down mentally in the second half and lost control. Up to the very last seconds, the
fate of the ballgame was no longer in their hands. The mind games had taken over.
"Every game is a mental game," Coach Trish Roberts said."But this game, our team
was paying a lot more attention to what we were asking them to do and doing it."
Michigan proved that it can play in the mental games of the Big Ten. Now it
only needs to develop the physical part a little further. Their mental veracity was
she main difference in the outcome of the second half. And a trend we will
definitely be seeing in the future of Michigan women's basketball.
MICHIGAN (63)
FU FT RES
MIN M-A M-A 0TA F PTS
Kiefer 37 3-5 "- 0-3 91 8
Ross 12 1-3 0-1 0-1 1 2 2
Johnson 28 3-14 0-0 3-9 4 1 7
Gray 35 2-10 3-4 1-6 2 4 71
Brzezinski 25 45 1-2 2-7 2 2 9
Sheilman 35 8-15 1-2 0-5 0 4 21
DiGiacinto 28 4-11 1-2 1-3 0 4 9
Totals 200 25.63 61i 9-37 1818 63
FG%: .396. FT%: .545. Three-paint goals: 7-17,
.411 (Shellman 4-7, Kiefer 2-4, Johnson 1-4,
Gray. DiGiacinto). Blocks: 2 (Brzezinski,
Sheilman). Turnovers: 20 (Johnson 5, Shellman
5, Kiefer 3, Brzezinski 3 DiGiacinto 2. Ross,
Gray). Steals: 14 (Kiefer 4, Gray 2, Brzezinski 2,I
Shellman 2, DiGiacinto 2, Ross, Johnson).
Technical Fouls: none.
Wisconsin......31 33 - 64
Michigan.-.-.19 42 - 63
At:: Crisler Arena; A: 2,351
0,S
l
INDIANA
Continued from page 1
Rose pick of freshman guard Sherron
Wilkerson that culminated in an ex-
plosive alley-oop to King.
"We come out and try to set the
tempo in the first five minutes of the
game and the first five minutes of the
second half, but we weren't doing the
things we needed to," said
Indiana's Todd Leary, who came off
the bench to score 16 second-half
points. "They came out and took ad-
vantage of it."
The Hoosiers climbed back into it
without the help of leading scorer
Damon Bailey who, like Rose,
couldn't get it going in the first half.
Bailey, who averages 25 points a
game, didn't score his first basket
until a spin move along the baseline
opened him up for a layup with 4:13
to go in the opening stanza. He had six
in the half.
After Henderson hit one of two
free throws to cut the Wolverine lead
to five, Michigan went on a 10-0 run
to register its largest lead of the game.
At the 5:55 mark, Jackson stole
the ball from Brian Evans with a clear
path to the basket. However, when
Jackson went up for the dunk,
Indiana'swathletic Steve Hart came
out of nowhere to foul him.
Though Jackson hit both free
throws to give Michigan its 34th point
and a 15-point lead, Hart's effort woke
up the Hoosier crowd and provided
the spark to ignite his teammates.
Indeed, the Wolverines did not
score for the rest of the half, while
Indiana mustered a 12-0 run to nar-
row Michigan's halftime lead to three.
"Hart gave us a tremendous lift,"
Henderson said. "It wasn't a clean
block, and he was called for the foul.
But it was the hustle on the play. I
think that was the turning point of the
whole game."
Michigan extended its lead to
seven with a three-point play from
Rose and a King layup to open the
second half, but Indiana outscored
the Wolverines, 40-18, over the next
14 minutes to take the 15-point lead
with four minutes to play.
"We succumbed to the pressure of
their defense, and they found ways to
get to the free-throw line," Fisher said.
MICHIGAN (72)
FO FT REB
MIN M-A MA O-T A F PIS
Jackson 31 5-14 4-4 5-9 3 4 15
King 37 6411 2-3 1-3 1 4 15
Howard 38 6-11 0-2 4-9 2 3 12
Rose 34 6-21 3-6 3-6 4 5 16
Fife 26 2-7 1-2 0-2 0 5 5
Crawford 16 2-6 0-1 0-2 3 4 5
Derricks 6 1-3 0-0 1-1 0 2 2
Ndiaye 9 1-2 0-1 2-6 0 4 2
Moore 1 020 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Saint-Jean 2 0-0 0-0 0-000 0
Totals 200 29.75 10-19 18-38 1331 72
FG%: .387. FT%: .526. Three-point goals: 4-22,
.182 (King 1-5, Crawford 1-5, Rose 1-4, Fife 04,
Jackson 1-3, Howard 0-1). Blocks: 4 (Jackson,
King, Howard, Fife). Turnovers: 11 (King
3,Crawford 2, Jackson, Howard, Rose, Fife,
Ndiaye, Saint-Jean). Steals: 10 (Jackson 4, Rose
3, Howard 2. King). Technical Fouls: Rose, 2nd
0:08.1
INDIANA ($2)
FO FT RED
MIN BAM -A 04 A F PTS
Evans 35 4-10 5-6 3-15 0 4 14
Henderson 39 3-8 13-16 4-16 0 4 19
Lindeman 6 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Wilkerson 17 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2 2
Bailey 33 6-15 6-9 3-9 3 4 18
Graham 16 2-6 3-4 0-0 2 2 8
Hart 27 2-3 1-2 0-4 2 3 8
Leary 24 4-9 8-8 0-1 3 1 16
1 00 00 0-000 0
Knight 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 00 0
Hales 1 0-0 0-0 0.0 0 0 0
Totals 200 22-55 3645 14-49 1220 82
FQ%: .400. FT%: .800. Three-point goals: 2-16,
.125 (Evans 1-4, Graham 1-4, Bailey 03 Leary 0-
3, Wilkerson 0-2 ). Blocks: 5 (Henderson 3, Hart
2). Turnovers: 17 (Henderson 3, Baily 3, Leary 3,
Lindeman Z Graham 2, Hart 2. Evans,
Wilkerson). Steals: 7 (Bailey 6, Wilkerson).
Technical Fouls: none.
Michigan. 34 38 - 72
Indiana......31 51 - 82
At: Assembly Hall; A: 17,267
EVAN PETRIE/Daily
Jimmy King goes skyward against Indiana in Michigan's 82-72 loss.
Fundamentals finally win out over
Michigan's talent in loss to Hoosiers
.,
,"
..
. ,
Registrar's Bulletin Board
Dates to Remember
Last Day to:
Tue., Jan. 25
Tue., Feb. 15
Beginning
Wed. Jan 26
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the Cashier's Office for drops, adds or modifications to
Winter term schedule.
BLOOMINGTON - The
Michigan basketball team
would make a great literary character.
The Wolverines certainly have plenty of hubris.
There surely would not be a lack of plot lines. And
perhaps most importantly, the team embodies the
tenants of man versus himself.
Michigan, it seems, is in a constant battle with
itself. Raw talent versus basketball fundamentals. With
this team, rarely do the two coexist.
Game after game, the
Wolverines commit costly errors.
Most times, though, Michigan's
superiority of talent outweighs any
blunders it makes.
However, against top teams
with exceptional coaches, this just
does not fly.
"They are expertly coached,"
BRET'T Wolverine coach Steve Fisher said
FORREST of Indiana after Sunday's 10-point
Forrest Hoosier victory. "They rarely miss
Fires a free throw. They have a
multitude of ways to hurt you."
The Wolverines knew Indiana possessed these
attributes before taking the court Sunday. The entire
college basketball world knows Bob Knight's team will
hit its free throws and play in a disciplined manner.
The Hoosiers have done so for years.
Michigan had to know the only way to end
Indiana's 36-game home winning streak was to play its
smartest game possible. The closest thing to mistake-
free basketball the Wolverines could muster would -
on the blocks and draining baskets off Indiana
turnovers.
With 5:55 left in the first half, Michigan was up 15.
Then the roof caved in.
The Hoosiers forced Michigan into mistakes and
made few of their own the rest of the half. Michigan
guard Jalen Rose missed the front ends of two one-and-t.-;
ones, while Makhtar Ndiaye missed one front end.
Michigan committed three fouls and two turnovers, and
could not find the basket.
"We've got to learn to put away a team when we've
got them down," said forward Ray Jackson, in a
statement that hearkens back to last season's NCAA
tournament.
The second half further evinced Michigan's duality.
of character.
The Wolverines continued to miss free throws and
send Indiana to the line. Hoosiers Alan Henderson (13-
of-16) and Todd Leary (8-of-8) were golden from the
charity stripe, as Indiana scored 36 points in 45
attempts from the line.
Meanwhile, Michigan hit just 10 of 19 free throws,
with Howard - the team's go-to big man - garnering
only two attempts the entire game.
"You can't do that against a good team on their
home turf," Fisher said of his team's free-throw effort.
Worse than that, though, was Michigan's apparent
lack of perspective on the contest. Instead of slowing
down the game's tempo when Indiana began to pull
away in the second half, and concentrating on getting
easy looks at the basket, players as individuals tried to
light it up from outside.
"While they were on a run," Fisher said, "we took
1