I-

Kingsbury suspended
Iowa hoopster Chris Kingsbury was suspended for three games for
striking a player in Saturday's overtime loss to Penn State. Kingsbury,
who holds the school record for most career 3-pointers made, punched
Nittany Lion guard Dan Early when the duo was entangled on the floor.
Kingsbury will miss upcoming games against. Northwestern and Indiana,
in addition to the Feb. 13 game at Michigan.


Is

Wednesday
February 7, 1996



i g , .a. 11


Big Ten's best shows what
Wolverines need to imitate

By James Goldstein
Daily Sports Writer
Only if Michigan women's basket-
ball coach Trish Roberts had the tools
to do the job.
Only if the Wolverines had a pure
scorer, a true leader and a player with
complete court awareness.
Orin other words: only if Michigan
had Illinois' Ashley Berggren,
Wisconsin's Barb Franke and Ohio
State's Katie Smith on its squad.
They are not
only ranked
No. 1, No.2 and
No.3 in points
per game in the
conference, but I

i uO- i

also in the top
20 in the na-
tional indi-

points and 12 rebounds.
This followed her 29 point, 13 re-
bound effort against Michigan in
Champaign earlier this year.
But these two performances were
not even her best highlights. Berggren
scored a career-high and conference
season-high 43 points against Minne-
sota Jan. 14.
The 5-10 sophomore forward has a
nose for scoring. She drives the lane
with abandon, blasting by the defender
and getting to the rim for shots. If she
misses, she gets in position to put the
ball back up.
"She's what coaches call a'scorer,"'
Roberts said. "She drives to the hole
and does whatever it takes to score.
Any coach would love to have her."
Wisconsin coach Jane Albright-
Dieterle likes her go-to player just as
much.
Franke has led the Badgers to their
best ranking in decades.
Wisconsin (10-1, 18-2) is now No.
8 in The Associated Press Poll and
owns a 10 game winning streak go-
ing.
Franke poses problems for the op-
ponent in the paint. Her 6-foot-2 frame
has caused many problems for con-
ference defenders. Purdue can tell any-
one about that.
Against the Boilermakers Jan. 29
Franke had a career-high 38 points,
including 14-of-20 from the charity
stripe. She also added 13 rebounds
and two blocks.
But it's not only her physical play.
It's the way she leads her team that
impresses her coach.

"I never realized how much:our
players look up to Barb (Franke),"
Albright-Dieterle said. "She leads by
example and our players listen toher.
That's a great quality that means just
as much as scoring."
Michigan should take a page out of
Franke's leadership skills book.
It seems that there is always a point
in the game where the Wolverines
look lackadaisical on the courtnot
putting their hands up on defense, or
making a sloppy pass that leadsto a:
turnover.
Case in point: Friday night against
Purdue.
The Wolverines cut the Boilermak-
ers' double-digit lead to six with just
over 10 minutes to go. Off a stea, it
looked as if Michigan's Akisha
Franklin had a easy layup to cut the
deficit to four. Her shot rimmed put,
and Purdue converted on its next pos-
session.
A four point turnaround. A fur da-
mental mistake. The list goes on.'
What the Wolverines should db is
take a court-awareness lesson from
Smith.
The two-time All-American can do
it all. She can drive the lane, hit-.the
3-pointer, whip passes to her ;post
players rebound and play tight de-
fense.
Against the Wolverines, Smith was
all over the floor, grabbing loose balls
and hitting numerous treys. And-she
always got the ball to her teammate at
the perfect time.
That's just one of the tools the Wol-
verines are missing.

vidual scoring
leaders -
Berggren (24.1 k
ppg), Smith
(22.6) and Franke (22.2).
The Big Ten is the only conference
with three players averaging over 20
points.
The Wolverines (1-10, Big Ten, 7-
14, overall) have faced all three play-
ers - Berggren twice already.
The qualities these three players
have are exactly the things that Michi-
gan lacks.
Berggren, for one, attacked
Michigan's's 2-3 zone in Illinois' 84-73
win over the Wolverines Sunday.
And when the Wolverines played
man-to-man, she still wasn't able to
be stopped - and finished with 32

The Michigan women's basketball team is lacking the stars that brighten the lineups of other Big Ten teams.




Tisher shuffles his

* By Brent McIntosh
Daily Sports Editor
Asthe Big Ten stretch run approaches,
*Michigan coach Steve Fisheris looking
over his roster. Who should start those
key stretch games, those contests that
will snag the Wolverines their
postseason bid? The stalwart Maurice
Taylor, who has more starts than any
other Michigan player? The sometimes-
wild, sometimes-brilliant Willie
Mitchell, who is 4-1 on the season as a
starter?
Unfortunately for Fisher, he is not
picking starting pitchers for the pen-
nant race. That would be easy - check
their records and plug them onto the
lineup card. Fisherfaces the more daunt-
ing task of finding
a staring lineup for
the second half of ,
the Big Ten sea- -
son. l C I

His starters had
been forwards
Taylor and Albert
White, guards
Travis Conlan and
Louis Bullock and
Maceo Baston, in
the middle. After

Notebook
three consecutive

losses with that lineup leading into
Saturday's game at Ohio State, Fisher
dropped White, Conlan and Baston and
subbed in Mitchell, Dugan Fife and
Robert Traylor. The Wolverines got a
*win, 78-59, but the Buckeyes are not
exactly the big boys of the conference.
Traylor said his first Big Ten start
was little different from his previous
bench role.
"You just have to get ready a little
earlier," Traylor said. "You don't get to
sit on the bench and watch the flow of
the game."
" 5o who starts the next few games
that are so crucial for the Wolverines?
#Though it's not fair to believe that their
records represent their contribution to
the team in any way, taking a look at
how Michigan fares when individuals
start is an interesting exercise.
Taylor has started every game this
season; like the Wolverines, he is 15-7
as a starter. Baston and Conlan are 14-
6, while Bullock trails slightly at 13-7.
White and Traylor are worst among the
Wolverines, sporting 7-6 and 1-1
*records. The only undefeated player is
the now-injured Jerod Ward. Mitchell
and Fife are best among available play-
ers at 4-1 each.
If only it were that easy, right coach?
Hockey
Michigan hockey coach Red

difference between his team's even
strength goals scored versus its even
strength goals allowed when he is on
the ice. A plus is given to a player for
being on the ice when his team scores a
shorthanded goal and a minus for when
his team allows a shorthanded tally.
Twenty-one of Michigan's 22 play-
ers have ratios on the "plus" side and
the lone Wolverine in "minus" is at
minus-1. Thirteen players areoverplus-
10.
Perhaps more impressive is that the
Wolverines have eight of the top 11
ratios in CCHA games. Leading the
way is defenseman Blake Sloan who
paces the conference with a plus-26.
Right wing Bill Muckalt leads all for-
wards in the CCHA with a plus-23.
Brendan Morrison and John Madden
are both at plus-20 or better.
- Alan Goldenbach
Women's tennis
Although there's always room for
improvement, you've got to wonder
how much more the Michigan women's
tennis team can actually step up its level
of play.
The Wolverines are currently-com-
ing off their first dual match of the
season with Big Ten opponent Penn
State.
They swept the Nittany Lions, cap-
turing all seven matches.
"The first dual match can be a little
nerve-racking, but I think they did an
outstanding job," Michigan coach Bitsy
Ritt said. "All the players have stepped
up their performances recently."
One individual who exemplifies the
team's noticeable improvement is
sophomore Sibyl Smith.
She competed at No. 6 singles against
Penn State, winning, 6-2, 6-3. This is
an impressive feat considering that she
was not in the starting lineup last year
nor did she even play singles then.
Another player who pulled off some-
thing remarkable early in the season is
senior Angie Popek.
Last March, she was sidelined with a
knee injury before undergoing season-
ending reconstructive surgery two
months later.
She competed in the No. 2 doubles
match with freshman Tumeka Harris
and pulled out an 8-6 come-from-be-
hind victory.
"The team is consistently improving
each week," Ritt said. "They have a
great attitude and I expect them to con-
tinue to improve as a team."

neup as C
gan coach Brian Eisner said. "For some-
one to beat him, they would have to put
together just a tremendous match."
Currently No.64 in the nation, Pusztai
knocked off the three top singles play-
ers competing in O'Charley's - No.
19 George Bast] of South Florida, No.
11 Pablo Montana of Tennessee and
No. 4 Jan Hermansson of South Ala-
bama.
To continue his streak, Pusztai must
wait until March 5 when Michigan
squares off with Texas in Austin. In the
meantime, Pusztai will practice keep-
ing his game sharp.
If he has one bad day in Texas, his
streak could vanish in a puff of smoke.
The Wolverines were not invited to
compete in the National Indoor Singles
and Doubles Championships, so Pusztai
will have to wait until next month to
play again.
Richard Shin
Men's volleyball
Comebacks have highlighted the past
few weeks for the Michigan men's vol-
leyball team. But the Wolverines re-
cently got another comeback that has
nothing to do with an individual game.
Chad Stielstra traded in his clipboard
as the assistant coach and has placed
himself on the active roster.
Stielstra, who played for the Wolver-
ines during his four years as an under-
graduate, recently began taking gradu-
ate classes.
Under the rules that govern a club
sport, Stielstra remains eligible despite
having received his undergraduate de-
gree.
Captain Jamie Reynolds views the
addition as a necessity.
"(Stielstra) adds experience at middle
blocker where we are in need of help,"
Reynolds said. "He is an outstanding
athlete and knows so much about the
game."
Stielstra had been serving as an assis-
tant to head coach Kent Booker while
maintaining an outside job. All coaches
of club sports are volunteers.
While middle blocker Suresh Pothiraj
battles a bout of mononucleosis,
Stielstra has filled in .
The return of Pothiraj should
strengthen the inexperienced squad,
according to Reynolds.
"We are one step from being a really
tough team," Reynolds said.
- Mark Snyder
Women's track
At last week's Meyo Invitational
hosted by Notre Dame, seniors Jen Stuht
and Mayrie Richards, and freshmen

onference stretch run begins

March28.
Joining the Michigan trio will be a
host of other top 18- and 19-year-old
runners from across the nation. Despite
the fierce competition, Michigan assis-
tant coach Mike McGuire believes his
freshmen have a legitimate chance at
victory.
"I think Katie's got a real good shot,"
McGuire said. "And the way Allison
and Marcy have been coming along, I
wouldn't rule them out."
- Jeremy Horelick
Men's track
The time is now.
The Michigan men's track and field
team is on the brink of success, and its
final level of achievement will be
determined within the next five weeks.
Beginning with this weekend's Cen-
tral Collegiate Championships in West
Lafayette, the Wolverines embark on
a three-meet stretch which will deter-
mine the success of this campaign.
The three biggest meets of the indoor
season occur over a short five-week span.
The team is looking at the Big Ten
Championships at the end of the month
as an opportunity to showcase its
skills.
The conference meet is the final
team scoring competition before the
national championships.
The indoor season concludes with
the NCAA Indoor Championships
March 8-9.
- Mark Snyder


Wrestling
The injury status of two members of
the Michigan wrestling team is looking
bleak, according to coach Dale Bahr.
Freshman Gyhandi Hill at 142
pounds - out with a knee injury -
and senior captain Jake Young at 150
- out with a dislocated shoulder -
will continue to miss action for some
time, possibly for even the rest of the
season.
"(Hill) is coming slow," Bahr said.
"I don't know if we'll get him back.
"(Young) tried to come back for
(the meet last Wednesday against)
Michigan State, but then he dislo-
cated his shoulder again," Bahradded.
Sophomore Bill Lacure, who re-
placed Young at 150, has performed
well.
He has been at the spot for so long
that if Young heals fast enough to
return before season's end, he will
have to wrestle at 167 pounds, well
above his usual weight class.
Young would have to compete for
that slot with his younger brother Josh,
who has been wrestling at 167 in re-
cent matches.
The Wolverines are back in action
Sunday at Cliff Keen Arena against
Ohio State.
- Will McCahill

Women's
basketball
The Michigan women's baske ball
team was running on empty last week-
end in its losses to Purdue and lli-
nois.
The Wolverines could not capital-
ize on late game scoring opportuni-
ties as fatigue set in down the home-
stretch. Most notably stricken: was
sophomore center Pollyanna Johns,
Michigan's top scoring threatwho
played all but two minutes of the ,eek-
end set. ;
Johns did not score in the last 10
minutes of either game.
Many think Johns needs some rest
during a game to be a factor at the end
of it.,
But Roberts doesn't feel shy can
afford to substitute much for Job ns.
"When she's not in the gamy we
just lose so much," Roberts said.
After a strong effort at Indian4 Jan.
28, it was expected that the Wolver-
ines' only other center, 6-foot-5 firesh-
man Anne Poglits, would help lighten
some of Johns' load in the post.
But Poglits saw only three minutes
of floor time against Illinois ani did
not play at all against Purdue.
- Andy Knudsen

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