10 -The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 9, 1996 No.12 Lady Lions loom large for struggling women's cagers By Dan Stillman Daily Sports Writer The toughest trip of them all. That's how Michigan coach Trish Roberts sees road trips to Happy Val- ley. When the Michigan women's bas- ketball team visits Penn State tonight at 7:30, the Wolverines will be wel- comed by the No. 12 Lady Lions (8-2 Big Ten, 17-5 Overall) and more than 4000 fans. Michigan coach Trish Roberts doesn't exactly love traveling to Penn State. "Out of all the trips, I hate this one the most," Roberts said. "I hate the flight the most because you land on top of a mountain." The Wolverines (1-10, 7-14) prob- ably don't enjoy the stay much either, considering Michigan has lost all five contests against the Lady Lions since they entered the Big Ten in 1991. Fortunately for the Wolverines, what used to be one of Penn State's most intimidating factors is gone - Recreation Hall. Recreation Hall was voted the sec- ond toughest home court in women's basketball by media and coaches in 1993. Although it only held 6,846 people, the arena was known for its loud noise level and the fans' close proximity to the court. Entering the season, the Lady Li- ons boasted a 40-1 record in Big Ten play at Recreation Hall. "Rec Hall hasn't been good to us "Out of all the trips, I hate this one the most. - Trish Roberts Michigan basketball coach Tomorrow's game Who: Michigan at No. 12 Penn State When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Bryce Jordan Center, State College over the last three years," Roberts said. "I remember it being pretty much full every time." Tonight, the Lady Lions will host Michigan in their new home arena, the Bryce Jordan Center. But the odds are, it won't be a full house. The new "state-of-the-art" arena seats 15,000, more than double the capacity of Recreation Hall. "It'll be good for us that they're not (at Recreation Hall) anymore," Roberts said. "I understand (Penn State) lost their first game at the new stadium." Out of all the top conference teams the Wolverines have faced this sea- son, the Wolverines played best against Penn State. In their mid-January meeting in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines came back from a 13-point halftime deficit and cut the Lions lead to five with 8:21 remaining. But once sophomore center Pollyanna Johns fouled out with five minutes remaining, Penn State put the game away and won 79-64. "We've reviewed the film and we know what we have to do to be com- petitive," Roberts said. MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily Michigan's Akisha Franklin led the Wolverines In scoring against Purdue and Illinois last weekend. 0 .. . . . .. Gift Shop, Michigan League 'M' tumbles into matchup with the Buckeyes 'Loaded' Ohio State should test struggling Wolverines tomorrow in dual meet in Columbus pa~ses Rr eA Iy ty t zon't Ica e Teme Blue items 14/o off ' Friday, February 9th- By Chaim Hyman Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's gymnastics team expects to face off against their tough- est rival tomorrow. As usual, Ohio State is the obvi- ous foe. Fortunately for the Buck- eyes, the Wolverines don't look too menacing. "We are probably competing against this year's national champion this week- end," said Michigan coach Bob Darden. "Ohio State is loaded." In the Buckeyes' last outing, they outscored Massachusetts by 23 points. For a Michigan team that has struggled thus far this season, that doesn't bode well. "They've scored exceptionally well, and I'm sure they're going to continue to do so," Darden said. "They are on quite a different level of gymnastics." While the Wolverines realize who they are up against, they are still eager to go to Columbus. "We're looking forward to seeing a good level ofcompetition," Darden said. "We haven't had consistency, and we want to build on our confidence. "We want to put 100 percent into our competition, and make Ohio State per- form true to form." The Wolverines are anticipating strong performances from senior cap- tain Chris Onuska and junior Flavio Martins in the all-around competition. In Michigan's last dual meet at Illi- nois-Chicago, Onuska came in second place on the pommel horse with a 9.3 score. "If Chris can bring his score up to a 9.7, he will be a real contender," Darden said. Against the Flames, Martins placed in two events - third on the still rings and fifth on the parallel bars. The Wolverines will also look for continued success from freshman Randy D'Amura and sophomore Tim Lauring. Lauring placed in a three-way tie for first place on the vault at UIC, a; D'Amura came in third on the floo exercise. "It's really something for young col- legiateperformerstohave done so well," Darden said. Despite the success of some Wolver- ines, their road ahead is still littered with uncertainty. "We have to make it through our upcoming meets with a level of differ- ent competition," Darden said. " need to get these guys performing bet- ter." I , IFriday, February 16th I . *..................i * Lecture Note.s f.; * Course Packeits ,'"* ResumelServices Ro: . x der NOE 4.., 00 OFF Receive $1.00 off any fax service with this coupon. One coupon per customer. Expires 4/1196. Grade A Notes at Ulrich's Bookstore Second Floor - 549 E. University - 741-9669 Londonw$199* Paris $229* Frankfurt $229* Rome $309* Athens $349* Tel Aviv $369* .. $C. h r * O,.bad m - rot N*,p p tl w..foesdo o "Voted 1995's Best Travel Agency in Ann Arbor by the readers of The Michigan Daily." ] Travel 1220 S. Uiersity Dr. Ste. 208 * Am ArboM 48104 313-998-0200 http:/www.ciee.org/cts/ctshome.htm PURDUE Continued from Page 9 acceptable." Like a Sherman tank, Purdue is roll- ing toward its third straight conference title. Currently, the No. 14 Boilermak- ers (8-2 Big Ten, 18-4 overall) are tied with Penn State for the league lead after dismantling Wisconsin, 75-42, Wednes- day. The last team to win three straight Big Ten titles was Indiana, which won four in a row between 1972- 1976. Purdue coach Gene Keady and his boys know that there is still a lot of Big Ten basketball to be played, though. Andthat itisnotagoodideatolookpast a team as talented as No. 23 Michigan (5-4, 15-7). "Michigan is going to be back with a different type of focus and intensity," Keady said. The Wolverines had better be ready to play if they want to compete tomor- row. The Boilermakers have atendency to jump on their opponents from the start. In their first meeting with Michigan, they led, 44-22, at halftime and coasted to the finish line. At Wisconsin Wednes- day, Purdue led 32-1 1 at one point. Talk about quick kills. "We got off to a great run (against the Badgers)," Keady said. "The first five minutes were the key to the game. Then we started to struggle and they pulled to 36-31. "But then (Todd) Foster said, 'No, I'm going to play like I did against Seton Hall."' You can bet the Wolverines hope Foster doesn't say anything like that Saturday. He hit 6-of-8 3-pointers against Wisconsin in the rout and now has 39 threes on the season. It's funny, though, that on the aver- age, Purdue's statistics read more like a team that is 0-22 than a team that is 18- 4. Chad Austin is the Boilermakers' leading scorer, averaging just 11.8 points per game before the Wisconsin game. But statistics only mean so much. Keady throws a swarm of experi- enced, solid players onto the court, start- ing four seniors and the, sophomore Austin. "They are good," Fisher said. "It's not by surprise. They have nine or 10 guys that can all play. Don't for a n ment think they don't have very good players." One of Fisher's best players could be less than 100 percent come game time. Freshman Louis Bullock has had the flu all week. "He's lost six pounds," Fisher said. "And for him, six pounds is a lot." Bullock didn't practice until yester- day but is expected to play tomorro Last year, Purdue beat Michigan,'7 67, in West Lafayette to conclude the regular season. The Wolverines last won at Mackey Arena two years ago in a thriller, 63-62. In that one, Juwan Howard's putback gave Michigan a one-point lead with 21 seconds to go, and the Boilermakers then missed what seemed like 20 layups before the horn sounded. I /Ol ~ ceic lnnITccnl IF III ICURAILPASSES ISSUED ON-THE-SPOT:t Global Internship i and Language Programs a representative will be on campus: Monday, February 12, 1996 If you like sports, and you like to write, join a winning team. Stop in at 420 Maynard St. or call 7474336. 0% FAT Efteclenc Is our goal. You'll be in and out In 1 *Ill lqllllm~mmwmIt I I I