6B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, February 12, 1996 BASKETBALL i No.12 Penn State hands women's hoops conference loss,83-63 By Chris Murphy Daily Sports Writer UNIVERSITY PARK - No matter how fast this team spins its wheels, it just isn't going anywhere. The Michigan women's basketball team is caught in a major rut. Friday night's game against Penn State was all too indicative of this; Michigan came out looking to assert itself, but no matter how hard the players tried, they were still i clearly overmatched. The Lady Lions (9-2 Big Ten, 18-5 overall) simply were better in all facets of the game. Penn State trounced the Wolverines, 83-63, handing the team its fourth straight loss. "They just pretty much overpowered us," said Michigan coach Trish Roberts. While the Wolverines (1-11, 7-15) were able to get off to a strong start, the team just wasn't able to sustain its intensity throughout. A swarming Lady Lion defense didn't help the situation. Penn State's defensive scheme was able to neutralize both Michigan's inside and outside games. This game marked the -first time a team was able to successfully defend center Pollyanna Johns without constantly double-teaming her. The Lady Lions used the extra defensive player to stop the Wolverines' perimeter shooting. Roberts expected Penn State to come out playing a zone defense. Michigan looked confused when faced with a man- to-man scheme. "We thought they would play some zone on us but they ieally stuck it to us," Roberts said. "We weren't setting good picks and getting our perimeter players open." In the absence of the outside shooting, Michigan went to its inside game for help. The Wolverines did outscore Penn State down low, 28-26, but missed layups kept them from cutting ,he ever-widening deficit. The Lady Lions were able to make good use of their size. - "They're a lot bigger than we are," Roberts said. "We've only got one player that's over 6-3." Penn State's height advantage gave the Lady Lions the rebounding edge, 38-31. Michigan's main problem was that it didn't take care of the ball. Offensive miscues were the team's downfall; the Wolverines had 28 turnovers on the night. Penn State's ability to capitalize on Michigan mistakes was the difference in the game. The Lady Lions scored 39 points off turnovers. "When they turned up the defensive pressure our guards turned the ball over," Roberts said. "And they capitalized." The Lady Lions' offensive game utilized efficient pass- ing. While the Wolverines were unable to create shooting opportunities from the perimeter, Penn State continually had shooters open behind the arc. The team was led by the shooting of Tiffany Longworth. The junior guard shot 4-9 from 3-point land and finished with 13 points. Tina Nicholson had a team high six assists. The senior point guard leads the league in that category, averaging 8.7 per game. In addition, senior guard Katina Mack led the Lady Lions with 14 points. Michigan was able to control the pace of the game for most of the first half. The team was successful in slowing down Penn State's fast break-style offense. The Wolverines also took advantage of a lack of emotion on the part of Penn State. "I wasn't very pleased with the first halfofthe game," said Penn State coach Rene Portland. "There were too many turnovers and we weren't playing with any thought of what we'd done in practice the last few days." It wasn't long before the Lady Lions were able to take control of the game, though. Michigan could only watch as Penn State started the second half with a 19-6 run. The Wolverines just could not rotate to Penn State's open shoot- ers. The run effectively ended any chance of a Michigan comeback. Michigan no match for Lady- Lions 4 By Jim Rose Daily Sports Writer UNIVERSITY PARK - The Wol- verines were not unusually bad Friday night. They were bad, but that's nothing unusual. The Michigan women's basketball team stayed true to its recent forn, losing an 83-63 laugherto avastly superior Pe State team. r ---> - .The No. 12 I OPI Lady Lions are fighting fora share of the Big Ten lead, while the Wolverines, are struggling 'might- ily just to stay out of the conferenc cellar. ~ Michigan point guard Jennifer Kiefer (left) plays around 33 minutes a game. Lately, the point guard has seen her minutes reduced, though, as the Wolverines search for a winning combination on the floor. The junior did see extensive action Friday against Penn State, playing 33 minutes in the 83-63 loss. MICHIGAN (63)_ 46o +bcA JrCS. NY ''6 .+ Gift Shc Michigan Le tenses are a Z00"'t / t6 1; elte 'P ague L FG FT RED MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PTS Johnson 36 4-5 3-4 0-1 1 3 12 DiGiacinto 15 3-5 5-5 1-3 0 2 11 Johns 34 5-12 4-14 3-12 2 3 14 Franklin 31 2-4 7-8 1-1 1 4 11 Kiefer 33 0-4 0-0 2-0 2 1 0 Murray 7 1-2 0-2 0-0 0 3 3 Brzezinski 22 1-7 2-3 2-6 4 1 4 Shellman 9. 0-2 1.2 2-2 0 3 1 Willard 7 2-3 1-2 0-1 1 1 5 Poglits 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 2 Sikorski 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 194523-4012-31 ±122 63 FG%: .422. F1%:.57 5. Three-point goals: 2-4,_500 (Murray 1-2, Johnson 1-1, Franklin 0-1). Blocks: 3 (Brzezinski, Johns, Pogits). Turnovers: 28 (Franklin 8, Kiefer 5, Johnson 4, Johns 3, DiGiacinto 2. Shellman 2. Willard 2, Murray, Brzezinski). Steals: 14 (Shellman 3, Johns 2, Franklin 2, Keifer 2, Murray 2, Johnson, Brzezinski, Poglits). Technical Fouls: none. PENN STATE (83) FS FT REB MIN M-A MA 0-T AFPTS Longworth 25 4-10 1-2 3-4 5 1 13 Potthoff 18 4-6 1-4 2-3 2 2 9 Calhoun 17 2-2 4-4 2-4 0 3 8 Parsons 24 1-7 0-0 0-2 3 1 2 Nicholson 31 4-6 0-0 0-1 6 3 10 Mack 29 610 2-3 1-6 1 2 14 Brewer 14 3.7 4-4 1-4 0 4 10 Portland 11 0-2 0-0 0.1 1 1 0 Hrivnak 11 2-3 1-1 1-3 0 4 5 Hall 14 0-2 2-2 0-4 0 5 2 Jarosz 6 2-2 6-6 1-2 0 1 10 Totals 200 28-57 21-26 12-38 1827 83 FG%: .491. FT%: .808. Three-point goals: 6-17. .353 (Longworth 4-9, Nicholson 2-4, Mack 0-2, Parsons 0- 1, Portland 0-1). Blocks: 5 (Calhoun 4, Jarosz) - Turnovers: 24 (Nicholson 6, Mack 4, Brewer 4, Longworth 3, Potthoff, Parsons, Portland, Hrivnak, Hall). Steals: 11(Mack 5, Longworth 2. Nicholson 2, Calhoun, Parsons). Technical Fouls: none. Michigan...30 33-63 Penn State .... 41 42--83 At: Bryce Jordan Center; A: 8.091 Michigan's Catherine DiGiacinto has rotated In at power forward. WALKER VANDYKE/Daily Wolverines' siump leads to lineup shuffle By Jim Rose Daily Sports Writer UNIVERSITY PARK - Looking for a way to jump-start the Michigan women's basketball team, coach Trish Roberts has been shuffling her lineup quite, a bit lately. At one point or another, most of the players have found themselves on the bench for extended periods of time in recent games. Jennifer Kiefer started every game of her Michigan career (47) until last weekend against Illinois. The point guard had been averaging 33 minutes per game, but played just 18 against the Illini. At 5-foot-7, the diminutive Kiefer has struggled to get her shot off recently. Amy Johnson is another player whose minutes have fluctuated over the past few games. After playing 35 minutes against Ohio State Jan.21, the junior forward saw just 10 minutes of action five days later in the Wolverines' contest with Minnesota. Since then, her minute totals have been up and down, varying between 21 and 36 in the past four games. Roberts says the changes have been related to the duo's shooting woes. "Amy and Kiefer have not been shooting the ball well lately," Roberts said. "It takes Jennifer a while to get her shot off." Johnson didn't have much trouble with her shot Friday against Penn State, though. She hit four of her five attempts, Notebook including one of Michigan's two treys in the game. Akisha Franklin has seen her minutes go up lately, as Kiefer's have gone down. Roberts thinks the aggressive sopho- more can provide the team with a spark. "(Kiefer) doesn't penetrate like we would like our point guard to, like Akisha does," Roberts said. "Some point guards penetrate to dish off- (Franklin) penetrates to score." Silver Shellman and Tiffany Willard have shared duties at the power forward position, rotating with Catherine DiGiacinto. Through all of this, the only player to consistently chalk up minutes in the 30s has been Pollyanna Johns. Other players, like Molly Murray and Jennifer Brzezinski, have seen reduced playing time, as the Wolverines have searched for a combination that can result in some victories. As yet, that combination remains to be discovered. JOHNS STANDS ALONE: Despite Michigan's anemic record - 1-II in the Big Ten, 7-15 overall - sophomore center Pollyanna Johns is making a name for herself around the Big Ten. After missing all of last year's conference season, Johns is the Big Ten's leading rebounder, averaging 10.2 boards per contest. That total also places her at 24th in the nation. Johns is the only player in the conference averaging double-digits in rebounding. Her average of 15.7 points per game is also notable, as it makes her the ninth-leading scorer in the Big Ten. She also ranks 10th in blocks, with 13 for the season. In Big Ten play, Johns has been even more impressive, putting up 16.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Blue items 14/o off Friday, February 9th- Friday, February 16th Ifyou're-think- ing that this sounds a little bit like David vs. Goliath, you're forgetting one thing. David had a chance, because he had a weapon. The Wolverines had neither Friday. PollyannaJohns wound upwith decent numbers (14 points and 12 boards), but she was ineffective for most of the game. The usually steady Jennifer Kiferw unable to find the basket, going scorele in 33 minutes. She did manage to turn the ball over five times, though. After leading the team in scoring twice last weekend, Akisha Franklin's major contribution came in the form of eight turnovers. Penn State was nowhere ne,,spec- tacular, but it didn't matter. "(Our players) weren't respecting Michigan," Portland said. "That's acceptable. We shouldjustbe Penn State. Realistically, the Wolverines should feel lucky. Lucky that the Lady Lions didn't come ready to play. Lucky that the Lady Lions turned the ball over2times. Most of all, lucky that the Lady Lions only won by 20 points. Wereit notforthe sloppyball handling and suspect decision-making of Penn State's usually stellarTinaNicholson, the final score could have been even mo lopsided than it was. Despite an unspectacular performance offensively, Nicholson's defeii