4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, March 11, 1996 BASKETBALL Wildcats bomb Blue in first round By Andy Knudsen Daily Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS-The Michigan women's basket- ball team gave one of its best performances of the season March 1 against Northwestern in the first-round of the Big Ten Tournament. Unfortunately, the Wolverines will not be able to build off of their strong showing until November. The Wildcats (9-9 Big Ten, 21-10 overall) won the 3- point contest, 11-10, and the game, 89-79, ending Michigan's season with their third hard-fought victory over the Wolverines. "I told (Michigan coach) Trish (Roberts) we don't want to play them anymore," Northwestern coach Don Perrelli joked afterwards. Penn State beat Purdue in the final round, 71-69, winning its second consecutive conference title. The crowd at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse saw a trey- rific record-breaking contest from the two teams' long- range bombers. Therewas no need forthe arc tobepainted on the floor for the Ohio State-Minnesota game that followed, since the Wolverine and Wildcat perimeter players torched it into the hardwood with a combined 21 3-pointers, a record for two teams in a Big Ten contest. Northwestern's 11 treys was a Big Ten Tournament team record, as the Wildcats were led by senior guard Michele Ratay's six buckets from beyond the arc, tying her own school record that she set three times this season. Ratay finished with a game-high 25 points. Junior forward Katrina Hannaford chipped in 22 points for the Wildcats while battling mononucleosis for the second time. "I don't really feel like I have it, but they tell me Ihave it," said Hannaford, who scored her 1,000th career point on her first basket of the night. Knowing all this, as well as Michigan's (1-16 Big Ten, 7-20 overall) struggles this season, it's probably hard to believe the Wolverines kept this one close. But there they were, nailing 10 of 15 shots from downtown, committing only 1I turnovers while dishing out 22 assists and down only four points, 77-73, with 8:.1l left to play. A 10-0 Wildcat run, however, ended Michigan's hopes ofan upset berth into the tournament's second-round. Sophomore forward Molly Murray came offthe bench to score a season-high 18 points on six 3-pointers, setting a new school record and matching Pollyanna Johns' team-highl8 points. "Usually when we come off the bench, we're sup- posed to throw it around a little bit before we shoot it," Murray said. "When I got the ball, Ijust put it up and it was going in." A block by Johns led to Murray's first trey with 12:27 left in the first half and gave Michigan an eight-point lead, 20-12, as the Wolver- ines' aggressive defense helped them capitalize on the offensive end. But then the shoot-out CONFERENCE began as Murray and Northwestern's Megan Tournament Chawansky and Kristina Divjak played a game of "anything you can do, I can do better." Chawansky answered Murray's trey with one of her. own. Murray answered back for three. Chawansky with another triple. Divjak entered the game and hit from behind the arc. Murray again. Divjak again. And feeling left out, Chawansky again. Throw a Hannaford lay-up in the mix and Northwest- ern had regained a three-point lead, 29-26, with 8:54 left in the first half - a lead it would never relinquish. And this was all before Ratay started hitting from downtown. By the time the first half ended and the teams were forced to cool off in the lockerroom---Northwestern led 49-44. "It's difficult to see 49 points upon the board at the end of the first half and only be ahead by five," Perrelli said. "It's turning mio a pro game; this is absolutely ridicu- IOus." The difference in the first half came from the free- throw line. Both teams hit 17 field goals, seven coming from long-range. But Northwestern had six more oppor- tunities from the stripe, capitalizing on five of them. Michigan looked poised for a comeback early in the second, twice cutting the Wildcat lead to one point. The first time came on a layup by senior forwa4 Jennifer Brzezinski assisted by sophomore Akisha Franklin (13 points.six assists, three steals)a minute into the half. Brzezinski scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in her final game as a Wolverine. Her floor time was limited to 15 minutes due to foul trouble. Michigan again pulled within one, 55-54, on a Johns layup with 15:33 left, setup by one of sophomore Jenni- fer Kiefer's team-high eight assists. But Northwestern countered with a Christina Braden layup from Amber DeWall (game-high I I assists) and a Ratay 3-pointer from the left corner. The Wolverines would not get closer than four points for the duration r; the game. Although Roberts was pleased to finally see her team shooting well, she said they needed a better inside game to complement their hot hands. "We usually get fouls when we pound it inside, andwe didn't do that," Roberts said. "We were disappointed in the second half that we didn't even get in the one-and- one (bonus)." Northwestern was whistled for only eight fouls in the game, compared to 21 against Michigan. And in agang they lost by 10 points, the Wolverines were outscored from the charity stripe by 13. "We were playing mostly man-to-man (defense) and when you play aggressive like that you're going to make some fouls," Roberts said. Michigan also tried a new 3-2 zone defense forr portions ofthegame,but couldn't cool downtheWildcas perimeter shooters who hit 11 of 15 (73.3 percent) of their 3-point attempts. "The biggest difference in this game was that we didn't make defensive stops when we needed to," Rob- erts said. Catherine DIGiacinto and the Wolverines fell to Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, last weekend in Indianapolis. Wolverines' tourney loss gives them one more year of futility By Dan Stillmap Daih Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS - Various basketball teams have been bast ions of futility in recent years. The 1992-93 Mavericks (11-71), 1993-94 Mavericks (13- 69), 1994-95 Clippers (17-65) and the 1995-96 Michigan % onien's basketball team (1-16 Big Ten) all posted miserable records. For some of these teams, the records really do indicate their talent level. For the 1996 Michigan women's basketballteam, however, its record does not reflect the potential it had. And, despite the end result (an 89-79 loss), the Wolverines' play against Northwestern in the first round of last weekend's Big Ten Tournament served as final proof. The Wolverines entered the contest losers of 16 of their last 17, including two defeats to those same Wildcats. Surprisingly, though, the reeling Wolverines came outhitting on all cylinders and played arguably their best half of the season against the once-ranked Wildcats. Not only did Michigan shoot 47.2 percent for the half, more than 7 percent above its average, but even more impressive, the usually sloppy Wolverines committed only three turnovers compared to Northwestern's seven. And, Michigan found an answer to Northewestern guard Megan Chawansky. Instead of letting the freshman bury the Wolverines with one unanswered 3- pointer after another, like she did when she hit 6-of-10 3-pointers in their second meeting of the season, Michigan re- sponded. This time, it was Michigan sopho- more forward Molly Murray who caught fire, nailing 5-of-6 from 3-point land in the first half alone (6-8 total), while Chawansky made only three triples in the game. With everything going their way, the underdog Wolverines ledmy as much as eight points duringthe first half, beforetrailing by five at the break. But, much like the rest of the season, Michigan could not sustain this type of play long enough. While Murray cooled off in the second half, Northwestern's Michele Ratay hit all four of her 3-point attempts. Meanwhile, the Wildcats buried the Wolverines from the free throw line, going 18-23 for the game from the stripe while Michigan only went to the line nine times, and converted on only five free-throws. All in all, the game told the story ofthe Wolverines' season- periods of solid play, this one longer than most, combined with more frequent periods of significantly less than solid play. Michigan performed similarly against other highly ranked teams earlier in the season. Against Purdue, Michigan hung close for much of the game and trailed by only three points midway through the second half. But then, the wheels came off for the Michigan, as the Boiler- makers went on a 21-0 run to put the game away. Likewise, the Wolverines played Penn State well at homi during intervals of the game, but they couldn't keep it together long enough and lost by 15. It is these glimpses of competitiveness that is-not reflected in the won-loss column. Instead, the record books will lump the'96 M ichigan women's basketball team together with the many other losing teams in sports. The Wolverines under Trish Roberts' Season Big Ten Overall Leading Scorer 1995-96 1-16 7-20 Pollyanna Johns 14.5 ppg 1994-95 3-13 8-19 Jennifer Brzezinski 12.4 ppg 1993-94 0-18 3-24 Amy Johnson 15.6 ppg 1992-93 1-17 2-25 Trish Andrew 19.0 ppg INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM FUN! UPCOMING ACTIVITIES MINI-SOCCER Instant Scheduling: Tues 3/12 11am - 5:30pm IMSB Entry Fee: $59.00 per team Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Tues 3/12 6pm IMSB Play Begins: Thurs 3/14 at Sports Coliseum (Hill & Fifth Streets) 'M' sunk by barrage of 3-pointers Wildcats and Wolverines combine for tourney record from behind arc RACQUET- BALL (Sgis & Dbis) Entry Deadline: Thurs 3/21 4:30pm IMSB Main Office Entry Fee: $5.00 for Sgls/$9.00 for Dbls Tournament Format: Pool Play followed by Sgl Elim Tour Tournament Date: Sat & Sun 3/23 & 3/24 at IMSB Courts By James Goldstein Daily Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS - The "charity stripe" is a basketball term that people use to describe the free throw line - a place where the player is all but given the points from a short distance. But have you ever heard of a charity arc? The Michigan and Northwestern women's basketball team coined that phrase after the Wolverines' 89-79 loss to the Wildcats in the first round of the Big Ten Championships in Indianapo- lis, March 1. The Wolverines were eliminated from the tournament, ending their season at 1-16 in the conference and 7-20 overall. Whenever fans looked up, another 3- pointer grazed the nets in Hinkle Fiefdhouse. Molly Murray led the 3-point bri- gade for the Wolverines with six treys off the bench, scoring all of her points from beyond the arc. Murray broke her own and Jennifer Kiefer's team record ROADWAY PACKAGE SYSTEM PACKAGE HANDLERS PERFECT FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS Saving for tuition? Find part- time work, year round at RPS! - Earn up to $8.50 per hour Roadway Package System, a small package delivery service, hires package handlers to load and unload package vans and semi-trailers. If you are not afraid of hard work, are at least 18 years old and want to work 4-5 hours per day, Mon.-Fri., we can offer you $6.50/hr. to start, of five triples set two years ago. Northwestern guard Michelle Ratay matched Murray'shalf-dozen, tying the school record for most 3-pointers in a game that Ratay set three other times this season. There were 21 trifectas in all - 11- of-15 for Northwestern and 10-of-15 for Michigan. Both schools tied their school records for most 3-pointers in a game. The Wolver- Ines even con- nected on more threes than Murray Michigan had points from the free throw line. The Wolverines were just five-of-nine from the line. "(The Wolverines) hit 3 (pointer) af- ter 3 (pointer)," Wildcat coach Don Perrelli said. "fortunately, we were getting good shots at the basket as well." But it wasn't as if Perrelli enjoyed everything about the shoot-out. He felt the game was getting out of hand. "Our defense vvas not very good," Perelli said. "We were not respecting (the Wolverines') outside shooting and they were hitting them." The 3-pointers affected the teams in four ways. Michigan grabbed the early first-half lead due to Murray's shooting from beyond the arc. Northwestern came back and re- gained the lead with its torrid 3-point shooting in the middle of the first half, primarily thanks to guard Megan Chawansky's triples. The Wolverines stayed in the game because of their 3-point stroke in the late portion of the first half. Otherwise, Michigan could have been blown out. And the Wildcats put the game away with 3-point bombs in the second half, led by Ratay. Ratay carried the load in the second half -rcnrino 17 rofher 92 5nints in the utes.. Perrelli praised the efforts of his 3- point specialists, especially Chawansky who started after coming off the bengh forthe Wildcats' intheirlastfourgames: "I was glad to see Megan (Chawansky) react the way she did as a starter," Perrelli said. "So to see her come out and do what she did, I was very happy about that. And also very happy aboutthisone(pointingtoRatay hitting some outside shots." But Michigan had a long-distance bomber of its own in Murray. The sophomore forward connected, on five of her six trifectas in the first half. Murray even stepped a few feet beyond the arc on some occasions and still hit her shot Consider this. Murray equaled her previous nine-game total against th! Wildcats. She connected on six-of-3 trifectas in that nine game stretch. "Usually when we come cuff the bench, we're supposed to throwit around a little bit before we shoot it." Murray said. "When Igottheball, ljust put it up and it was going in." Michigan coach Trish Roberts corp. mended Murray and also was pleased with the Wolverines' perimeter shoot- ing. "Molly came in and did a great job hitting those 3-pointers," Roberts sail "And that's something we haven't done all year-- shot well from the outside. I was just glad that we were finally able to hit some shots from the outside." MICHIGAN (79) FQ FT R MIN M-A M-A Q~T AFPt Murray 30 6-8 0-0 0.2 0 4 18 Brzezinski 15 3-9 0-0 3.4 0 4 '6 Johnsk36 8-10 2-2 2.7 2 4 1 Franklin 36 5-14 2-4 01 6 2 Kiefer 35 2-6 0.0 1-2 8 1 L Willard 20 4-9 0-1 3.5 2 3 .8 Shellman 36 2-4 0-0 40 2 2 4 iGiacinto 9 1-3 0-0 4-0 0 0 2 Johnson 9 1-4 1-2 0.0 2 1 4 Totals 200 32-67 9.11 11.29 2221 79 FG%: .478. FT%: .556. Three-point goals: 10-.5vr .667 (Murray 6-8, Kiefer 2-2, Johnson 1-2, Franklin 1-3). Blocks: 2 (Franklin, Johns). Turnovers: 11 (Franklin 2, Kiefer 2, Murray 2. Brzezinski, Shellman, Johns, Willard, DiGiacinto). Steals: 10 (Franklin 3. BrzezinskI 2, TABLE Entry Deadline: Thurs 3/28 4:30pm IMSB Main Office TENNIS Entry Fee: $5.00 for Sgls/$9.00 for Dbis (Sgls & Dbls) Tournament Format: Pool Play followed by Sgl Elim Tour Tournament Dates: Sat 3/30 at Sports Coliseum Entry Deadline for the CROSS COUNTRY RUN is Thursday April 11. If you are going to be around during the Spring & Summer Terms, plan on participating in Softball, Sand Volleyball, 3-on-3 Basketball, Tennis, Golf and the Cross Country Run!