6B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - February 10, 1997
BASKETBALL
I
Michigan women's hoops fails to
execute in frustrating defeats
fy Sharat Raju
baily Sports Writer
Watching the Michigan women's bas-
,ketball team is much like trying to stay
warm under a blanket that doesn't cover
your feet. It's frustrating.
The Wolverines suffered heart-break-
ing losses this past weekend, first to
Penn State, 82-73, on Friday and then to
, Purdue, 64-54, yesterday. In each game,
the Wolverines came frustratingly close
to capturing the victory.
"It's more now just a matter of execu-
jon," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said.
"I would love to see the same (Michigan)
team that played Michigan State,
.Wisconsin and Iowa."
A- After trailing by as much as nine
,points in the second half to the
Boilermakers (9-3 Big Ten, 13-8 over-
All), the Wolverines (4-8, 12-9) managed
to fight their way back into the game.
The Wolverines cut the lead to two
points with 6:32 remaining, and momen-
.tum seemed to be on their side. One big
,reason for this turnaround was
Michigan's Stacey Thomas.
"The coaches keep telling me to be
aggressive,"Thomas said. "I try to do the
best I can to be a good team player.
You've got to go out there and take
chances."
The 5-foot-10 freshman guard fin-
ished the game with 15 points, nine
rebounds and six steals, and most of the
steals started fast break opportunities for
herself and her teammates.
"I think she's going to be a phenome-
nal player;" Purdue coach Nell Fortner
said. "In the second half, she decided
that she's going to take the game over,
and she almost did."
Thomas' speed and athleticism forced
countless turnovers which don't show up
in the final box score.
In fact, the entire Michigan defense
played well in the second half, holding
the Boilermakers to only four field goals
and 25-percent shooting.
But in the end, Purdue's Jannon
Roland and Stephanie White quelled any
potential Michigan rally. Roland finished
with 21 points and White poured in a
game-high 29. White also helped salt
away the Purdue victory by hitting six
free throws within the final 50 seconds of
play - each in the bonus situation.
"We basically got beat by two players
today," Guevara said.
Along with those two players offen-
sively, Purdue's defense stifled
Michigan's inside game. The ordinarily
dominate post-player Pollyanna Johns
was held to only seven points on a mere
five shooting opportunities the entire
game.
With more than a minute to play,
Thomas' turned the ball over off the
inbounds pass. The play turned out to be
the nail in the coffin for Michigan.
On Friday, the Wolverines experi-
enced a similar misfortune, losing a dis-
appointing game to the Nittany Lions (5-
6, 12-9) at University Park.
Penn State's Shauntai Hill scored the
first 10 points for the Lions, thrusting
her team to a 10-point lead at one point.
The Wolverines followed with a run of
their own, surging to a four-point lead,
22-21, due in no small part to Michigan's
surprising zone defense.
Johns and Thomas carried the burden
for the Wolverines. Johns finished with
22 points and 12 rebounds, and Thomas
poured in 15 points, grabbed eight
boards, and intercepted six passes.
However, the Lions came out in the
second half behind Angie Potthoff, who
scored all of her 19 points in the second
half. The balanced attack employed by
the Lions - four of five starters scoring
in double figures - was too much for
the two-person Michigan approach.
"I thought we were very impatient
offensively," Guevara said "We weren't
making Penn State play any defense."
This season, expectations may have
been somewhat high for perennial cellar-
dweller Michigan. After all, before the
conference season started, the
Wolverines were 8-1 and were putting
scares into top-ranked opponents.
"The last thing I want to happen is
going back to old mentality of 'OK, here
we go, we can't win any games ...' That is
what I'm deathly afraid of," Guevara
said.
The Wolverines, despite having
dropped six of their last seven, are hav-
ing the best season in recent memory.
But as of late, the Wolverines have been
losing games in which they have an
opportunity to win.
"We had (more than) 3,400 people
here," Guevara said. "We have (three
home games) left, I just pray to God that
those 3,400 people don't give up on us
and come back and support us.
"I promise you they'll see a better bas-
ketball team."
Blue cagers revert to bad habits
Turnovers are costly again for the Wolverines in their third straight loss
By Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
The rock.
The pill.
Call it what you want, but in basket-
ball there is nothing more important
than the ball - especially when it
comes to taking care of it.
The Michigan women's basketball
team learned that lesson the hard way
this past weekend in its two losses to
Penn State and Purdue.
In both contests, Michigan played the
leading role in a comedy of errors.
Friday night, the Wolverines turned
the game over to the Lady Lions.
Yesterday, Purdue stole a win from
Michigan at Crisler Arena.
But when a team has 44 turnovers in
two games, what would you expect?Mce
Michigan coach Sue Guevara
explained her team's predicament follow-
ing Friday's loss to Penn State, 82-73.
"Any time you turn the ball over 23
times you are in deep trouble," Guevara
said. "It's really tough to win a ball game
that way."
With all the trouble Michigan was
having taking care of the ball Friday
night, Guevara resorted to using a num-
ber of different lineups.
In the second half of Friday's game,
Michigan forward Silver Shellman was
benched for Molly Murray after com-
mitting two turnovers. Murray then pro-
ceeded to turn the ball over twice.
Unfortunately for Guevara,
Michigan's guard play wasn't much bet-
ter. When Jennifer Kiefer had two give-
aways in the same half, Guevara turned
to Akisha Franklin. Franklin picked up
where Kiefer left off, and committed
two turnovers of her own.
A dejected Guevara explained her
seemingly haphazard substitution pat-
terns Friday night.
"I was just trying to find some people
that weren't going to turn the ball over,"
she said.
Michigan's lack of ball control played
right into the hands of Penn State's
Shauntai Hall. With every Michigan
turnover, the sophomore guard released
toward the basket resulting in a number
of fast-break opportunities.
When opportunity knocked, Hall
answered, scoring the first 10 points of
the game on her way to a team-high 20
points.
"(Hall) was told to go on the fly and
head toward the basket all week in prac-
tice," Penn State coach Rene Portland
said.
From the onset of yesterday's game
against Purdue, it seemed that the
Wolverines had forgotten about their trip
to University Park.
Eight of Michigan's last 13 posses-
sions in the first half resulted in
turnovers. This turned a close game into
an eight-point Purdue lead, as both
squads headed to the lockerroom.
And when Michigan's Stacey Thomas
tried to single-handedly bring the
Wolverines back in the second half,
costly turnovers sealed their fate.
"Right now, we just aren't executing
the same way we were three weeks ago,"
Guevara said. "I need to make some
changes. "
As the Wolverines have learned, in
close games, turnovers usually decide
the outcome.
In Michigan's past seven games, six
have ended in losses. Do you think the
giveaways had an impact?
Consider:
Michigan's average turnovers in the
six losses - 22.2. Opponents' average
turnovers in the same games - 17.7.
But in the end, Michigan's trouble
comes down to respect - for the ball,
that is. If the Wolverines hope to enjoy
the success they did at the start of the
season, Guevara says there is one simple
approach - practice.
"We'll work on passing the basket-
ball, catching the basketball, boxing out
and just go back to a lot of basics - fun-
damental basketball," Guevara said.
JAHNMMER/DaV1i~tNly
Michigan forward Tiffany Willard attempts one of her six shots during Michigan's
64-54 loss at Crisler Arena yesterday.
Michigan (73)
FG FT REB
M IN M-A M-A ¢T A F PTS
Shellman 16 3-6 0-0 1-2 3 1 8
Willard 18 3-6 1-1 0-1 0 4 7
Johns 33 8-16 6-8 5-12 3 2 22
Thomas 34 7-11 1-3 4-8 3 1 15
Kiefer 20 1-2 0-0 0-2 1 0 2
Lemire 22. 1-8 0-0 1-4 1 4 2
Murray 12 3-4 0-0 1-2 0 1 8
DiGiacinto 17 0-4 0-0 1-3 1 1 0
Johnson 14 2-5 0-0 0-0 1 0 5
Walker 11 2-5 0-0 1-3 0 2 4
Franklin 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Totals 200 30-68 8-1214-371417 73
FG%: .441. FT%: .667. 3-point FG: 5-14,
.357 (Shellman 2-3, Murray 2-3, Johnson 1-
2, Lemire 0-4, Willard 0-1, Kiefer 0-1).
Blocks: 4 (Digiacinto 2, Johns, Thomas).
Steals: 10 (Thomas 6, Johns 3, Willard).
Turnovers: 23 (Thomas 5, Kiefer 4, Willard
3, Johns 3, Lemire 3, Murray3, Shellman 1,
Franklin 1). Technical Fouls: none.
Penn State (82)
G FFT REB
MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PTS
Hall 23 9-11 2-2 2-3 0 2 20
Potthoff 35 9-13 1-2 2-10 2 0 19
Garner 32 2-7 0-0 1-4 1 4 4
Darling 37 3-5 4-7 3-9 13 1 10
Longworth 37 5-10 2-3 0-1 6 4 14
Brewer 12 1-5 1-2 0-4 2 0 3
Graby 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Wicks 13 3-7 1-2 0-0 1 0 71
Parsons 6 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 5
Macciocco 4 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 200 34-6311-1810-362514 82
FG%: .540. FT%: .611. 3-point FG: 3-11,
,273 (Longworth 2-7, Parsons 1-1,
Macciocco 0-2, Hall 0-1). Blocks: 2 (Garner
2). Steals: 12 (Potthoff 6, Darling 2,
Longworth 2, Wicks, Parsons). Turnovers:
19 (Darling 8, Hall 3, Garner 2, Longworth
2, Potthoff, Brewer, Macciocco). Technical
Fouls: none.
Michigan ............25 48 - 73
Penn State..........31 51-82
At: Bryce Jordan Center
A: 5,812
Purdue (64)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A -T A F 'PTS
Roland 40 816 4 25 0 1 21
Yasen 36 3-7 0-0 1-7 1 3 6
Curless 19 0-0 3-4 1-2 0 1 3
Figgs 39 1-4 3-4 1-1 3 1 5
White 36 8-13 12-14 2-5 3 2 29
Duhart 21 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 0
Young 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 200 20-4222-278-24 7 1164
FG%: .476. FT%: .815. 3-point FG: 2-10,
.200 (Roland 1-3, White 1-6, Figgs 0-1).
Blocks: 0 Steals: 8 (Figgs 2, Roland 2,
White 2, Yasen 2). Turnovers: 14 (Figgs
Roland 2, White 2, Yasen 2, Curless).
Technical Fouls: none.
Michigan (54)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Shellman 14 1-6 0-0 2-3 1 3 2
Willard 24 4-6 0-0 1-4 2 .1 8
Johns 37 3-5 1-2 3-10 2 4 7
Kiefer 24 1-3 2-2 0-1 2 0 5
Thomas 37 7-12 1-3 4-9 1 .3 15
Murray 23 4-6 0-0 1-1 1 4 12
Walker 15 1-1 0-3 1-1 0 0
Lemire 21 1-8 1-2 0-0 2 1
Johnson 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
DiGiacinto 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 200 22-47 5-1212-291118 54
FG%: .468. FT%: .417. 3-point FG: 5-12,
.417 (Murray 4-5, Kiefer 1-2, Lemire0-2,
Thomas 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Shellman 01).
Blocks: 1 (Johns). Steals: 9 (Thomas.6,
Kiefer, Johns, Shellman). Turnovers:.21
(Shellman 5, Kiefer 4, Thomas 4, Murray 3,
Johns 3, Lemire, Willard). Technical Fouls:
none.
Purdue ...............36 28 - 64
Michigan ............28 26 - 54
At: Crisler Arena A: 3,411
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JUNAHAN SUMMEK/Daily
Michigan guard Stacey Thomas was all over the court yesterday, scoring points,
grabbing rebounds and making steals. Unfortunately for her and the rest of the
Wolverines, the ball was all over the court, too. Michigan committed 21 turnovers.
The loss followed a 82-73 defeat at Penn State on Friday.
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