Ub S il ThdIv COLLEGE BASKETBALL No. 1 Arizona 99, BOSTON COLLEGE 69 No. 4 Duke 104, CHAMINADE 70 No. 7 Kentucky 70, GEO. WASH. 55 No. 10 XAVIER 118. NE Louisiana 61 No. 11 CONN. 72, Coppin State 50 No. 18 MISS. 81, Ark.-Pine Bluff 36 APPALACHIAN ST. 66, No. 23 UNC-Char. 60 No. 25 WAKE F. 81, Liberty 47 Penn State 90, LOYOLA (MD.) 82 PRO HOCKEY PITTSBURGH 5, Buffalo 1 San Jose 2. MONTREAL 2 PRO FOOTBALL DENVER 31. Oakland 3 PRO BASKETBALL 9 Tuesday November 25, 1997 Sullovan u. pp4" SulvaMcGregor shine in NCAA final meetmJt y JobsiBorkin Daily Seets Writer GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Michigan women's cross country team reached a stepping stone toward the future yesterday. The Wolverines fin- ished seventh overall at the NCAA championships and learned the pres- *es of national competition. Michigan was considered a long shot to place in the top five at the meet due to its lack of depth and experience. Katie McGregor and Elizabeth Kampfe were solid leaders throughout the year and once again proved to be dominant at Furman University. The warm southern temperatures were an advantage to all runners. It was a big change from last week's snowy gather that Michigan encountered at the regionals. Michigan finished seventh overall with 232 points, separated by only five points from fifth-place finisher Carr basks n glow of perfection By Danielle Rumore Daily Sports Editor Lloyd Carr entered yesterday's week- ly press conference with a smile as bright as the bouquet of roses sitting a 'h feet away. . ichigan's victory over Ohio State Saturday undoubtedly put Carr in a good mood, so much so that he walked into the press room and said, "How was your weekend? My weekend was great." The Wolverines' victory over the Buckeyes gave them their first Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth since the 1992 season and Carr's first as head coach. Michigan is 11-0 for the first time ce 1971 and has a legitimate shot to the national title for the first time since the 1948 season - now that it is ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' polls. "Fords to come out of the season with a great-win over Ohio State and be the Big Te champions and be able to repre- sent the:Big Ten conference in the Rose Bowl ia certainly a tremendous thrill for of us," Carr said. ntering the season, most pollsters did not expect Michigan to finish in the ,top three in the conference, let alone first in the nation. But it did, and now it is bound for Pasadena, where it will face No. 10 Washington State (11-1) on Jan. 1. The talk at the press conference cen- tered around Michigan's preparation for one of the biggest games in its history. Carr said that he is changing his pre- WI routine for this game to avoid prac- ticing during finals. In the past, the Wolverines practiced duringltinals week, but this year, Carr said the 4eam will leave on Dec. 19 and begin practicing at a site that will be determined on a trip out West this week. "We~ie going to practice out in California the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and do most of our practicing in the days pror t he game," Carr said. Wisconsin. Michigan coach Mike McGuire was pleased with his team's performance yesterday. "Last year, we did not even qualify to run in the national championship," McGuire said. "We ran some young and inexperienced runners, and to place seventh is quite an accomplishment." Katie McGregor finished fourth overall with a time of 16:48, and earned All-America honors. "It was really crazy, running with girls I had looked up upon all these years," said McGregor. "I was happy with my performance, but as an athlete, I don't think you could ever be satisfied completely with how you run." Kampfe ran a strong race, finishing 23rd and recording a time of 17:11. A week ago at the regionals, she had defeated McGregor, but the competi- tion at the NCAA championships proved to be a little overwhelming. Running away Both Michigan cross country teams finished in the top 10 at their respective NCAA champi- onship races. Below are the top four Wolverines and their times in yesterday's meet. Men 2. Kevin Sullivan 11. John Mortimer 21. Todd Snyder 52. Steve Lawrence Wong 5. Katie McGregor 23. Elizabeth Kampfe 65. Julie Froud 97. Lisa Ouellet 29:01 29:44 30:07 30:39 16:48 17:11 17:40 17:58 By Josh Bo rdn Daily Sports W iter GREENVILLE, S.C. - Deter- mination and teamwork was a constant theme during the Michigan men's cross country season. The Wolverines capped off one of the most successful cross country seasons in recent years with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA cross country championships. The Wolverines traveled to Furman University in hope of "placing into the top four" according to Michigan coach Ron Warhurst. Yesterday, Michigan accomplished its goal, and the team "showed more heart than they had shown all season," said Kevin Sullivan, who earned his fourth All-America honor. The blue skies and warm temperatures enabled all of the runners to record some of their fastest times this year. "The beautiful weather made it easier to run faster and the dry course also made it a quicker race," said I1th-place finisher John Mortimer. Overall, the Michigan squad finished fourth with 116 points. Stanford won the team championship with 53 points, fol- lowed by Arkansas with 56, and Colorado with 108. The race was controlled by UCL A's three-time All American Mebrahtom Keflezighi, Sullivan, and Colorado's Bernard Lagat. Through the halfway point, all three runners were spread out, though all were clocking sub-5:00 miles. The pace did not differentiate much throughout the race, and Keflezighi was able to hold on to the front position to record a course record time of 28:54. "I got out the way I wanted. I had a great start' Keflezighi said. "I knew at the last mile that I had won the race, and I just had to keep up the pace." Sullivan finished a close second with 29:01. LVU.JIJ I1UVVT Fl.'OWJ in his final meet as a collegian, Kevin Sullivan finished as an All-Americanfor the fourth time, finishing second. Ward leads 'M' in. Maryland squeaker Towson triples nearly doom Wolverines By James Goldstein Daily Sports Writer TOWSON, Md. - On a night when Towson was practically unconscious from the 3-point line, Michigan's Robbie Reid hit the biggest 3-pointer of the game. Reid's trey from the top of the key with one minute remaining in the game and the shot clock reading 1.6 seconds gave the Wolverines a needed four-point cush- ion. Towson is a school that hails from the America East conference and whose competition is usually conference foes such as Maine, Vermont and Hofstra. In the ' Michigan 75 schools' first-ever TO 7ON Towson 72 m e e t i n g, Michigan survived a barrage of 3-pointers and an energetic Towson team en route to a 75- 72 victory over the Tigers in front of a record-setting crowd of 5,086 at Towson Center. Jerod Ward led the Wolverines with a career-high 21 points - with most com- ing in the early stages of the first and sec- ond halves. Maceo Baston added 19 and pulled down 10 rebounds. Raul de Pablo connected on 6-of-7 3- pointers, topping the Tigers with 18 points. Ralph Biggs and Ryan Lexer had 13 points apiece. The Tigers' 13-for-25 shooting from beyond the arc kept them in the game. After Michigan built an eight-point lead 10 minutes into the second half, Towson came back and took the lead on Biggs' acrobatic shot in the lane that made the score 63-62 with 4:49 left. Baston's layup and a free throw soon thereafter gave the Wolverines the lead once again. But Towson forward Derrick Newton drained a 3-pointer with 2:57 left, giving the Tigers a 66-65 lead. On the next Towson possession, Lexer missed the shot and fouled Baston, who sank both free throws. Towson couldn't convert again as Robert Traylor tied up Biggs near the sideline, but possession was awarded to the Tigers. Towson did nothing with it, however, as Lexer missed another shot and Louis Bullock pulle down the rebound. Michigan ran the shot clock down on its next possession, passing the: b.il around the perimeter. Louis BuI16 , who finished with 13 points, ho-a decent look from behind the aret opted to pass to Reid, who nailedthe clutch 3-pointer, giving the Wolverisa 70-66 advantage. Towson still managed to fight Hak from a six-point lead in the last 35. pc- onds and had a chance to tie the gate with a 3-pointer with five seconds to gd, but Tigers' Marlin Wise air-balled or his three-point attempt from the top ofthe key as the buzzer sounded. Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe knew Reid's shot was huge. "Robbie grew up today," said Eltebe about the transfer point guard. "He bit a tough shot. He got better tonight." Bullock was playing just 30 miles from home and could have made a le-f his friends and family happy by taking the shot, but he chose not to. "I felt the shot that I would've take' would've been forced, so I tried to get1a gap and create something off the dribg Bullock said. "(Reid) stepped up. I'm glad he shot it because he has been mak- ing those shots in practice all the time." Ellerbe, who also was experiencing a homecoming -- he lived five miles from Towson before leaving his job as Loyola (Md.) coach last summer - couldn't prepare his team for the Tigers. Towson played Friday night against American, and it was too late for Ellerbe to get the tape of the game. So, at 2:30 a.m. yesterday, instead of being fast asleep, Ellerbe drove into Washington D.C to get a videotape from an assistant coach at American. The homecoming was also difficult for Bullock. The Temple Hills, Md,, native thought he had 40 tickets to pro- vide for his family and friends, but he had to cut 10of them and had a hard time deciding who wo going to be left out. WARREN ZINN/Daily Maceo Baston slams home a basket as Robert Traylor looks on in Michigan's 7572 victory over Towson State. Baston scored 19 points to help the Wolverines survive the Towson scare. Turnovers, free throws haunt Guevara, Blue By Josh linbaum Daily Sports Writer It's beginning to sound like a broken record.' Reporier: So coach, what does your * need to work on for the next game? aichlgn women's basketball coach Sue Guevara: Well, we have to cut down on our turnovers and improve our free- throw shooting. Turnovers and free-throw shooting. After the Wolverines (2-0) beat Sporitelha Bratislava in an exhibition, Guevara said it. After they beat St. John's in their season opener, she said it. After they beat Michigan State in their nd game, she said it. And a day before tonight's 7:30 game against Illinois State at Crisler Arena, she said it again. "We're, going to work on our turnovers; pretty much in the half court," Guevara said. "We had four offensive charges against us (against St. John's and Michigan State), and that's iust a work on our free throws again. "Those are our two nemesis right now - turnovers and free throws."' To say turnovers are a "nemesis" might even be an understatement, In two games, Michigan's 46 turnovers have led to 38 opponent points. Junior guard Ann Lemire has been the primary cul- prit - she has committed 12 turnovers. The only players who see considerable playing time that have missed the turnover bug are Akisha Franklin and Tiffany Willard. Both have committed just two turnovers each. The free-throw problem has plagued Michigan, as well. The Wolverines have only connected on 41 of 66 free throws - just 62.1 percent. Pollyanna Johns, a player who spends a lot of time at the line, has connected on just 12 of 21. Stacey Thomas, one of the team's better shooters, is just nine of 17 from the charity stripe. The Wolverines have been lucky - they've been able to survive despite er, and if they make those same mistakes tonight, Illinois State (0-2) could be the team to beat them. The Redbirds are a bit unknown to Guevara. Michigan has never played them before, and Guevara has not coached against them since she was an assistant at Michigan State. "When I was at State, we played them at least six times," Guevara said. "They are always a very fundamental basket- ball team. They are a very well coached basketball team. (Illinois State coach) Jill Hutchison is one of the best teachers in the country, and her team plays hard all the time." What the Wolverines do know is this: Illinois State posted a 17-11 record a year ago, including a second-place fin- ish in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Redbirds return four starters from that team, three of which averaged in double digits last year, But this season, they have lost all of the games they have played, including two official and two exhibition games. While all four games were close - the most they lost by was I I point to both Kansas State and Athletes in Action - the Redbirds didn't come within five of any of them. The Wolverines' poor free throw shooting could pose a problem in this game. In a 69-59 loss to Missouri, Illinois State sent the Tigers to the free throw line 34 times. Missouri's 27 suc- cessful free throws were a big reason for its victory. S I U of M Ski Team's 28th Annual :./