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The Michigan Daily - January 16, 1998 ;7-11

Women's hoops looks to
break Indiana scoring woes
Michigan State looms in Sunday afternoon rematch

By Josh Kielnbaum
Daily Sports Writer
Facing its Achilles heel tonight
and its arch-rival Sunday, the
Michigan women's basketball team
will have its hands full this week-
end.
The Wolverines (3-3 Big Ten, 11-
5 overall) travel to Bloomington,
Ind. to face Indiana tonight, then

return to Ann Arbo
Michigan State on
Sunday.
The Hoosiers (3-2,
12-6) have owned
Michigan, posting a
30-5 all-time record
against the
Wolverines, including
victories in the last
seven games.
Michigan's last vic-
tory over Indiana
came in 1993.
"I think it's called
an Achilles heel,"
Michigan coach Sue
Guevara said. "For
some reason, we have
problems scoring in
Assembly Hall. It's likeI
on that basket."

r to play
Michi
vs. Ind,
Where: Asser
Hall
When: Tonigh
p.m.
Michiga
vs.
Michiga
State
Where: Crisle
When: Sunda
p.m.
there's a lid

(Anne) Thorius, (Anne) Lemire and
Stacey Thomas."
Kristi Green, a short, pesky guard,
runs the Hoosier offense. At 5-foot-
2, Green is the shortest player in the
Big Ten.
"Kristi Green always seems to
give us problems," Guevara said.
"She's so quick to the ball, and she
creates things for other people. She
sets the tempo for Indiana."
The 6-5 Quacey
in Barnes more than makes
up for the height that
ana Green lacks. Barnes, a
mbly senior center, leads the
Big Ten in blocked shots
t, 8 with 36.
She averages 17.7
points and 6.4 rebounds
1n per game.
The Michigan-
Michigan State matchup
In on Sunday offers plenty
of intrigue.
er Arena Not only is there the
y, 5 obvious intra-state rival-
ry, but Guevara will be
coaching against her for-
mer mentor, Karen
Langeland.
"Somebody asked me: 'Has the
sentiment gone out of the game now
that it's the third time around?"'
Guevara said. "As long as coach
Langeland is still there, there's going
to be a fair amount of sentiment."
These two teams have already met
once this season, at the
Felpausch/MSU Holiday Classic.
The Wolverines defeated the
Spartans, 89-72, in the champi-
onship game of the tournament.
In the post-game press confer-
ence, Langeland declared. "I would-
n't miss the rematch if I were you."

"For some reason,
we have problems
scoring in
Assembly Hall"
- Sue Guevara
Michigan women's basketball
coach
The rematch has arrived.
The Spartans (1-5, 7-9) are having
an off year. In 10th place in the con-
ference, the defending Big Ten
champions stand ahead only of
Northwestern.
But Guevara doesn't see much
importance in that.
"It's Michigan-Michigan State,"
Guevara said. "Just throw out "the
records. It's a blood-bath out onthe
court."
In their first matchup, Johns man-
handled the Spartans, scoring 13
points and 12 rebounds in the first
half alone. Johns finished the game
with 21 points.
Guevara doesn't expect that to
happen again.
"They're probably going to do
something different to stop
Pollyanna Johns," Guevara said.
"The last time we played them, our
inside game dominated."
The Spartans offer a balanced
scoring attack, with four players
averaging double-digits.
But the key to success in this
game could be Kristen Rasmussen.
The sophomore forward was suc-
cessful in the low post against
Michigan, fouled out before ;she
made too much of an impact, scor-
ing just 12 points.

Michigan will likely have to look
to its perimeter shooters to break
through that lid.
All season long, senior center
Pollyanna Johns has been double-
and triple-teamed - but is still
averaging 20.7 points and 10
rebounds per game - leaving the
outside shooters open.
Other than Molly Murray, those
shooters have been inconsistent.
"I'm looking for some consisten-
cy out on the perimeter," Guevara
said. "And that challenge is for

FILE PHOTO
Auilyanna JOhns and the Wolverines have had their shooting troubles at ASsembly Hall against Indiana. Michigan basketball
Yach Sue Guevara said that "It's like there Is a lid on the basket."

Tickets to go on sale
for hockey regionals
m1rom staff reports
The Michigan Ticket Office will put tickets for the 1998 NCAA Ice Hockey
West Regional on public sale beginning Monday at 8 a.m. Tickets can be ordered
in person at the Ticket Office or by telephone at (313) 764-0247.
Tickets are $50 for the two days of competition, which feature four games and
will be held on March 27 (5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.) and March 28 (6 p.m. and 9
p.m.) at Yost Ice Arena.
The 1998 West Regional will feature six teams - half of the 12-team NCAA
field - with two of the six teams receiving "byes" into the second day of com-
petition. Two of the six teams competing in Ann Arbort will advance to Boston
for the semifinals, where they will play the two teams that advance out of the
ast regional (held in Albany).
RELIVE MICHIGAN'S
ROSE BOWL %WWIN AND
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Will the new Super
Alliance work in 1999?

The Sporting News
At the end of the 1998 season, "The
College Football Championship Series'
- aka the Super Alliance - takes
effect. The goal, obviously, will be to
crown a true national champion and
thus stave off more talk about a playoff.
The big news is that the Big Ten and
Pac-10 champs will be in the Alliance.
Will it work? Who knows? Organizers
better pray fervently that three teams
don't finish the regular season unbeat-
en.
Another facet of the new Alliance is
that some conference tie-ins will return
to the so-called "big bowls." For
instance, if the SEC champion is not in
the 1-2 game, which is slated to be
played at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4,
1999, that team will head to the Sugar
Bowl, as it did in the old days.
The Big 12 will be tied in with the
Fiesta, and the Orange will get its pick
between the ACC and Big East champ.
The Pac-10/Big Ten tie-in remains with
the Rose Bowl if those teams don't
make it to the 1-2 game.
There likely will be some restrictions
against a team returning to the same
bowl after two or three consecutive
trips.
The conference tie-ins are one way
organizers are trying to increase atten-
dance at bowl games. This season, three
bowls - the Rose, the Citrus and the
Independence - of the 20 sold out.
(The Peach reportedly was 38 tickets
shy of a sellout.)
It's easy to understand why the Rose
sold out.
But the big crowds at the Citrus,
Independence and Peach can be attrib-
uted to nearby teams being in the bowls
(Florida in the Citrus, LSU in the
Independence and Auburn and Clemson
in the Peach). There's the thought that
with more regionalization, crowds will

be bigger.
The move toward regionalizatiorialso
could trigger changes in bowl matchups
(i.e., maybe no more ACC No. 4 vs. Big
East No. 3 in the Carquest), but that still
is up in the air.
GREEN GONE:
Ahman Green's early departure to the
NFL could be a blow to Nebraska --
not because Green is so good but rather
because of an injury.
There's no question Green had a mar-
velous season with 1,877 yards rushing;
he then added an Orange Bowl-record
206. But there's a school of thought that
Green isn't as good as DeAngelo Evans,
a sophomore who missed the season
with a nagging stomach muscle injury.
If Evans returns at full strength, the
Huskers won't miss Green.
If Evans continues to strugglewith
the injury - he recently had surgery for
the second time but is expected back for
spring practice -- the Huskers will
break in a new I-back and new quarter-
back in addition to a new coach.
Sophomores-to-be Correll Buckhalter
and Dan Alexander, who is coming off
knee surgery, will be the I-backs in the
spotlight in the spring - and maybe the
fall, too.
As for Green, he leaves as the sec-
ond-leading rusher in Nebraska history,
behind Mike Rozier. But the history of
Nebraska I-backs in the NFL hasn't
been a good one.
Outside of Rozier and Roger Craig
(10th on the school's rushing list), name
one Huskers I-back who had success in
the NFL. Calvin Jones, Ken Clark and
I.M. Hipp are Nos. 3-5 on the Nebraska
career rushing list, but we don't retkem-
ber any of those guys making an impact
in the NFL.
Bottom line: The Nebraska system
churns out great college running backs,
which is OK.

Savor the Wolverines' first national
championship since 1948 for years
to come with a glossy, full-color
poster of The Michigan Daily's front
page. The poster sells for $5 and
will be available next week at The
Michigan Daily's offices in the
Student Publications Building at
420 Maynard St. and at select
retail outlets in the Ann Arbor

\ %

MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Maceo Baston is coming off a solid performance against the Spartans. Baston and
Robert Traylor, clicking on all cylinders in the paint, look to dominate Ohio State.

area. Add a poster of
Michigan's Rose Bowl-clinch-
ing win over Ohio State for
an additional $2.50. Read
the Daily to find out when
the posters will be avail-
able for
purchase.

#, ., . ,°p. it


!1

BUCKEYES
Continued from Page 10
have consistently sparked Michigan
runs this season, have drained more
than their share of clutch shots. But
Conlan is still searching for the touch
following a broken wrist in
November.
"It's more or less mental," Conlan
said. "I'm still getting my shot back.
Coach Ellerbe is telling me to be
more aggressive and take the ball to
the basket. He wants me to get some
easy ones to build up confidence."
ROLLOVER REPERCUSSIONS:
With the Columbus trip coming
less than a week after the car acci-
dent involving Josh Asselin and

Brandon Smith, the duo remains
shaken up.
Smith will most likely suit up but
still has a splint on his right thumb to
protect his stitches.
Asselin has not fared as well.
In addition to a sore shoulder, he
has large cuts on his face from the
accident. A decision on his status
probably will be made tomorrow.
While Asselin contended that his
shoulder was fine, Ellerbe is taking
few chances and already is planning
for the center's absence.
"We'll use Jerod more at the four
spot to accommodate (Asselin's) loss
somewhat," Ellerbe said. "Peter
(Vignier) becomes more of a part of
what we're doing, if need be."


Want to Join the Daily? Come to the mass
meeting Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. on the
second floor of the Student Publications
Building at 420 Maynard St.

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