- The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 13, 1998 By B.J. Luna - Daily Sports Witer It is often said that he who lauihs last. laughs loudest. Tonight, the Michigan women's basket- ball team hopes it will be the one leti laughing as it heads to State College to take on Penn State. The Nittany Lions were the ones who were laughing the last time these two teams met, when the Wolverines squandered a 13-point second- half lead and lost the game in overtime, 85-84. Michigan will no doubt be looking to redeem itself when it faces Penn State at 7 p.m. in Bryce Jordan Arena. Revenge "is on our minds, but that's not what we're focusing on," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "After reviewing the tape for the 900th time, I still can't believe we lost that game. This is not the same Michigan team that allowed a double-digit lead to slip away at home on Jan. 4. These Wolverines are coming off a gutsy, come-from-behind thriller at Purdue this past Sunday. The road victory pushed Michigan to 7-5 in the Big Ten, 15-7 overall, "I don't think we've peaked yet," Guevara said. "I'm hoping we'll gel as a team in these JOHN KRAFT/Daily next few weeks." hgan center Pollyanna Johns will be fighting off a host of Nittany Lions in tonight's game. Johns and It just so happens that Penn State also has a 7- rest of the Wolverines will be looking to avenge a Jan. 4 loss to Penn State. 5 record in the Big Ten to go with a 13-9 overall slook to turn tables Ucertain only thing certain or Michigan men's basketball V James Goldstein hiy Sports Writer Three weeks ago, I was thinking Sweet for Michigan. Now, I don't know what think. What is it about this team that loves to v with the fans and writers, give impses of greatness, then just a few ines later display games of mediocrity? The Wolverines are 18-7, 8-4 in the igTen, two days after struggling to beat e conference cellar-dweller, 0-10 Ohio ate, at Crisler rcna. Right now, ichigan sits in Basketball urth place in the Commentary nference, a ilf-game ahead r Indiana, with conference leader ichigan State next on the schedule. Michigan is one victory ahead of last ar's pace, after this year's quick 5-1 nference start. 'After 25 games last year, the biverines were 17-8 and 7-4 in the con- rence. Michigan was in the middle of a \-losses-in-seven-games slide that all it eliminated the Wolverines from the GAA Tournament. After watching Michigan allow a team it has lost 13 consecutive games to )le back from a 16-point deficit at isler Arena (which is looking more like neutral site than a home court nowa- ys), those visions I had weeks ago of this team being an NCAA Tourney threat are fading away as quickly as the Crisler attendance. Is this team an NCAA Tournament team? Maybe that's jumping the gun just a bit. Is this team going to make any noise in the inaugural Big Ten tournament? That's the more pertinent question. It looks as though the Wolverines may get trapped in a first-round matchup against Indiana as a No. 4 or No. 5 seed. Michigan already got blown out by the Hoosiers at Assembly Hall. The Wolverines get their chance for revenge against Indiana a week from Sunday, at Crisler. What if Michigan loses two more games to the Hoosiers? Losing to the same conference team three times can't sit too well when the selection committee chooses its 64-team pool. I would hate to be a betting man. I would like to know the person who is making any money on this team. Let's recount the ups and downs. Michigan started the season with a bad loss (really bad) against Western Michigan. But the Wolverines surprised then-No. 1 Duke in December -- a good win (exceptionally good). And throughout the season and down the winding Big Ten road, Michigan has had a number of bad losses (against Bradley, Eastern Michigan and Minnesota), good wins (over Syracuse, Michigan State and Iowa) and close vic- tories that just make you shake your head (over Towson, Detroit and Ohio State). One game Louis Bullock will be unconscious from the field and in anoth- er, he won't have more than 10 field-goal attempts. Jerod Ward shows signs of increasing his aggressiveness, and then the next game, he looks hesitant. Without Maceo Baston, there will be no room for error. Bullock, Ward and Robert Traylor got off to a good start without Baston against Ohio State. But as a team, Michigan looked just OK. Now, the Wolverines face the Spartans next Tuesday. Michigan State has thrived on rebounding and defense all season long, two of Baston's assets. Consider this: What if Traylor gets in foul trouble? OK, then Josh Asselin has to play more. But what if Asselin is sim- ilarly plagued with fouls ? The next big man in the rotation is .... Peter Vignier. Without Baston, no game will be a guaranteed victory for Michigan. That includes Penn State and also Wisconsin, which two days ago set a school record fbr fewest points in a game, with 39. Count on a low-scoring affair with the Badgers - there's no doubt about that. What can we expect from the Wolverines for the rest of the season? We can't expect anything - we can only guess. The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports JINTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WHAT'S HAPPENING U PRE-SEASON VOLLEYBALL ENTRIES TAKEN: Mon 2/16 to Thurs 2/19 11:00 AM to 4:30PM - ENTRY FEE: $30 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Thurs 2/19, 6:00 PM, IMSB TOURNAMENT DATES: Sat & Sun 2/21 & 2/22, IMSB VOLLEYBALL ENTRIES TAKEN: Monday 2/23 ONLY 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $65 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Weds 2/25, 6:00 PM, IMSB PLAY BEGINS: MONDA Y 3/9 IMSB =t.