6B -The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 25, 1999
'M' women's hoops
back after losing slump
Sickness handicaps
Blue men's swimming
By Geoff Gagnon
Daily Sports Writer
EVANSTON - Riding an upswing
in its roller-coaster season, the Michigan
women's basketball team tore through
the Midwest this past weekend, rolling .
by Iowa and Northwestern to help build
its second win streak.
And for Michigan, everything has
come in streaks this season.
In sliding past-..........-....-
Michigan State a
week ago, the Basketball
Wolverines put a Notebook
close to the worst--..-.--.........
losing streak in coach Sue Guevara's
tenure as they bid farewell to a five-game
drought.
That skid seems to have been all but
forgotten as the streaky Wolverines dis-
mantled a trio of conference foes to
move from the Big Ten cellar, to the con-
ference's middle ground.
"You saw in that losing streak our
heart and our pride challenged," said
Guevara. "And I think now we are
answering that challenge."
In answering that challenge, Guevara's
squad has slowly been able to return to
the form that dazzled onlookers as the
team was able to open the season by cat-
apulting to a school-best nine straight
wins.
As impressive as its start may have
been, a five-game losing streak to start
the new year seemed to silence those
touting the team as.one of the confrence's
fiercer.
Not counting their first loss at
Vanderbilt, all of Michigan's wins and all
of its losses have come strung together.
And Guevara says she expects that to
continue as the Wolverines look to con-
tinue their current streak.
"Trust me, we're not done yet,"
Guevara said. "The momentum is start-
ing and I think we're getting better and
better."
BLACK PARTY: Known throughout the
Big Ten as a feared scorer, the defensive
play of Stacey Thomas has essentially
gone virtually unnoticed amidst the glare
of her solid offensive showings.
With her play yesterday, Thomas left
no doubt about her defensive prowess.
And in tallying six steals to go along
with four blocks, Thomas certainly
caught the attention of her Northwestern
opponents.
"Stacey Thomas is incredible,"
Northwestern forward Clarissa Flores
said. "I've never seen such an athletic
player. She was blocking shots, stealing,
she was just an unbelievable player"
Yet even as her defensive play fueled
her team to its third straight win, Thomas
says her defensive ability often ignites
her play on the other end.
"I love defense - that gets me going,"
Thomas said. "I think my defense helps
my offense.'
Yet yesterday, her play needed little
help. Leading all scorers with 15 points,
Thomas also pulled down 10 rebounds
while dishing out six assists.
"Thomas put on one of her better
shows defensively. We know that Stacey
can steal the ball and she had some key
blocks' Guevara said. "I think the thing
that stands out for Thomas is the six
assists. For our team that's the most
assists we've had all year."
By Jon Zemke
Daily Sports Writer
Despite sickness, injuries and an
absence of distance events, the Michigan
men's swimming team found it in itself
to swim against the some of the best
competition and weirdest oddities in the
NCAA.
Friday and Saturday, Michigan trav-
eled to Dallas to participate in the 17th
annual Dallas Morning News Classic.
The Wolverines finished fifth out of six
teams in a meet that usually showcases
the top six teams of the previous year's
NCAA Championships.
The meet was filled with oddities.
Because of scheduling problems most of
the teams in the meet were not top six
placers at NCAAs last season including
Michigan who finished 12th. Texas, last
year's Dallas Morning News Classic
winner, finished in sixth.
"It's kind of ironic," Michigan coach
Jon Urbanchek said. "Last year's first
and second place, Texas and Michigan,
are in this year's cellar. Texas didn't
bring a lot of their top athletes, because
they have illnesses like we did. So we
left half the team home."
The oddities didn't stop there.
Michigan found themselves short-
handed, with close to half the team
fighting sickness. Pneumonia kept
Michigan's top swimmer Tom
Malchow out of the meet, while many
others have been fighting everything
from colds to bronchitis.
"It's affecting a lot," Michigan fresh-
man Tim Siciliano said. "Actually I went
to this meet sick and so did Chris
Thompson. We both kind of got over it at
the end of the meet"
The loss of Malchow and freshmap
Tim Barry to the flu left Michigan with-
out its top swimmers in the butterfly.
Coupled with the fact that there were no
distance events, which is Michiga"
strong suit, the team found themsel
shorthanded against a lot of tough com-
petition.
Michigan won only three of 18 events
in the meet. Senior Brett Wilmot won the
one meter springboard with a score of
299.55. In the 500-yard freestyle sopho-
more all-America Chris Thompson took
first place, and fellow sophomore Scott
Werner won the 200 breaststroke by
nearly four seconds.
Another strange twist to the meet
that the competitors swam consolatiV
races instead of preliminary heats.
"Two people from each team can-
swim in each event one in each heat,"
Hopwood said. "In my turn at breast-
stroke ... I would have been the second
overall time, but I had to be in the (con-
solation) heat."
The Wolverines finished with three
winners in the consolation races includ-
ing senior Andy Potts and Siciliano we
ning the 200 individual medley and
breaststroke, respectively.
Each of the six teams were allowed
only eight swimmers and one diver for
the meet, which added to Michigan's
already cancerous handicap.
"It was a tough weekend, because we
were down a couple of the original kids
we were supposed to take to the meet,"
Michigan freshman Jeff Hopwood said.
"We didn't have our full roster and we
were struggling."
DHANI JONES/Daily
Alayne Ingram (40) is one of the Michigan women's basketball team's most
promising young players.
Freshmen emerge for
women' sbasketball
By Stephanie Offen
Daily Sports Writer
EVANSTON - The Michigan
women's basketball team's season has
made a 360-degree turn. A nine-game
winning streak quickly turned into a
five-game losing streak. And this week-
end's two-win road trip, added to a vic-
tory earlier in the week against
Michigan State, and yet another win-
ning streak has begun.
And it has been the play of the
Michigan freshmen that have gotten the
Wolverines back on track.
With freshman Heather Oesterle still
sitting on the bench with a stress frac-
ture in her foot, the other three new-
comers have seen more playing time
and put it to good use.
Through the last few games, Ruth
Kipping has been leading the way for
the freshman trio. Kipping was given a
starting position in the Jan. 15 game
against Wisconsin, and has remained
there ever since. She posted 15 points
against the Badgers, a career high at
that point.
Against Michigan State, Kipping
added 14 points and nine rebounds to
the Michigan victory, but that would
be soon surpassed by the careerday
she had Friday on the road against
Iowa.
Against the Hawkeyes, Kipping shot
80 percent from the field, scoring 19
points. She also produced on the defen-
sive end, adding 11 rebounds.
But during that game, she hyperex-
tended her knee, which bothered her in
yesterday's victory over Northwestern.
Kipping still held on to her starting
position, but she only saw 16 minutes
of playing time and was only able to
contribute four points.
"Ruthie is a candidate for Big Ten
Freshman of the Year," Michigan coach
Sue Guevara said. "Unfortunately we
didn't get to see that today. But she will
get a couple days to ice up, heal up and
get ready for Ohio State"
So it was yet another freshman who
took that leadership role. Alayne
Ingram started the game off with a bas-
ket and free throw to give Michigan the
early lead, and she continued to con-
tribute the rest of the game.
Ingram ended the game with l1
points, which included two key 3-point-
ers. Her aggressive and quick style of
play also helped to slow the Wildcats
down in the second half
"It was definitely a fast-paced game,
and it did wear us down a little bit,"
Northwestern sophomore Clarissa
Flores said. "And with the injuries we
have, they definitely wore us down."
Ingram also produced a team-high 17
points earlier in the week in the victory
against Michigan State.
Although Raina Goodlow hasn't got-
ten the starting nod like the other two
freshmen, her contributions off the
bench have taken notice. In Friday's
win over the Hawkeyes, Goodlow
added nine points off the bench. That
was followed by a six-point perfor-
mance yesterday, where Goodlow was
perfect from the field.
And this is a crucial time for the
freshmen to emerge. This is a team that
has had many missing links over the
past few games.
With Oesterle sitting out the past few
games, Ann Lemire out against the
Spartans, and the departure of sopho-
more Mandy Stowe, made it important
for the freshmen to contribute quality
minutes.
The team's top scorer, Stacey
Thomas, also went into a small scor-
ing slump earlier in the month. And it
was the freshmen who were able to
take the pressure off herand help to
take her place. Now the slump is over,
and the pressure has been removed.
"I'm very proud of the freshmen,"
Thomas said, "They're coming in,
contributing and working hard. It's
great to see how they can step it up."
These setbacks to the Michigan
program have proven to not be set-
backs at all, but instead more oppor-
tunities for the freshmen to shed their
Inexperience.
And they have done just that.
"My freshmen aren't freshmen
anymore. They are now sophomores,"
Guevara said.
DANA LINNANE/Uaily
After a slow start in the conference, the Michigan women's basketball team has
stormed back as of late, winning three in a row. Two of those victories came on a
Midwestern road swing this past weekend.
DANA IINJNANE/LDily
Michigan center Alison Miller played 34 crucial minutes in the paint for the
Wolverines against Northwestern. Her 10 points were key, as were her three offen-
sive rebounds. Michigan defeated the Wildcats, 64-54.
Fsh
Tonight through Thursday
6:00-10:00pm
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Continued from Page 11
shooting for the game.
The game was closely contested from
the opening tip until the Wolverines
pulled away late in the second.
Northwestern dominated early, posting a
30-22 lead with seven minutes left in the
first half. The Wolverines fought back
and went on a 9-0 run to go up 3 1-30.
They headed to the lockerroom with a
37-36 lead.
The second half was an entirely dif-
ferent story. Michigan's defense forced
Northwestern to go 5-for-20 from the
field after the break. In several critical
situations, time ran out for the Wildcats
and they were forced to take off-balance
shots as the shot clock ran down.
"They made us run down the clock;'
Northwestern's Carissa Flores said. "It
seemed like with four or five seconds
left we were struggling to get a shot!'
In Friday's victory over Iowa, the
Wolverines also played a solid all-
around game. In that outing, they shot
53.3 percent and grabbed 38 boards.
Kipping and Thorius both scored 19
points in the win. Senior Ann Lemire
" also had an impressive performance
scoring 17 points in her first game back
from a suspension and an illness.
- S. 55 6 -
MICHIGAN (66)
FU FT REB
MIN F-A M-A 0T A F PTS
Thomas 40 7-5 1.2 5-10 6 1 15
Kipping 16 2-4 0-0 0-0 2 0 4
Miller 34 5-10 0-0 3-4 2 1 10
Thorius 36 5.8 2-2 0-2 7 2 14
Ingram 36 4-9 1-1 0-3 4 2 11
Walker 14 2-4 0-0 0-2 0 1 4
Goodlow 15 3-3 0a0 0-1 0 1 ,6
Lemire 9 0-2 0-0 0-3 1 1 0
Totals 200 28-55 45 8.29 22 9 64
FG%:.509. FT%:.800. 3-point FG:4-9, .444
(Ingram 2-4, Thorius 2-3, Lemire 0-2). Blocks:6
(Thomas 4, lopping, Miller). Steals: 10 (Thoma
Miller, Thorius, Ingram, Walker). Turnovers: 16
(Lemire 5, Ingram 3, Thomas 2, Thorius 2, team 2,
Kipping, Miller). Technical Fouls: none.
NORTHWESTERN (54)
FK FT RDB
MIN M-A M-A 0"T A F PTS
Flores 33 4-12 2-4 1-4 0 1 12
Schock 32 5-10 0-0 2-4 0 2 -40
Sears 28 2-3 3-4 1-6 4 3 7
Leonard 38 3-9 1-2 2-2 2 1 8
Chawansky 40 5-12 1-2 1-4 5 5'12
Holland 8 1-3 0-0 2-2 0 1 2
Giblin 4 0-0 0-0 0-10 0 0
Berki 17 0-2 3-4 1-4 1 1
Totals 200 20.51 10.1613.32 12 9
FG%: .392. FT%:.625. 3-point FG:413, .308
(Flores 2-6, Leonard 1-4, C hawansky 1-2). Blocks:
0 Steals: 8 (Sears 2, Leonard 2. Chawansky 2,
Flores, Schock). Turnovers: 22 (Flores 5, Sears 5,
Leonard 5, Chawansky 3, Schock 2, Berki 2)
Technical Fouls: none.
Michigan ..........37 27 -64
Northwestern ..........36 18 - 54
At: Welsh-Ryan Arena
Attendance: 935
10 DAYS ONLY
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