,Scorboar_.
MEN'S (4) Ohio St. 72, 1
TOURNEY (13, Murray St. 58
SOtWNHREGIONAM
(1) Auburn 80.
(16) Winthrop 41
(2) Maryland 82,
(15) Valparaiso 60
(3) St. Johns 69,
(14) Samford 43
(12) Detroit 56,
(5) UCLA53
(6) Indiana 108,
(114 Geo. Wash 88
(10) Creighton 62,
(7) Louisville 58
(9) Okla. St. 69,
t8 Svae 61
t
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WEsT REGIONAL
(1) Conn. 91.
(16) Tex-SA 66
(2) Stanford 69,
(15) Alcorn St. 57
(14) Weber St. 76,
3) No. Car 74
(4) Arkansas 94.
(13) Siena 80
(5) Iowa 77
(12) UAB 64
(6) Florida 75,
(11) Penn 61
(10) Gonzaga 75.
(7) Minnesota 63
(9) New Mex. 61,
(8) Missouri 59
3odijxl
Tracking 'M' teams
The Michigan softball team sits at ninth in the USA
Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. The team is enjoying
a 10-game winning streak, and resume play on March
1.8 at the Capital City Classic in Sacramento, Calif.
Friday
March 12, 1999
8
." ... ._ 101 'l a.
Women hoops advances in WNIT
Today's NCAA
Toumey preview
By Andy Latack
GAME OF THE DAY: (8) College of
Charleston vs.(9) Tulsa. It's a
shame these teams have to play in
the first round, because I would
pick both to pull off wins. They
are tourney tested, with CC upset-
ting five seed Maryland and scar-
ing eventual champ Arizona before
bowing out two years ago. CC
wins, and with the victory comes
the honor of suffering an emotion-
ally scarring second-round loss to
Duke."-C 84, Tulsa 84.
UPSET PECUAL:(12) Rhode Island
over (5) UNC-Charlotte. Unlike
Mr. Kleinbaum's misguided UAB
pick yesterday, this one will hap-:
pen. I hardly even consider it an
upset. The Rams' Lamar Odom is
one of the best players in the tour-
nament and UNC-C is still one let-
ter away from being a quality team.
Rhode Island 73, UNC-C 63.
SUIrTHINc:(6) Kansas over (11)
Evansville. Granted, Kansas isnot
what it used to be this year. But a
potential second-round matchup
with Kentucky will entice the
Jayhawks to step up. Plus,
Evansvilie's uniforms have sleeves.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Arizona's
Jason Terry; Utah's Andre Miller
and, Michigan State's Mateen
Cleaves. These three AP All-
Amiicans are in action today, -
in tloe stacked Midwest bracket.
Terry is one of the nation's most
prolific scorers, and Miller and
Cleaves have led their teams to a
combined 39 straight wins.
See TOURNEY, Page 9
By Stephanie Offen Michigana
Daily Sports Writer time to re
KALAMAZOO - Last night belonged to came bac
Stacey Thomas. you saw to
The Michigan women's basketball captain The Wo
led her team to a 73-64 victory over Western points int
Michigan in the first round of the WNIT tour- time up by
nament. Michig
Along with rack- MIcHIGAN 73 what low
ing up a team high get the t
23 points and 12 ; WESEN MID' 64 defenders;
rebounds, Thomas But on
added two steals, breaking Michigan's career the Bronc
steals record. "Every
Thomas, as always, was critical of her team's cheer an
performance. "I'd give it a B-minus," Thomas Michigan;
said. helped us
But the first half was definitely worthy of an whole gar
"A." Both teams got off to a slow start, but it was Great f
LSO y Michigan who would finally pick things up. of Wester
LGoodlow and the Michigan women's basketBall teamThomas finally found her 3-point shot going Erving le
RainaGodoanteMihgnwmnsbsebltem il 2-for-2 in the first half from behind the arc. Michigan'
now host Michigan State Sunday at 2 p.m. In the second round
of the WNIT. "I gave the team a week off for spring break' And t
Playoff run begins tonight at Yost
coach Sue Guevara said. "They need
st, relax and heal, and Stacey Thomas
k with arch on her shot. That's what
oday."
olverines would lead by as many as 19
the first half and would go into half-
y 16.
an's second half performance was
ered their grade. Alison Miller would
eam off to a strong start, battling
and getting open looks inside.
ce the Western crowd got on their feet
os became a different team.
time we made a basket they would
d try to get us going," Western
senior Kelly DeLong said. "I think it
a lot that they were behind us the
me.
an support added to the fired-up play
rn Michigan's leading scorer Shelsea
d the Broncos on a 11-0 run, cutting
's lead down to nine.
he Bronco faithful wouldn't let up.
Another 8-0 Western run brought them to their
feet and bring Western Michigan within five
points of the Wolverines.
This run would cause emotions to run high
among the Michigan players, leading to sloppy
play and even a scuffle over a jump ball. "Once
a game Ruth (Kipping) will try to steal the ball
from the rebounder" Guevara said. "Usually
she will get the foul and have to come sit next t
me on the bench. But she got that ball clean that
time and I thought that was great, but all of a
sudden I saw her and Erving tussling all over."
But those emotions were quickly calmed and
Michigan was able to regain their composure
and their large lead.
Led by the experience ofThomas and Thorius
down the stretch, the Wolverines brought their
grade back up by ending with a solid perfor-
mance.
"My assistant coach, Yvette Harris, had tho
best line after the game," Guevara said. "She
said, 'Sue, Western Michigan calmed down and
we got comfortable."
By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer
Almost one year ago today, the
Michigan hockey team and the Yost Ice
Arena crowd left the first game of the
1998 CCHA playoffs in stunned silence.
Notre Dame, a No. 7 seed, had just
won the first game of the best-of-three
series on Michigan's home ice, and in
unusually easy fashion.
Michigan fought back and squeezed
out two victories in the final three games,
but the series was closer than the
Wolverines wanted.
No. 2 seed Michigan will try to avoid
a similar scare when it faces off with sev-
enth-seed Bowling Green tonight at Yost.
The Wolverines may have a little more
desperation in the CCHA playoffs this
season. With an NCAA Tournament
berth still not etched in stone, Michigan
will have to rack up several wins in the
conference tournament to win over the
selection committee.
"If we don't get past Bowling Green,
our season is as good as over," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "We have to
get to Joe Louis."
The winner of the series will travel to
Joe Louis Arena next weekend for a
semifinal matchup.
WV h i I e
Mi c hi g an
won its sea-
son series
with the
Falcons 3-0,
it can't take
B o w I i n g
Green's dan-
g e r o u s
o ffe n s e
capabilities
with a grain
of salt.
TONIGHT,
Who:*
Bowling Green at
Michigan
Where:
Yost Ice Arena
When: 7 p.m.
Radio: WCBN 88.3p
FM & WTKA 1050 AM.
The Falcons lit up the red light more
than any CCHA team this season, netting
102 goals.
"It's a part of their team that really
scares you,' Berenson said. "I don't think
we can match them goal-for-goal. We
have to keep the games low scoring."
Forwards Adam Edinger and Dan
Price lead Bowling Green's flock. The
duo was 1-2 in CCHA scoring. Edinger
has one goal and four assists this year
when facing Michigan while Price
racked up three goals and two assists
against the Wolverines.
But if anything scares Michigan, it's
Bowling Green's power play.
One of the best teams in the nation
with the man advantage, the Falcons lit
up the Wolverines for three power play
goals in their last meeting.
Michigan, the most penalized team in
the CCHA, will have to cut down on
excessive penalties to limit Bowling
Green's top scoring line's power play
opportunities.
"We have to be more disciplined and
play five-on-five hockey," freshman cen-
ter Mike Comrie said. "Whoever is out
there, has to know that they are going to
be out there against that line."
Bowling Green has been on a roll dur-
ing the past couple of weeks, defeating
Notre Dame 5-1 and then demoting Ohio
State to third place by sweeping the
Buckeyes.
"They are playing their best hockey of
the season now, and if you look at their
schedule, most of those games have been
on the road," Berenson said. "I don't
think home ice is going to matter."
Most noticeable in Bowling Green's
latest run was it's improved defensive
efforts - a glimmer of hope for the
worst defense in the conference.
If the series does go to a third and
deciding game, it will take place on
Sunday night at 7 p.m. Tickets will be
available after Saturday night's game.
First Round
Matchup 1
Michi an and Bowling Green start their best-of-three
CCHA-first round playoff series tonight at Yost Ice
Arena. The Wolverines swept the regular season series
between the teams, 3-0, but the Falcons ended the
season with a rush. The matchups:
All statistics are from confemnce play.
Number/ CCHA rank
Number/CCHA rank
3.27/ second . Goals per game 3.401/ first
2.40/ fifth Goals allowed per game 3.50/ ninth
.181/ third Power play pct. .211/ first
.848/ sixth Penalty kill pct. .778/ 11th
19.27/ second Penalty minutes per game 25/ 11 th
1 Mr. Spot's on campus 1
Darth Vader Famous Alum Orel Hershiser
Abercrombie Choice of clothing Wrangler
GEO Favorite Rally Monster Truck
Bubba Coolest player name Zach Ham
The Dai y's prediction: Bowling Green presses hard in the offensive zone,
putting the Michigan defensemen and goaltender Josh Blackburn up to the test
But there's a reason the Falcons are a No. 7 seed - they don't play defense.
Michigan wins 2-0
;;
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