14 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 13, 1999
DREAMS OF A CHAMPIONSHIP
BY STEPHANIE OFFEN - DAILY SPORTS WRITER
The f"our
ffrosh
Sri es:
The 1998-99 season is a time of
transition for the Michigan women's
basketball team. An experienced
backcourt will try and guide an inex-
perienced frontcourt back to the
NCAA tournament. This year's fresh-
man class will make a significant
impact on the team.
Every player on this team has an
interesting story to tell. The
Michigan Daily's women's basketball
writers will feature each freshman
once during the season.
Her dream is to make it to claim a title. Freshman
Raina Goodlow came to Michigan looking to help
build a program that was on the upswing, and with
hopes of that dream coming true.
And if anYone knows how to turn a program around it
would be Goodlow.
She spent her high school career at Dominican High
School in Detroit, an all-girls Catholic school. It was the1
type of school where everyone had to wear uniforms, and
basketball was not really a big deal - until Goodlow got
there,
As a senior, she led her high school team with 17.2 points
and 9.1 rebounds a game. She was also named the No. I
women's basketball player in Michigan by the Detroit Free
Press, and she finished fourth in the Miss Michigan
Basketball balloting. She was able to build her high school
program into a winning one, and women's basketball coach
Sue Guevara wanted her to do the same for the Wolverines.
"I could tell they really wanted me to come here, because
they kept calling," Goodlow said. "And I liked the idea of
helping to rebuild a program. I also just got sick of all the
recruiting."
Goodlow was recruited by Connecticut, as well as
Michigan State and other Big Ten teams, but she wanted to
stay close to home. And her choice to go to Michigan made
her mother incredibly happy, even though Goodlow says that
her parents did not push her to make a decision. But it does
give her entire family a chance to see her, which they do by
coming to every home game.
"It's nice to see them up in the stands," Goodlow said.
And at first her family was able to see Raina get ample
playing time. Goodlow started the first three home games at
Michigan. Her games on the road were successful as well.
She scored a career- and game-high 18 points against
Coppin State in the Torneo Cancun de Basquetbol.
But a dislocated patella would keep her out for four
games after the team returned to Cancun.
"My injury was really disappointing," Goodlow said.
"Sitting out four games was really hard for me. I kind of felt
like I wasn't part of the team and just a spectator."
Goodlow was able to return to action in Michigan's Big
Ten opener at Indiana, where she contributed five points and *
two rebounds.
"It's been a slow return," Goodlow said. "My role on the
team has really changed since the injury."
But her return was greatly needed. Michigan lacks play-
ers in the post, and that has become Goodlow's role on the
team.
Even though she is coming off the bench instead of start-
ing, Goodlow. is still contributing to the rebuilding of the
team. She recorded 10 points and five rebounds off the
bench in the loss to Louisiana Tech last weekend.
When asked about her favorite part of the season,
Goodlow didn't mention the trip to Cancun, or being on
national television.
Without hesitation, she said what any competitive athlete
would have said.
"It was the nine-game winning streak," Goodlow said.
Now that the team is in kind of a slump with this past
weekend's losses to Louisiana Tech and Minnesota, she is
looking to once again change a team around.
"We had a lot to think about after the losses," Goodlow
said. "We really need to refocus for the Big Ten,"
And Goodlow has not lost confidence in the team. She ise
still looking forward to games against Penn State and
Purdue, the premier teams in the league. And she is confi-
dent that this is a team that can win.
Who knows? The final four may be closer then she thinks.
DANA LINNANE/Daily
Freshman Raina Goodlow has rebounded from an early sea-
son injury and is now ready to lead Michigan to the NCAAs.
The Michigan
wrestling team
finished 2nd at
the Virginia Duals
this past week-
end. The
Wolverines are
ranked 11th in *
the nation.
DAVID ROCHKIND/Dadiy
Wrestlers out to silence critics
By Raphael Goodstein
Daily Sports Writer
With the Big Ten season starting in
less than two weeks, the no- frills
Michigan wrestling team is trying to
prove that it is a team that can - and
will - compete for the Big Ten
Championship.
With three of the of the top four
teams in the country, including defend-
ing champion Iowa, coming from the
Big Ten and Illinois ranked eighth, the
No. 11 Wolverines will need to wrestle
their best all year to even be considered
contenders.
"This is the premier conference in
the country," Michigan coach Dale
Bahr said. "But we feel good about
ourselves in the toughest part of the
year, at least psychologically. We feel
that we have four guys that will win
every time out, and will be our cata-
lysts all year."
Before anyone starts thinking about
winning the conference crown, Bahr
was quick to point out that after losing
four All-Americans, it will take a lot to
contend.
"Everyone is really stepping up,
and the Big Ten Championships are in
Ann Arbor, but the Big Ten has always
been an upperclassman conference -
so we will see what happens," Bahr
said. "We started the year not even
ranked in the top 25, so I think that
winning is really starting to have a pos-
itive effect. The more they win, the
more they want to win. Next week I
expect us to crack the Top 10."
Michigan's four "catalysts" contin-
ued their success this past weekend,
finishing undefeated at the Virginia
Duals. Chris Viola, Erick "Otto"
Olson, Damion Logan and most out-
standing wrestler Joe Warren all helped
the Wolverines succeed in meeting the
coaching staff's expectations.
"Our main goal right now is just to
win the matches that we should win,"
Michigan assistant coach Kirk Trost
said. "We want to keep working at*
improving until the Big Ten
Championships and we will see what
happens."
Povorites re off to slow starts