BASKE Sue's C Meet the 2 (fM ich ig an WC Anne T G 5-11 Sr Horsholn, Denm, Nicknamed "N needs just 14 become Mich Thorius is loo and ability to Katie Dykhouse F-C 6-2 Sr Grand Rapids, Mich. kA part of Guevara's first recruiting class, Dykhouse has earned the title of co-captain for her emotional leader- ship. She has not seen much action, i averaging 3.6 minutes at Michigan. Alayne]I G 5.7 Jr Lansing, Mich The third-yea .848 free-thr ond al-time let the 3-point credit. The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 30, 2000 - 5B TBALL PREVIEW rew '000-01 F' - nIvernes horius 2.4 nark Notorius," the co-captain 4 more assists to higan's all-time leader. ked to for her leadership run the point. Ingram 40 r starter has a career ow percentage for sec- at Michigan. She likes to ters fly, with 81 to her THIRD TIME'S A CHARM Michigan banks on experience as the backcourt returns for its third year in a row BY BENJAMIN SINGER DAILY SPORTS WRITER Raina Goodiow F 6-2 Jr Detroit, Mich. A returning starter, Goodlo ing percentage last year of the fifth-highest in Michiga She is also capable of hittir pointers after going 12-of-2 32. w's shoot- .518 tied n history. ng the 3. 28 last year. I Heather Oesterle 3 0 G-F S-0 Jr Mason, Mich. Guevara predicts that this will be the year Gesterle breaks through as an offensive force. After scoring 4.1 points a game, she averaged 8.0 \ points in three postseason games. Anne Thorius and Alayne Ingram com- plement each other well. Dont go so far as to claim one is the yin to the other's yang, or that they are polar opposites with a magnetic attraction. Rather, with guards Thorius and Ingram on the court, it is more like connecting two puz- zle pieces. Where one leaves off, the other picks up. One thrives on assists and the other on shooting. They join together to make one unit. Such has been the case for two years. The prospect of starting side by side for a third year in a row holds excitement for not only the two individuals, but for the Michigan women's bas- ketball team. The backcourt is back again. A Horsholm, Denmark native, Thorius has three years of running the point under her belt. She brings in other international experiences, such as a captain of the Danish National Team at age 17. At Michigan, she has racked up 389 assists, 13 behind all-time team leader Lori Gnatkowski, whose record has stood since 1984. Thorius is the first Michigan player with three consecutive 100-assist seasons. "To accomplish that (record) will make me feel good," Thorius said. "It's the one part of my game that I am most complete in." The junior, Ingram, plays the aptly named position of shooting guard. She is sixth on Michigan's career 3-point list with 81 and is second in free-throw shooting percentage at .848. Her 12.4 points per game last year is the highest for returning players on the team. She makes herself an inviting recipient for a Thorius pass. "Anne is very good at creating. Alayne loves to take that big shot," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "Anne knows when Alayne is hot, you feed that fire." Ingram has worked on her sweet stroke for years. Being a prominent shooter is "what I want to do," Ingram said. "But one of the things I want to work on this year is my defense. I know I can score, and so do my teammates." Both hold a position of leadership for the Wolveines. Thorius has the official title of senior co-captain along with Katie Dykhouse. Unofficially, she has been dubbed by team- mates "the glue that holds Michigan together"' "Age and international experience help me," Thorius said. "I know that when I'm not play- ing well, it's not time for me to take over, it's time for other people to take over and feed off their energy." Though Ingram is a year younger, she is anxious for a similar role. After two successful seasons of reaching the postseason at Michigan, the entire junior class has stepped into a leadership position for the six under- classmen. "It's all about how you impact your team- mates, and I think that my class and myself, we impact them in a positive way" Ingram said. Their experience translates into more than emotionally guiding the team. The guards are comfortable next to each other on the floor, where they have been the past two years. "Over the years, we've gotten used to each other," Ingram said. "We feed off each other so well because we know what excites us." Ingram set up a scenario. Thorius pushes the ball up on a fastbreak. Ingram sits on the perimeter. Thorius kicks it off to Ingram. "For me to hit the shot from her pass is going to get me excited;' Ingram said. "For her to throw me the ball on the pass gets her excited." Such situations are like a second nature now for the Thorius-Ingram duo. "We learned how to read each other's games,"Thorius said. "I know exactly where to JEFF HURViTZ/Daiy Alayne Ingram and Anne Thorius lead the Michigan offense once again from the guard positions. find Alayne when I'm out on the court" "I know where to be," Ingram interjected. "It's not always a matter of verbal commu- nication,"Thorius continued. "It's just natural." The interdependence the players display during games gets disrupted for practices. They can go from friends to foes once the competitive juices start flowing. "There have been times in practice when we're on opposite teams and it gets heated because we both want to win," Ingram said. "Anne and me, we disagree more than any- body. I disagree with her." Ingram tried to think how often. "All the time,"Thorius chimed in. "One tite, we just kept talking back and forth" Ingram recalled. "Coach finally said, 'Will you two just shut up'?"' The trash-talking and disputes during closed-door scrimmages are beneficial to the growth of their relationship and the team. "It brings a competitive drive you need to have in practice,"Thorius said. "I think it's just a friendship that develops into competitiveness on the floor." Thrown onto opposing teams in these intrasquad matchups, absence makes the heart grow fonder. "Not playing with each other- in practice helps us iu see how good we are for each other," Ingram said. "We can understand how it is not to have each other on our team." They rarely deal with separation anxi- "We feed off ea ety during games. well because W Thorius started all excites us." her games as a fresh- man. Ingram joined usana Jara 6 5.7 Jr Quito, Ecuador Jara saw limited time after walking on the team her freshman year. Her min- utes increased last year to 2.7 per game in 10 games. She scored her first points at Minnesota last year. r ,..'" n * , . ; , number she knew without hesitation even two years later - before she was a starter again. Thorius has only seen two games at Michigan without starting. Both came last year. The second time she sat down was because of a deep thigh bruise she suf- fered at Indiana. But it was the first game she didn't start that hurt more than any injury. "It was terrible" Thorius said of watching the tipoff against Central Michigan from the bench. "I was playing horrendous. I did not have my head in the game at all" Similar to Ingram, Guevara called Thorius into her office and explained why she lost her starting position. "Last year in the nonconference schedule, Anne was struggling," Guevara said. "I thought she was hurting the tearm more than helping the team" For the first time in her career, Thorius entered into a game after it was already under-. way. "For some reason it's such a different feeling coming off the bench," Thorius said. "I remember feeling more nervous than I've ever been. It was a lack of confidence in myself. It was a lack of confidence from the coaches, I felt.' Her sixth-man role was short-lived as she exhibited the ability Guevara. had expected from her before. "Once she got into that ch other so game, the way she ran the know what team - it was a kick in the butt, Guevara said. She was back in the line- -A layne Ingrain up the next game in time for the Big Ten season. In conference games, she averaged 11.4 points and 5.1 assists. Ingram and Thorius, like the Wolverines themselves, find that no matter what they accomplish, they are always underestimated by outsiders. "I know how badly they both want the, respect as one of the best backcourts," Guevara said. Michigan is counting on the past couple of years to add up. "We definitely build on the experiences year after year,"' Thorius said. "Now we're coming down to that third season. That's what is going to give us an advantage against other back- courts in the Big Ten." IOWA LAST YEAR'S RECORD: (6-10 Big Ten, 9- 18 overall) KEY RETURNERS: Lindsey Meder (19.1 ppg, 4.1rpg); Cara Consuegra (14.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg); Jerica Watson (8.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg) LAST YEAR VS. MICHIGAN: Jan. 23, Mich. 82-78; Feb. 24, Mich. 78-61 Iowa didn't grad- uate a single player last year, but the Hawkeyes have a brand-new coaching staff. "We obviously want to see improvement, but we know we're a new staff building from the ground floor up," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. Bluder's goal is to mesh the new coaching staff with the players before she scouts out her opponents. She hasn't considered avenging two losses to Michigan last year. "We're concentrating on our own team right now," Bluder said. "We're not thinking ahead to who we haye to play or playing in the Big Ten." OHIO STATE LAST YEAR'S RECORD: (5-11 Big Ten, 13-15 overall) KEY RETURNERS: LaToya Turner (11.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg) LAST YEAR VS. MIcHIGAN: Feb. 6, Mich. 65-61 Ohio State is com- ing off a rebuilding year after making an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998. The Buckeyes have hope for the future in 2000 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, LaToya Turner. Turner - the team's leading scor- er, rebound, and shot-blocker - had her season ended with a knee sprain last year. She will once again have to lead if the Buckeyes expect to make it to a postseason tournament. Ohio State also returns four starters and 10 of 12 players from last year's squad. Turner is joined by fellow sophomores D'wan Shackleford and Courtney Coleman in one of the Big Ten's youngest frontcourts. INDIANA LAST YEAR'S RECORD: (5-11 Big Ten, 10-18 overall) KEY RETURNERS: Jill Champman (16.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg); Heather Cassady (15.2 ppg, 3. apg); Rainey Alting (10.8 ppg, 1.8 spg) LAST YEAR VS.MICHIGAN: Jan. 6, Ind. 77-72; Feb. 13, Mich. 85-58 The good news for the Hoosiers is everyone is back. The bad news is, they finished near the cel- lar last year. A coaching change has been made this year in the women's department at Indiana as well. Kathi Bennett, daugh- ter of Wisconsin's men's coach Dick Bennett, takes over after rebuilding Evansville's program in the Missouri Valley Conference. Bennett also has a Division Ill national championship to her credit with Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Vincennes junior-college transfer Jelena Lazic averaged 14.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-6, she will challenge 6-foot-5 Jill Chapman for the center position. MINNESOTA LAST YEAR'S REcORD: (3-13 Big Ten, 10-18 overall) KEY RETURNERS: Lindsay Lieser (8.4 ppg) LAST YEAR VS. MIcHIGAN: Jan. 2, Mich. 77-53; Jan. 30, Mich. 73-55 The posters for the Golden Gophers pro- claim "The future is now." Minnesota better hope so with the underclassmen out- numbering the upperclassmen 12 (eight freshmen, four sophomores)'to five (four juniors, one senior). Minnesota was hampered by injuries last year, once having to hold practice with just six healthy players. Kim Bell and Jackie Tate are coming back from injuries that hurt their performances. Many freshmen will be forced to step in right away with such a young team. The Gophers expect the biggest contributions from the new class to be Tanisha Gilbert, whose best high- school season was her junior year when she averaged 22.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.0 steals. NORTHWESTERN LAST YEAR'S RECORD: (3-13 Big Ten, 7- 21 overall) KEY RETURNERS: Tami Sears (11.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg); Dana Leonard (9.9 ppg) LAST YEAR vS. MICHIGAN: Feb. 27, Mich. 70-46; Mar. 3, Mich. 72-39 Northwestern was tied for last in the Big Ten in 1999- 2000, but coach June , Olkowski is hopeful about this year's team. The Wildcats are led by Tami Scars .71% . -----i -t.L.n hnt LeeAnn Bies 44 C 6-3 So Lakeview, Mich. Bies made the Big Ten Coaches' all- freshman team last year, scoring 10.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game off the bench. Bies should make her mark as a starter this year. c re Infini Robinson 31 0-5-9 So troit, Mich, Robinson had a career high of 10 points in a game twice in her first year off the bench. She saw seven minutes per game in 22 games, incliding a start versus Central Michigan. '; ;, .? ' M her in the backcourt in her freshman year. Ingram found herself on the bench for the ninth game. "I had struggled," Ingram said. "I was start- ing to think about it too much. Basketball is just a game. You play it." Her struggles meant she didn't get to play it - at least not at the game's first whistle. Guevara decided to use her offthe bench rather than let her start. "I was crushed, I was upset and I was angry,' Ingram remembered. "But I told her that was fine because I was going to be back in the starting lineup. I worked hard for it and giving it up wasn't something I wanted to do." Ingram came off the bench six times - a Christie Schumacher 41 F 511 Fr Milford, Mich. Also capable of playingshooting guard, Schumacher was runner-up as Miss Basketbaball in Michigan. She scored 29.2 points per game as a senior in high school. Women turn in best season ever Jennifer Smith S 4 C 6-3 Fr Lansing, Mich. Smith joins Bies as the tallest on the team. As a high school senior, Smith *averaged 17.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. She played with Schumacher on her AAU team., Stephanie F 510 Fr Detroit, Mich. Gandy 33 By David Roth Daily Sports Writer This year's Michigan women's basket- ball record book needs plenty of time to drv. The Wolverines whited out previous years' marks of mediocrity as the team's unprecedented season toppled record after record._ The Wolverines had 1999-2000 their best run in histo- ry, boasting a 22-8 Recap) mark and finishing see- oid in the Big Ten with a 13-3 conference tally. "Last season was obviously our most successful one," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "I think that one of the rea- sois was experience. "We graduated three seniors and they had all been in the system - they knew what we expected, what the Big Ten was all about, the commitment that it took." Seniors Alison Miller, Stacey Thomas and Kenisha Walker all left Michigan at Winning 22 regular-season games, including 13 Big Ten contests Michigan had a perfect 8-0 Big Ten home record, and Crisler Arena was the stage where the Wolverines upset '1999 NCAA champion Purdue. "That was big because it was on nation- al TV," Guevara said. "It was great win- ning here at home on CBS, just proving that we could play with one of the best teams in the country." Although beating Purdue showed that the Wolverines were the real deal, Michigan also got a chance to erase some bad history when it traveled to Columbus on Feb. 6. Michigan avenged 17 losses in a row in Buckeye country when they beat Ohio State 65-61 in front of the largest crowd to watch the Wolverines all season. The story of Michigan's season was Thomas. She led the team averaging 14.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.4 steals, and was second on the team with 21 blocked and third on the team with 64 assists. Thomas set Michigan and Big Ten Penn State Michigan Purdue Illinois Michigan State Wisconsin Iowa Ohio State Indiana Minnesota Northwestern W 15 13 11 8 8 6 5 5 3 3 L 1 3 5 5 8 8 10, 11 11 13 13 Pct .938 .813 .688 .688 .500 .500 .375 .313 .313 .188 .188 I Y-9-2000 1G TE~N STNDINGS Overall 30-5 22-8 23-8 2 3-11 19-12 20-12 9-18 13-15 10-18 10-18 7-21 "MN CONFERENCE 1999-2000 MICHIGAN STATISTCS Called the "Gandy Dancer," the freshman had five quintuple-doubles in her high school career. She also boasts an excellent academic ra record; graduating with a 4.0 GPA. Scoring Leaders Stacey Thomas 14.5 Alayne Ingram 12.4 LeeAnn Bies 10.1 ppg ppg ppg Michaela Leary 5 G 5-8 Fr Nashua, N.H. -A Rebounding Leaders 7.7r Thomas rpg eies 6.O rn I