The Michigan Daily - SportsThursday - January 4, 2001- 3B
Dec. 16: MICHIGAN 77, TOLEDO 71 1 Dec. 28: MICH
Toledo's one-two punch of Kahli Carter (29 points) Mieftigan opened its B
and Melantha Herron (19) was not enough to overcome road. Three low-post pla
the more balanced Wolverines by freshman Jennifer Sm
Senior guard Anne Thorius scored all 14 of her points The game had four lea
in the second half, including a 3-pointer with 1:57 left to teams went into the lock
put Michigan back up by nine. Michigan's 1 1-0 run mid- up 30-29. Michigan twi
way through the second gave the Wolverines the 64-54 seven points. The Wolvet
lead. which they never relinquisheI put them up for good, 55
Purdue loss is poor
encore after Illinois
Women's basketball beats Ilmini, but
struggles with Boilermakers' defense
IGAN 68,, ILLINOIs 57
ig Ten season with a win on the
yers combined fir 42 points, led
pith with 18.
d changes in the first half as the
kerroom with the Fighting Illini
ce overcame deficits of at least
rives' 11-0 run in the second half
5-51.
Dec. 30: PURDUE 65, MICHIGAN 54
Last year, Michigan upset then-No. 12 Purdue in
Crisler a game televised on CBS. The Wolverines could
not repeat the act
No. 8 Purdue had four players in double digits, includ-
ing preseason Big Ten player of the year Katie Douglass
with 13.
The Wolverines were bothered by Purdue's press and
shot just 35 percent from the floor.
DAVID
DEN HERDER
By David Roth
Daily Sports Write
This past Sunday, with CBS cameras
rolling and strobe lights in the rafters of
Criser Arena flickering, the Michigan
women's basketball team could only
squint past the spotlight xo see a score-
board revealing a 65-54 loss to No. 8
Purdue. In its Big Ten home opener and
only nationally televised game of the sea-
son, Michigan's stockings were stuffed
with nothing short of disappointment and
frustration.
"There's no consolation in a loss play-
-ng the way we played," Michigan coach
Sue Guevara said. "1 don't think we
plaved well."
The losing effort came just two days
after the Wolverines posted their own I1-
point road victory at Illinois.
Michigan's two performances with
opposite outcomes had more to do with its
;wn mercurial play than its opponents'
nents' different taent levels.
"We penetrated very, very well against
fllinois and hit shots and got to the free-
throw line," Guevara said Sunday after
:he Purdue loss. "When we penetrated,
wv misscd layup . we missed puppies
mside to our post players or we took bad
shots.
Post players Jennifer Smith and Raina
cioodlow, who scored a combined 30
points against Illinois, came up with just
eight against Purdue.
"When our two starting post players go
4-for-20 in the paini, it's going to be a
ough afternoon," Guevara said. "The
inconsistency of players drives me
absolutely crazy"
Only LeeAnn Bies scored. in double
digits for Michigan with 15 points.
whereas four planers for Purdue scored
12 or more points, including Big Ten's
preseason player of the year, Katie
Douglas who had four steals and six
rebounds.
Michigan was down at halftime
against Illinois and Purdue, but while the
Wolverines came out sizzling against the
W L W L
Indiana
Purdue
Penn State
Michigan
Wisconsin
Iowa
Ohio State
Minnesota
Michigan State
Illinois
Northwestern
2
2
2
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0t
0
0
0
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
11
12
10
8
6
6
10
7
5
5
4
2
3
3
4
4
6
2
5
7
7
7
Today s games:
Wisconsin at Michigan, 7 p.m.
Indiana at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Northwestern at Penn State, 7 p.m.
Iowa at Purdue, 7 p.m.
Illinois at Georgia, 7:30 p.m.
Ohio State at Michigan State, 8 p.m.
Sunday's games:
Penn State at Illinois, Moon
WisconsirGreen Bay at Wisconsin, 1:30 p.m.
Purdue at Indiana, 2 p.m.
Michigan at Iowa, 2 p.m.
Michigan State at Minnesota, 2 p.m.
Ohio State at Northwestern, 2 p.m.
Monday's game.
Illinois at Northwestern, 7 p.m.
Fighting Illini in the second half, they
faltered in the final session against the
Boilermakers.
Purdue's full-court press turned the
momentum of the game around. After
Michigan went on a 7-2 run to close the
gap to 38-36, Purdue coach Kristy Curry
initiated a press. Three Michigan
turnovers in four minutes resulted in a
16-4 Purdue run that put the game out of
reach.
"We needed people to get to the mid-
dle of the court, to come to the ball, to
call for the ball, to get themselves in a
position;" Guevara said. "Sometimes it
just looked like a deer looks in head-
lights -- they were frozen. I was encour-
aging them on the sideline to move.,,
. - 'a M
_. _ _ . _ _
- --
M
A New Year s toast
to turnarounds
R LANDO -- Lloyd Carr is doing something
differentvly.And it seems to be working.
In 1997, of course, it didn't count. Nothing
counts when magic is guiding fate and Charles
Woodson is taking away half the field. In 1998, it could
have been a fluke. Even in 1999, despite the overtime
benefits, you weren't quite sure what to think.
But this season makes it official: Michigan wins its,
bowl games.
in fact, players like Anthony Thomas have never lost
a bowl at Michigan. Four New Year's Days, four bowl
victories.
That's something, in the disappointment that more or
less defined this season, that shouldn't be overlooked,
Because it wasn't always this way.
The Wolverines have never won four consecutive
bowls under one coach. Bo Schembechler actually lost
in seven straight bowl appearances between 1970 and
1979.
But Carr said that - perhaps not coincidentally -
four years ago, he altered Michigan's approach to bowl
games. The major changes involved "treating the bowl
like a new season," and weaning early December prac-
tices to allow more free time for finals and relaxation.
He also flies Michigan to its bowl destination sooner,
believing quality "on-site" practices to be more vital to,
the outcome of the game.
One of my favorite moments of the 2001 Citrus.
Bowl came in the pregame press conference. A local
reporter asked Carr if he thought it was fair that,
despite its recent passing numbers, people still per-
ceived Michigan as a "three yards and a cloud of dust"
team.
Carr copped his trademark grin and responded sim-
ply, "I don't know that I'd agree that Michigan is per,
ceived that way."
The ensuing silence was awkward, but it was a good
time to think. He was right. Michigan is no longer per-
ceived in such a manner - and anybody still trapped in
that thinking usually gets treated to a diversified defeat,
Old trends die hard, especially ini a prdgram that will
never "hire out" for a new coach. Give credit to Carr
for having the open-mindedness to make changes. His
adjustments are gradually bringing this program back
into consistent preeminence.
COOP TROOP
And with Michigan apparently headed in one diree-
tion, Ohio State seems to be in a sort of freefall the
other way.
While the Wolverines were just getting underway in
Orlando Monday. the Buckeyes were wrapping up a
despicable loss in Tampa and another disappointing
season in Columbus.
Ohio State coach John Cooper, it turned out, was
also wrapping up his career as a Buckeye.
There are, of course, plenty of theories on what went
into this decision. I doubt the Outback Bowl had much
to do with it - but it did mark the eighth bowl loss for
Cooper in 1I tries.
There were plenty of off-the-field problems, though
many of them didn't make news outside Columbus, arid
Michigan fains would like to thiink that Cooper's infa-
mious 2-10-1 record against the archrival Wolverines
led to his demise.
That may be pretty accurate - so might any other
explanation. But when I heard the news on Tuesday, I
was surprised at how not surprised I was.
I guess I knew - after just one weekend in
Columbus, back in November --that it was only a
matter of time. You see, Cooper had lost all local sup-
port. By the time I was leaving town, even self-pro-
claimed "Cooper supporters/apologists" on radio sta-
tions and in taverns had jumped ship.
When local sentiment turns that far south, you know;
it's just i matter of time.
The Associated Press wrote that it was ironic that
Cooper was fired in part because of his inability to ba
Michigan, since le was hired in large part for defeatibg
Michigan when coaching at Arizona State.
I didn't find that to be horribly ironic.
Not as such, anyway, compared to Cooper's words
while standing in Woody Hayes Hall - the building
named after an American icon and Ohio State legend;
who was fired by the university in 1978.
"I didn't, Cooper said,"expect to be fired."
-David DeH IH'rder can be reached a
dden(a gumnich. edit.
I'
>. -d
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daly
Michigan split its first two Big Ten games. After a road win at Illinois, Raina Goodlow and
the Wolverines were stopped at home by the press of No. 8 Purdue.
Anne Thorius, a senior and co-captain
for Michigan who played all 40 minutes
against Purdue, said introspection is the
first step in turning around an up-and-
down team.
"Every player needs to look at herself
and look at what they have to contribute
to this team," Thorius said. "You have a
lot of players that are very, very talented.
But they come out one game and they
show what they have, but the next game
you can't count on them to do anything."
Purdue's key to success, aside from
outrebounding Michigan 44-26, was a
defense that made Michigan struggle to
first get the ball up the floor, and then
run its halfcourt offense.
"They really did a nice job of denying
us the ball on the perimeter," Thorius
said. "When we can't run our offense
like we want to, someone has got to step
and start penetrating to the basket. We
didn't have anyone to do that."
Purdue took advantage of its depth and
used fresh players to initiate the press
that tired out the Wolverines.
"They have a very deep team this year
and that's something they took advantage
of." Thorius said. "You have three play-
ers up there pressing you all the time and
it gets tiring. It gets very tiring trying to
bring the ball up the floor."
Tall Badgers hope for a short road trip to Ann Arbor
By Benjamin Singer
Daily Sports Writer
Wisconsin doesn't mind a white Christnias. It just
But because of the unexpected duration of the trip, not
everyone brought enough books. To pass the time, a
lot of movies were watched, food eaten and cards
played. Sophomore Candas Smith also had a new
shopping experience.
I
wants the snow to hold off this week.
The Badgers' journey to Michigan "I never had seen a J. Crew store," she
last year was the never-ending road TONIGHT said. "lthought it was pretty cool."
trip. Wisconsin came into town te CRisLER ARENA New clothes would have come in handy as
night before the game on Feb. 16. . ( iT some players ran into a laundry crisis.
Afte a 78-73 loss to the Wolverines, Wh: h', Bg e "I ran out of underwear." senior LaTonya
the plan was to head back, but that was 1.6-4) Sims said. "It was one of those kind of
thwarted by snowstorms in Madison. When:7pm.tonight trips."
Two more nights in a hotel let frus- Latest: Rth Michigan'sand The Badgers finally made it home on the
tration set in. The Badgers were stuck Wisconsin'sBig Tenlscainne fourth day when the decision was made to
contemplating a loss, missing classes at thehandsof No. 8 Purdue fly to Rockford, Ill., and then make the long
and homework, and were getting a nhonegames. bus ride from there back to Madison.
longer look at the state of Michigan Bad omens have surrounded Wisconsin,
than they had ever hoped for. which suggest its nightmare may be a recurring one.
"We were aggravated with each other," junior for- This winter has been -particularly snowy, and the
ward Jessie Stomski said. "We were just coming off a Badgers have seen first hand a lot of the white stuff.
loss." "Every road trip we've been on this year, it's
Some players tried wo catch up on their studying. snowed. So that's not a good sign," Sims said.
Wisconsin can't control the snow, but to avoid a
complete reenactment of last year's trip, the Badgers
do have a say in the outcome of the game. As the
tallest team in the in the conference, Wisconsin has
the rest of the Big Ten asking, "How's the weather up
there?"
Wisconsin has six players over six feet, ranging
from 6-3 to 6-5. Three, Sims, Stomski and Nina Smith,
start in the front court. Guards Tamara Moore and
Kyle Black keep the lineup big, standing at 5-11 each.
Michigan will try to counter with its own trio of six-
footers. -Raina Goodlow, Jennifer Smith and LeeAnn
Bies are three of the Wolverines' top four scorers.
Wisconsin's forward, Stomski, paces the Badgers in
both points (1 7.1) and rebounds (8.6) per game.
Black is the only starter who does not average dou-
ble-digits, but still puts up 8.9 points an outing.
Wisconsin expected to build on its success from last
year's WNIT championship. The Badgers opened the
year with a No. 18 ranking, but have since fallen out
of the top 25. All four losses have been to ranked
teams, including three top-10 teams.
New Year's bowls void of nailbiters, but Badgers edge UCLA
Sugar Bowl
Miami (Fla.) 37,
Florida 20
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - No dispute about
this: The Miami Hurricanes are Sugar Bowl
champions.
Playing for a possible share of the national
title, the No. 2 Hurricanes defeated No. 7
Florida 37-20 Tuesday night, with Ken Dorsey
passing for 270 yards and fullback Najeh
Davenport scoring two touchdowns.
Miami (Il-I), hoping for a performance that
w would give voters in the Associated Press writ-
ers' poll reason to name ii No. 1, struggled early
before finally putting away the Gators (10-3).
Not until Davenport scored with 4:21 left
Fiesta Bowl
Oregon State 41,
Vi$a, Notre Dame 9
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Oregon State
University's unbelievable journey from pitiful to
powerhouse was celebrated in a sea of Beaver
orange in the stands and a convincing rout on the
field.
Of Notre Dame, no less.
"When you step on the field, you respect Notre
Dame," said Oregon State linebacker Darnell
Robinson, the defensive player of the game. "But
when you're on the field, it's not about tradition,
it's about making plays."
The brash, belligerent, No. 5 Beavers backed
up their pregame boasts and then some Monday
.,;-L+ -~ Al10 .-. C I- I-A t- Tatt
Rose Bowl
dVA Washington 34,
Purdue 24
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Because
Marques Tuiasosopo carne back, Washington
didn't need a comeback in the Rose Bowl
Presented by AT&T.
When the quarterback left the field with
an injured throwing shoulder late in the third
quarter Monday, it appeared Washington's
hopes went with him even though the
Huskies led Purdue by three points. ,
"I was mad," Tuiasosopo said. "I was like,
Can you believe this, the Rose Bowl
game?"'
He missed three plays, returned before the
Outback Bowl
S. Carolina 24,
Ohio State 7
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Ryan Brewer didn't
fit the mold of an Ohio State tailback, so he
wound up at South Carolina.
The Buckeyes' loss turned out to be the
Gamecocks' gain in Monday's Outback
Bowl.
Brewer gained 219 total yards and scored
three touchdowns, pacing a 24-7 victory over
No. 19 Ohio State that capped a remarkable
comeback for Lou Holtz and his South
Carolina team.
The Gamecocks, winless in 1999 and
losers of 21 straight entering the season, fin-
Sun Bowl
Wisconsin 21,
$ NBO" UCLA 20
EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Humbled, injurd,
taunted and tired, Jamar Fletcher still got'in
the last word on UCLA star wide receiver
Freddie Mitchell.
"We got the win, so we all got the ast
laugh," Wisconsin's star cornerback said after
his midfield interception with a minute Deft
preserved the Badgers' 21-20 victory over the
battered Bruins in the Sun Bowl.
Never mind, Fletcher said, that Mitchell
walked away with the MVP award after catch-
ing nine passes for a Sun Bowl-record 180
yards, including a 64-yard TD reception.
Fletcher- the' Jim Thorne' Award winner'as