n . .
E
LDaLLy trivia
Two tickets to the Michigan-Michigan State hockey game on
Feb. 17 will go to the two respondents that answer the most
questions correctly. Send answers to sports.contest@umich.edu
Soday's question:
Which Michigan hockey player hails from the city where the team will
play this weekend?
Yeterday's answer: Vic Heyger
michigandaily.com /sports
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THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 1, 2001
5A
.Youth could hinder
Minnesota women
MARK
FRANCESCUTTI
1 , /
1
By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's basketball
team is in the eye of the storm that is
its Big Ten schedule. But the lull
,ends after tonight as the Wolverines
76-4 Big Ten, 13-7 overall) face
Minnesota (1-7, 8-11) before head-
ing to No. 6 Purdue on Sunday.
Minnesota's lone Big Ten victory
came against lowly Northwestern,
which has yet to win a conference
game. But to Michigan, there is no
chance to look past a Big Ten game.
"We came out on Sunday and did-
't play very well," junior guard
*layne Ingram said. "We don't want
the same thing to happen against
Minnesota because they are a better
team than they have been in the
past."
Last Sunday, the Wolverines need-
ed to rally in the second half to
defeat the Wildcats 74-59. This came
just 10 days after Michigan traveled
to Evanston and thumped
Northwestern by 42.
The Golden Gophers are led by
*outh. Minnesota starts three players
in their first year. They used to also.
start freshman Tanisha Gilbert and
her 14.7 points a game until she
became academically ineligible for
the second semester. Her replace-
ment, senior Brandy Pickens, has
managed just nine points in her five
games since taking over as a starter.
Freshman Lindsay Whalen leads
e Gopher youth corps in scoring at
18.2 points per game - second in
the Big Ten to fellow freshman Kelly
Mazzante of Penn State with 18.3.
The rest of the Golden Gophers
are more than just a supporting cast
to Whalen. Newcomer Ozlem
Piroglu has also had a strong impact
for Minnesota. Piroglu, a Turkish
national team member, is second in
the Big Ten in assists, averaging 5.8
per game. Sharp-shooting sopho-
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Conference Overall
Team W L W L
1. Purdue 9 0 19 3
2. Penn State 6 3 14 6
2. Wisconsin 6 3 12 7
4. lowa 5 3 10 8
4. Illinois 5 3 10 10
6. Michigan 6 4 13 7
7. Indiana 5 4 14 6
8. Ohio State 3 6 13 6
9. Michigan State 2 6 8 11
10. Minnesota 1 7 8 11
11. Northwestern 0 9 4 15
M' POINT LEADERS
Player Pts Asst Rbds
Bies 12.8 0.8 7.5
Goodlow 11.1 0.7 4.9
Ingram 10.7 -3.6 2.3
Smith 9.3 0.7 4.6
Thorius 8.2 5.0 3.6
Oesterle 7.2 2.7 4.3
Gandy 6.7 0.8 3.2
Robinson 2.7 0.3 0.4
Leary 1.4 0.9 1.5
Schumacher 1.3 0.5 1.0
Dykhouse 0.6 0.0 0.5
Jara 0.3 0.5 1.4
more Lindsay Lieser tied her own
Minnesota record by making 7-of-1I
3-pointers against Illinois.
Whalen is the leading scorer, but
anyone can step up for the Golden
Gophers. Whalen has led the team in
scoring in just six games, and four
others have been Minnesota's high
scorer.
Despite their record, the Golden
Gophers are still cause for concern
for the Wolverines. Minnesota nearly
defeated Illinois last Sunday and lost
to Michigan State and Indiana by a
combined four points.
"I know that Minnesota may be at
the bottom (of the standings), but
they are still just as capable of beat-
[fhen the team stops
trying, the fans will too
As the clock struck seven, Reza
Breakstone takes one more
deep breath. The Michigan
Superfan passes out flyers containing
cheer suggestions to fellow Maize
Ragers..
A big night lies ahead for the
Superfan. The biggest game of the sea-
son, a battle for state supremacy, is just
minutes away. And he's well prepared,
with printed color license plates that
have a variety of State insults in abbre-
viated form like "SHT HDS" and
"STE SCKS."
Breakstone is ready.
Meanwhile, recent graduates Brian
Galvin and former Superfan Jeff
the kids in the yellow shirts leave early.
You know there's a problem when
the The Victors, played by the pep
band, is drowned out by Michigan
State fans' fight song a cappela.
You know there's a problem when
the game changes from a basketball
game to a murder.
And worst of all, sitting in President
Lee Bollinger's seats - two Michigan
State fans.
When the president won't even show
up at the biggest game of the season,
you have to wonder how pathetically
unimportant this team is to the
University.
Are you upset? Are you embar-
rnerad9 Arp
Mir
j~~~~rtL. - - -
BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily
Stephanie Gandy and the Michigan women's basketball team face Minnesota
tonight and Purdue this Sunday in West Lafayette.
ing anybody," junior Raina Goodlow
said.
In addition to having Purdue in the
back of its mind, Michigan is also
concerned about the health of starter
and co-captain Anne Thorius.
Thorius has a mild sprain after
rolling her ankle against
Northwestern and is not likely to
play against Minnesota. Despite
being relegated to a protective walk-
ing boot and crutches, Thorius is
hopeful for a quick return.
"I feel fine. There is no pain or
anything," Thorius said.
Freshman Stephanie Gandy was
sidelined with a similar injury two
weeks ago and missed two games.
After tonight, the Wolverines will
have five conference games remain-
ing. Four of those games are against
teams ahead of Michigan in the Big
Ten, including road games at Purdue
and No. 15 Penn State.
Holzhausen pre-
pare themselves
accordingly.
Galvin passes out
copies of his
Maize Rage
newsletter, a per-
sonal task he
spends hours
producing before
each game.
Holzhausen has
his oversized 'M'
flag, his cowbell
and his usual
cape and mask.
The faithful
Michigan fans
are ready.
Too bad the
team isn't even
close.
Charlie Bell
Rent: Free fi
Game 1(Feb. 18, 1
Michigan te,
Game 2 (Feb.1 2
Michiganae 82,
Game 3 (Jan: 30, 2
Michigan State 94,
Ticket value: 4edit
Fans: Spar answin
$10
Recruiting: Roll onc
to NBA
OWNED BY MICH
..TITLE
CRIEF
i
R
CRISLER ARENA
Who: Michigan (6.4 Big Ten, 13-7 overall) vs.
Minnesota (1-7, 8-11)
When:? p.m.
Latest: After facing the Golden Gophers,
Michigan will travel to West Lafayette on sun-
day to face No. 6 Purdue.
for three.
Jason
Tumblers looking to stay on fire
By Naweed Sikora
Daily Sports Writer
The No.8 Michigan women's gym-
nastics team is riding a hot streak that it
does not want to end. Led by senior
Karina Senior, who has captured two
all-around titles in the past three meets
alone, the Wolverines have been victori-
ous in four consecutive meets and have
increased their team score in each suc-
cessive competition.
Tomorrow, the Wolverines will put this
streak on the line when they travel to
Gainesville, Fla. to compete in a dual
meet against Florida and Auburn. Coach
Bev Plocki feels that with each meet, her
team continues to gain confidence as it
excels against any and every opponent.
"We're really excited about competing
in Florida," Plocki said. "Things are really
starting to come together for this team.'
With each successive meet, the
Wolverines seem to be gathering strength
and determination as their team score
continues to improve.
Since the Super Six Challenge,
Michigan's season opener in which it fin-
ished fourth out of six teams, the
Wolverines' team score has improved by
almost two full points, reaching a season
high of 196.325 last week in Kentucky.
SAINEVILLJE, r LA.
Who: Michigan (6-3) vs. Florida (2E) and
Auburn (1-2)
When: 7p.m.
Latest: Michigan has a four-neet winning
streak on the line. Karina Senior will be con-
peting for her third all-around title. Michigan
defeated Florida at the Super Six by .05.
This progressive increase will be test-
ed on Feb. 10, when Michigan goes on
the road to compete against No. 3
Georgia. Perennially a national champi-
onship contender, Georgia has won all 11
meetings between the two teams. This
includes a win at the Super Six
Challenge earlier this season.
But, Plocki is concentrating on keeping
her team's focus on the dual meet at hand.
"We haven't even spoken about
Georgia," Plocki said. "We are just trying
to concentrate on our individual perfor-
mances and make sure that we are pre-
pared. That is the best offense and
defense we can have."
No. 6 Florida will be looking to even
its all-time record against Michigan at 5-
5, and to improve its season record to 3-
6. Michigan defeated Florida in the
Super Six Challenge, but only by .05 of a
point, a miniscule difference.
"Florida has developed along with us
this season, but we still have a lot of
room to improve," Plocki said.
-Michigan holds an all-time record of
2-0 against Auburn.
Richardson for three. Zach Randolph
for two. Before the Maize Rage has
enough time to strum up a Michigan
cheer, Michigan State leads the
Wolverines 8-1.
The green and white rim swarming
in the upper deck of Crisler erupts with
noise. Below, in a small L-shaped pat-
tern, 500 or so yellow-clad Maize
Ragers can just watch in a confused
daze. All their hard work to get ready
for the game, to cheer for the team they
love, is wasted.
For three straight seasons, Michigan
State fans have taken over Michigan's
arena - an embarrassment, a mock-
ery, but now, not an aberration.
It's not the Maize Ragers' fault. You
can't insult and taunt the opponent
when Randolph and Richardson are
dunking on you at will on every pos-
session.
And as a fan of anything Maize and
Blue, you should be downright fright-
ened that the Spartans own Crisler.
You know there's a problem when
rassea : ire
you frustrat-
DEEDed?
IARENA You may not
be able to fire
or State fans Brian Ellerbe,
L999): ,or find that
year-breaking
recruit. But
0) you do have a
Michigan 62 voice.
Some fans
001): ~have the will
Michian 1 to waitthis
program out.
era-apd Baltic If you believe
, test - in Michigan
e, go directly basketball, by
all means,
IGAN STATE keep hoping.
But if you're a
fan who wants changes, show it! Either
don't come to the games, or if you do,
show Athletic Director. Bill Martin
what you want.
Make signs, wear green t-shirts, talk
to rich alumni who have connections
- anything you can do - it's your
team, too.
Do it for no better reason than the
fact that Michigan State coach Tom
Izzo supports Ellerbe and states that
Michigan is a program on its way up.
Funny, but didn't he say that last year?
And why-wouldn't Izzo support the
Wolverines? It's two easy victories
each year.
After the murderous rampage,
Ellerbe and several players made
excuses. Only heart-filled Chris Young
admitted some of the Wolverines just
stopped trying.
And in response one fan said: "If
they are going to quit on me, maybe I'll
quit on them."
Mark Francescutti can be reached at
mfrances@umich.edu.
BRANDON SEDLOFF/Daily
Freshman star Calli Ryals practices her
balance beam routine. The Wolverines
have had recent success on the beam.
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