7B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - Monday, February 12, 2001
.'M' takes fight out of Illini
:Wolverines pull away from Illinois in second half
By David Horn missing from her game all year - and that
Fly Sports Writer Guevara had been asking her to unleash for
months.
Four games out with three to play - no Big "I love showing emotions, I love showing
:en regular season title for the Michigan how much I love playing this game. It just gets
W omen's basketball team. But although that me more fired up," Thorius said.
was made official by Purdue's double-overtime The senior's attitude and play were conta-
win against Ohio gious. Michigan shot an impressive 6-of-14
State yesterday, from behind the arc, and was able to utilize
ILLINOIS 60 Michigan has its both perimeter and post play - a combination
MICHIGAN 74 sights set on that had been lacking in recent games.
something else - Five Wolverines - a balanced attack of
top five in the three guards and two forwards - scored in
conference. The top five teams get a bye on the double figures. Defensively, Illinois was held
first day of the Big Ten tournament, and the to 37-percent shooting in the second half,
Wolverines' 74-60 win over Illinois yesterday which yielded them just six points in the first
propels them past the Illini into fifth place. ten minutes.
We're back in the Big Ten, and we're fight- The first half was highlighted by back-to-
Ig for our lives," Michigan coach Sue back fastbreak layups by Thorius and junior
'J.uevara said. "I feel like we're on the bubble, Heather Oesterle, followed by back-to-back 3-
and I think the kids know that we're on the pointers by Gesterle and guard Alayne Ingram.
bubble, and every single game is very, very The latter began a run by Michigan to turn a
important." six-point Illinois lead to a one-point Wolverine
Yesterday's contest was the first Big Ten lead at the half.
;ame in two weeks for senior captain Anne "I thought the second half was a much dif-
Thorius, who went down with an ankle injury ferent situation," Illinois coach Theresa Grentz
on January 28 against Northwestern. Her 10 said. "We did not play well at all - as a unit.
oints, seven assists, four steals and 38 minutes On the other hand, I thought Michigan played
were only half of her contribution to a team very well, very poised, very much in control of
that had lost two in a row. Thorius played with the situation."
the emotion and excitement that seemed to be Michigan forced 20 turnovers, due in part to
Licns to f°
: Guevara
*sticks it out
By David Roth
Daily Sports Writer
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Conference Overall Team
W L WIL
Purdue 12 1 22 4
Iowa 9 3 14 8
Penn State 9 3 17 6
Wisconsin 9 4 15 8
Michigan 8 5 15 9
Illinois 7 5 12 12
Indiana 7 5 16 7
Ohio State 4 8 14 8
Michigan State 2 10 8 14
Minnesota 1 11 8 15
Northwestern 0 13 4 19
Yesterday's scores:
MICHIGAN 74, Illinois 60
Iowa 82, MINNESOTA 71
Purdue 74, OHIO STATE 71 (20T)
Indiana 52, MICHIGAN STATE 50
Wisconsin 70, NORTHWESTERN 54
a quick zone defense and the renewed leader-
ship of Thorius.
"From the time we stepped on the bus at 6
a.m. Friday morning, we knew we had some
work to do," Thorius said of her team's
defense, following Thursday's disappointing
loss to Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.
"Both Friday afternoon and Saturday at
practice it was all defensive drills."
The Wolverines play at home against Iowa
this Thursday. They control their own destiny
- by winning their remaining three games,
they can ensure a break on the first day of the
Big Ten tournament.
Sunpson s rousing success
surprising in State College
By Adam Kaplan
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's track team experi-
enced a lot of unexpected delays traveling to
State College for the Nittany Lion Qualifier.
But the Wolverines were not fazed by such
distractions.
They finished in fifth place among the
twelve competing teams, four of which are in
the Big Ten.
"We would have loved to have done bet-
ter," Michigan coach James Henry said.
"Although, we got a chance to compete
against teams vying for the Big Ten champi-
onship."
On Saturday, the performance of sopho-
more Teyonna Simpson in the triple-jump
event surprised just about everybody, includ-
ing herself.
Her NCAA provisional leap of 41-8 3/4
made her the first Wolverine to qualify for
the NCAA Championships this season.
"Simpson is a triple jump specialist,
putting all her energy and emotion into it,"
Henry said. "It was a pleasant surprise for
me because it didn't feel as if it was that type
of jump."
For Simpson, the feelings were mutual.
"It was surprising," Simpson said.
"Hopefully, it will have a cyclical effect on
the rest of the team."
To some degree, her success rubbed off on
her teammates. Sprinters Carly Knazze and
Regine Caruthers placed high in the 200- aind
400-meter dashes, respectively.
In the 200-meter dash, Knazze, a sophb-
more, finished seventh with'a time of 24.66
seconds. She also placed fifth in the 400-
meter dash.
The performance-enhancing conditions 6f
the track helped Caruthers sprint 55.44 sec-
onds in the 400-meter to take third place And
24.80 seconds to take ninth in the 200-meter
dash.
"Penn State has an excellent, state-of-the-
art track facility," Henry said. "The environ-
ment put out outstanding performances
throughout."
At this juncture in the season, the
Michigan women's track team finds itse if
amidst tough competition in the Big Ten. Bnt
it must not look too far beyond the Big Ten
Championship - taking place on February
23 and 24 in West Lafayette.
"Overall, our goal is not to qualify for the
nationals," Henry said. "It is to have an over-
all impressive performance and place as high
as possible in the Big Ten championship."'
It is important to note that the Wolverines
are not at full strength. Junior Tasha Phillips,
who didn't jump this past weekend, is cor-
ing off a minor injury. There is no timetable
for her return,
Okenwa finds redemption
at Mchigan Intercollegiate
Goodbye Tark the Shark, hello Sue the
-Chew.
Michigan women's basketball coach Sue
Guevara bit and buried her head in a towel
esterday despite one of her team's best per-
formances of the season, a 74-60 defeat of
Illinois.
At the post-game press conference,
Guevara revealed her nausea wasn't because
of how her team performed.
"That towel had vomit in it. That had noth-
ing to do with Jerry Tarkanian," Guevara said.
"I got sicker than a dog right after training
tables this morning.
"I cannot keep anything down at all. I sat
-the whole game - I never do that. I was
*izzy."
Guevara might have caught something
from Christie Schumacher, who was sick and
didn't even attend the game.
No HEATHER NO CRY: In only 17 minutes,
Heather Oesterle came off the bench to hit 6-
of-7 shots, including two 3-pointers to lead all
scorers with 15 points.
Despite catching fire, Oesterle could never
find an extended groove because she was on
e bench.
Guevara said that Oesterle's lack of playing
time was because of mishaps in previous
games.
"I've been talking a lot to Heather about
some of her fouls," Guevara said. "We seem to
be getting some of the same silly fouls out of
her and that's why she came out of the lineup."
But Guevara was pleased with Oesterle's
extremely productive time during game
action.
"She didn't sulk because she didn't start,"
Guevara said. "Heather responded. She just
*ame in and did a really nice job."
Also, Michigan's other forwards were
By Kareem Copeland
Daily Sports Writer
YPSILANTI - Saturday, Eastern
Michigan's campus was visited by schools
from across the state. The Eagles hosted the
Michigan Intercollegiate at the Bowen
Fieldhouse. Among the competitors were
Michigan, Western Michigan, Central
Michigan, Detroit and Michigan State.
But for the Wolverines, the meet ended up
being a tale of two teams. Unfortunately,
both of those teams were wearing the block
"M".'
The first team -- composed of the runners
- was led by sprinter Ike Okenwa. Okenwa
and company held the weight of the
Wolverines on their shoulders, earning the
vast majority of Michigan's 123.5 points.
That total was second only to Eastern's 211.
Okenwa was the star of the meet, running
three races and qualifying provisionally for
the NCAA Championships in the 200-meters.
After a disappointing outing in South Bend
two weeks ago, he was focused on returning
to form.
"My goal this week at practice was to just
find my form again," Okenwa said. "Like I
said last week in Notre Dame, that was some-
body else running, that wasn't me."
After finishing second to Eastern's Gerald
Rasool in the 60-meter, Okenwa blazed
through the 200 in 21.19 seconds.
"The guy kind of handed me my ass in the
60," Okenwa said. "And there was no way in
hell I was going to get beat twice."
He finished the day running the second leg
of the 4 X 400, helping the Wolverines place
second with a time of 3:19.06.
Fellow ironman Steve Lawrence ran back-
to-back races to begin the running events.
Stepping in at the last second, Lawrence
helped the squad take first in the distance
medley relay. Minutes later he laced up again
and took third in the 5000-meter, clocking in
at 14:53.70.
Freshman Brian Turner continued to-run
well, taking second in both the mile and 100-
meter in 4:15.02 and 8:32.40, respectivel'l
Jeremy Schneider continued, his dominiice
by winning the 600 in 1:19.91 -just shy:of
the meet record.The Wolverines owned the
600m placing Ravi Smith second and ban
Cook sixth. In the 400 Josh Sellers, Kevin
Lamb, and Chris Yee placed fourth, sixthand
seventh.
The story wasn't as happy for MichigTn's
second team, which was composed of com-
petitors in the field events.
The second team was led by pole vaulter
Charles DeWildt. Last year's Big Ten champi-
on had all eyes on him as he easily won-the
event, clearing 16-10 3/4. Taking third wii a
leap of 16-0 3/4 for the Wolverines was jior
Brent Sheffer.
But, aside from the vaulters, the field
events had lackluster performances. NTck
Rodgers' fifth-place finish in the shot putas
the only other top-five finish from those dim-
peting in the field.
"We were trying to win the meet, and obvi-
ously we didn't," Michigan coach Ron
Warhurst said. "Eastern has a lot of people,
and people in every event."
On Feb. 17, the Wolverines will come back
home to host the Harold Silverston
Invitational. The invite will be Michigan's
last meet before the Big Ten Championships.
"Next week we'll probably run people in
some different events and not put any pres-
sure on having to perform," Warhurst said.
"Get a good solid week of training in and just
get their heads into what they have to do for
Big Tens."
JESSICA JOHINSON/Daly
Heather Oesterle hadn't been playing much lately, but she made the most of her opportunity yes-
terday. In 17 minutes, Oesterle scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
putting in solid performances, keeping
Oesterle as a resource that didn't need to be
tapped.
"Everybody at my position is playing real-
ly well," Oesterle said. "My role today was to
come in and score. That's what I did"
THUNDER STICKS: The 2,345 on hand in
Crisler were treated to sausage-shaped, yel-
low thunder sticks to cheer on the Wolverines.
Fans weren't the only ones in on the thun-
der stick action. Michigan guard Alayne
Ingram walked into the postgame press con-
ference holding one.
"I looked up at them and thought, 'wow,
that's really great,"' Ingram said.
Anne Thorius, Michigan's other force from
the perimeter, was extremely emotional dur-
ing the game. She accredited her emotion to
not just her teammates' hitting long shot, but
also the thunder sticks.
"There was a good crowd today and every-
one was into it," Thorius said. "When we do
what we need to do on the floor, then every-
one gets into the game and it just makes it
more fun when there's that atmosphere in the
gym."
&
Thonus is,
on point in
win for 'M'
By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Wrter
Anne Thorius is back in the high life
again.
After nursing a sprained ankle for the
past two weeks, the senior guard has
returned to reopen the doors that were
losed by her injury.
"I didn't even feel my ankle like I did
against Holy Cross," Thorius said.
Thorius started for the first time since
the injury and played nearly the entire
game, until Michigan had built up a big
enough lead to let her rest.
The game got off to a shaky start, with
Thorius starting off at the off-guard and
Alayne Ingram at the point. The
Wolverines turned the ball over in three
f their first four possessions.
After a timeout, Michigan coach Sue
Guevara switched Thorius and Ingram
- a move that paid dividends.
"I felt that Alayne was struggling to
see over the size of that zone," Guevara
said. "Anne is a little bit bigger and can
YESTERDAY'S GAME
Illinois (60)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A MA 0-T A F PTS
Hunter 35 25 00 0-3 1 1 6
Wilson 20 3-3 4-5 0-2 1 5 10
Vana 29 6-12 0 0 3-7 5 3 12
'Neil 25 03 12 0 H2 1 2 1
A. Curtin 39 5.12 22 3-9 5 3 13
Marcauskaite 23 6-14 0-2 3 s3 0 2 12
G. Curtin 4 0-3 0d0 0y1 0 1 0
Hagberg 7 2-3 0-0 0-2 0 0 4
Blackburn 0+i 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Oallas 18 1-2 0 0 0-1 1 3 2
Totals 200 25-57 7-21 10-35 14 20 60
FG%: .439. FT%: .636. 3-point FG: 3-10 .300 (Hunter 2-4,
A. Curtin 1-3, Marcauskatie 0-1, S. Curtin 0-2). Blocks: 4
(Wilson 2, Hagberg 21 Steals: 4 (A. Curtin 2, Wilson,
O'Neil), Turnovers: 20 (Hunter 6, A. Curtin 6, Vana 3,
ONeil 3, Wilson, Marcauskatie. Technical Fouls: Vana.
MICHIGAN (74)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Gandy 28 4-9 2-2 0-5 1 1 10
Smith 32 1-3 3-4 3-7 1 4 5
Bies 15 2-6 2-4 3-4 0 4 6
Thorius 38 4-8 0-0 0-2 7 1 10
Ingram 35 3-8 4-4 0-3 8 3 12
Jara 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Leary 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Oesterle 17 6-7 1-2 0-2 1 1 15
Robinson 3 0-0 4-4 0-1 0 0 4
Goodlow 25 3-10 6-6 1-8 1 1 12
Oykhouse 3 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Totals 200 23-54 22-26 8-33 19 15 74
FG%: .426. FT%:.846. 3-pint FG: 6-14 .429 Oesterle 2-
3, Thorius 2-5, Ingram 2-5 Goodow 0-1). Blocks: 5
(Smith 2. Thorius 2. Bies). Steals: 8 (Thorius 4.Gandys
Bies, Oesterle, Goodlow). Turnovers: 12 (Thorius 5,
Ingram 3, Gandy 2, Bies, Goodlow). Technical fouls:
Thorius.
Illinois-------------..........31 29 -- 60
Michigan-----------.........32 42 - 74
At: Crisler Arena
Attendance: 2,345
the second half. Ingram finished with
more assists than Thorius (eight and
seven, respectively) from the two guard.
Thorius also had a good game on the
defensive end. Her four steals helped set
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