68 - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 22, 2001
Expectations
on the rise
for Michigan
By AiflonTope
Daily Sports Writer
When eventual national champion Notre Dame,
knocked Michigan out of the NCAA Tournament
in the second round last season, it ended the
Wolverines' most successful season to date. But
this season, Michigan has much higher expecta-
tions for itself, including some unfinished business
with the Fighting Irish. Michigan will look for
revenge against Notre Dame in a nonconference
game on Dec. 2 at a neutral site in Grand Rapids.
I This matchup, along with a tough nonconfer-
ence schedule, will be a good indicator of how the
Wolverines will fare this year. Until then the future
is bright but uncertain. One thing is certain: Michi-
gan wants to return to the NCAA Tournament for
the third straight year.
"Once we get a few games under our belt I'll
have a better idea," Michigan coach Sue Guevara
said about her predictions for the team. "I certainly
would like to go as far as last year."
Several publications believe Michigan can
achieve this goal; Lindy's College Basketball
ranked the Wolverines 10th, the highest of any
publication, with four other publications ranking
Michigan in the top 25 in their preseason polls.
The respect that analysts are showing the Wolver-
ines is an indication that Michigan should have a
successful season despite a tough schedule.
"It feels great to be ranked," senior co-captain
Alayne Ingram said. "What it comes down to is
the way that we play. We've beaten No. 8 teams
and we've beaten No. 12 teams- it shows that
everyone can be beaten. All that matters is how we
finish."
Senior forward Heather Oesterle will return
Local star Poole ready to make a huge
splash with Wolverines this season
01
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
Senior Alayne Ingram will lead Michigan this year.
after a season-ending knee injury which occurred
just before the Big Ten Tournament last season.
Her leadership and added depth could make a dif-
ference as the Wolverines aim to win the Big Ten
title.
Guevara described Oesterle as a "garbage play-
er" - a player that does all the small things that
aren't always noticed. Her strong play inside and
outside will help Michigan improve its consistency
this year.
"Losing Anne Thorius was big, but I think peo-
ple are looking at what we have returning and
what we have as freshmen," Guevara said.
The talented freshman class has performed well
in the season's early practices. Tabitha Poole, an All-
American in high school, leads the pack with Sierra
Hauser-Price, Katrina Mason and BreAnne McPhil-
amy all contributing to the team's improvement.
For now, Michigan is looking toward its first
exhibition game against Latvia Clondica on Fri-
day, Nov. 9.
By Charles Paradis
Daily Sports Writer
Last season, the Michigan
women's basketball team made it
to the second round of the
NCAA Tournament. A large part
of this was due to the outstanding
play of the team's point guard,
then senior co-captain Anne Tho-
rius. But with Thorius now grad-
uated, major changes will be in
store for Michigan's backcourt.
When it was all said and done,
Thorius became Michigan's first
women's basketball player to
tally over 1,000 points and 500
assists. These numbers helped
her earn Most Valuable Player
honors last year. A versatile play-
er, Thorius was also named
Defensive Player of the Year last
year as she led the team in steals
with 48.
With the loss of such a great
player, a question rises for the
women's basketball team: how do
you replace a player like Anne
Thorius?
One possible option the
Wolverines have is to move
senior co-captain Alayne Ingram
from the shooting guard to the
point guard position. This change
will force Ingram to adjust to a
pass first, shoot second mentality.
It will also open up the shooting
guard position for competition
among the rest of the team. One
player who may challenge for
time is a freshman, blue chip
recruit Tabitha Poole.
In Poole, Michigan landed
arguably the best player coming
out of Michigan high schools and
one of the top five high school
players in the nation last year.
Poole - a 6-foot-1 native of Ann
Arbor - has great versatility and
can play either the guard or for-
ward position.
"I think that obviously she has
a tremendous amount of athleti-
cism, she can handle the basket-
ball, and shoot the three," said
Michigan coach Sue Guevara.
With her athleticism and abili-
ty, Poole has a very good chance
of seeing many minutes this year.
She may see limited action at the
beginning of the season, but
should find increasing amounts
of time as she becomes acclimat-
ed to the Wolverines offense and
style of play.
"She's pretty special and I
think she is going to make it
very, very difficult for me to keep
her off the floor," said Guevara.
Poole has always been a star
and has usually been counted on
to lead her team. She was her
high school's leading scorer and
one of the hardest working play-
ers on the team. This season,
however, she will not be the only
player with star potential and
does not need to feel pressured to
carry the team. Despite the leap
from high school to college,
Poole is confident she can play
an important role on the team.
"I feel I can, I just have to keep
working hard," Poole said.
For several weeks, the team
has been participating in intense
conditioning to prepare for the
upcoming season. As a freshman,
Poole is experiencing athletics on
the collegiate level for the first
time. But she and the other fresh-
man have not be intimidated by
the intense workouts.
"It was shocking, it was hard,
but we all pushed through it,"
freshman guard Sierra Hauser-
Price said.
Although she was a track ath-
lete, Hauser-Price admitted that
she had never run as much in her
life as she did in conditioning
this fall. Hauser-Price is another
freshman guard that could chal-
lenge for minutes on the court.
While not as highly touted as
Poole, Hauser-Price is a solid
athlete whose quickness will be
one of her greatest assets on the
court.
"I can push the ball fast and
get it to people on fast breaks and
I think that is a key quality on
this level," Hauser-Price said.
0l
LESLIE WARD/Daily
Freshman Sierra Hauser-Price is ready to contribute for the Wolverines.
Blue hoping trio will
play big 1 n the post
By Alison Topp
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan women's basketball coach Sue Guevara hopes that three expe-
rienced players over 6-foot-2 in height will translate into a Big Ten cham-
pionship this season.
"We stress the fact that the ball has to go inside," Guevara said.
"(LeeAnn) Bies, Jen (Smith) and Raina (Goodlow) all shot over 50 percent
last season. The ball needs to get into the paint so we can be able to score."
The triple threat of Bies, Smith and Goodlow is the reason many presea-
son polls are predicting that Michigan will go farther this season than its
second-round NCAA Tournament finish last season.
Each of the three post players has a very distinct style that creates scor-
ing opportunities for herself and each other. On most teams, any one
member of Michigan's post trio would have to do the brunt of the work
alone.
Bies is the Wolverines' anchor at low post. She prefers to muscle up
close to the basket and use her size to her advantage. Smith complements
Bies at the high post.
"Jen would be better suited at the high post, she has a nice outside
jumper and can drive," Bies said. "I'm more comfortable posting up down
low with my back to the basket."
Goodlow rounds out this dynamic trio by alternating between the high
post and wing. At 6-foot-2 in height, her agility and grace when driving to
the basket surprise most defenders.
Goodlow's perimeter skills allow for, an outlet when the player at low
post is double-teamed.
"I've been working on catching and squaring up ready to shoot or pass,"
Goodlow said. "That way I can be a threat as soon as I get the ball.
"Teams are automatically going to double team the posts. We have to be
ready to shoot and knock them down."
The three post players may have had a field-goal percentage close to 50
percent last year, but the other misses resulted in rebound opportunities.
Michigan was not strong enough off the glass, ending up sixth in rebound-
ing in the conference at the end of last season. That ranking was one that
stood out as disappointing to the entire team.
"With the size we have, there is no way we should be sixth in the Big
Ten," Guevara said.
While creating better scoring opportunities was the foremost goal for
Smith, Goodlow and Bies over the summer, they are now focusing more on
their individual rebounding efforts.
"Rebounding is a conscious effort of crashing the boards every single
time," Goodlow said.
At the open practice held Friday afternoon in Crisler Arena, the first 20
minutes were spent on rebounding. Michigan ran through drills on weak
side rebounding and boxing out.
The talent of the Wolverines' post players will be noted in scouting
reports throughout the Big Ten. To open up opportunities for the post play-
ers, the guards must become a shooting threat from the perimeter.
Stephanie Gandy, a sophomore with a good amount of experience from
court-time as a freshman last season, will be the featured shooting guard
for the Wolverines this season.
"We have a new look to our perimeter game, everyone is getting
stronger," Gandy said. "For me personally, I look to take the open shot
more often to become a threat when the other team double-teams in the
post."
2001-02 Basketball schedule
DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME
Fri., Nov. 9 Latvia RTU Ann Arbor 7:00 p.m.
Clondica (Exhibition)
Fri., Nov. 16 Louisiana Tech Ruston, La. 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 18 Detroit Detroit 4:00 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 23 New Hampshire Durham, N.H. 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 25 Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. 2:00 p.m.
Thu., Nov. 29 Marquette Ann Arbor 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 2 Notre Dame Grand Rapids, Mi. 3:00 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 7 Washington St. Seattle, Wash. 6:00 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 9 Washington Seattle, Wash. 3:00 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 12 Toledo Toledo, Ohio 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 16 Louisiana State Baton Rouge, La. 2:00 p.m.
Fri., Dec.. 21 Oakland Ann Arbor 7:00 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 28 Illinois* Ann Arbor 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 30 Purdue* West Lafayette 2:00 p.m.
Wed., Jan. 2 Michigan State* Ann Arbor 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Jan. 6 Wisconsin Madison 1:30 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 10 Ohio State* Ann Arbor 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Jan. 13 Penn State State College, Pa. 2:00 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 17 Minnesota* Minneapolis 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Jan. 20 Indiana* Ann Arbor 1:00 p.m.
Sun., Jan. 27 Illinois* Champaign. 2:00 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 31 lowa* Ann Arbor 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 3 Northwestern* Ann Arbor 2:00 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 10 Ohio State* Columbus. 4:00 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 14 lowa* Iowa City 7:00 p.m.
Sun.; Feb. 17 Purdue* Ann Arbor 5:00 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 21 Northwestern* Evanston 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 24 Penn State* Ann Arbor 2:00 p.m.
Big Ten Conference Tournament
Thu., Feb. 28 First Round Indianapolis, Ind.
Fri., Mar. 1 Quarterfinals Indianapolis, Ind.
Sat., Mar. 3 Semifinals Indianapolis, Ind.
Sun., Mar. 4 Championship Indianapolis, Ind.
Home games are indicated in bold.
Big Ten Conference games are indicated by *
2001-02 Basketball roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Class/Eligibility
1 Tabitha Poole G/F 6-1 Fr./Fr.
4 Susana Jara** G 5-7 Sr./Sr.
20 Sierra Hauser-Price G 5-8 Fr./Fr.
30 Heather Oesterle*** G/F 6-0 Sr./Sr.
32 Raina Goodlow*** F 6-2 Sr./Sr.
33 Stephanie Gandy* G 5-10 So./So.
34 Katrina Mason F 6-2 Fr./Fr.
40 Alayne Ingram G 5-7 Sr./Sr.
44 LeeAnn Bies C 6-3 Jr./Jr.
45 BreAnne McPhilamy F 6-2 Fr./Fr.
54 Jennifer Smith* C 6-3 So./So.
* letters earned
Head Coach:
Sue Guevara
Assistant Coach:
Angela Jackson
Assistant Coach:
Eileen Shea-Hillard
Assistant Coach:
Ron Mott
Director of Basketball Operations:
Molly Murray h
LESLIE WARD/Daily
0
a
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
The Michigan basketball team looks to dominate in the post this year as they
return three key inside players this season, including Senior Raina Goodlow.
Returning Post Players
The Michigan women's basketball team returns three key post position
players this season. All three played critical roles in the team's success
last year, and the plan for this year has them playing even more of a
role. The frontcourt trio provides the Wolverines with a significant size
advantage over the majority of teams they will play this year.
Here are Michigan's returning post players:
LeeAnn Bies 6-3 Junior Center
Last year, Bies was the team's leading scorer, averaging 12 points per contest. She
also led the team in rebounding, grabbing an average of seven boards per game.
Also a strong defensive player, Bies was second on the team with 45 steals and
first on the team with 36 blocks, twice as much as any other Wolverine.
Raina Goodlow 6-2 Senior Forward
A versatile player with good size, Goodlow plays inside and out for the Wolver-
ines. Goodlow was third on the team in scoring last year, averaging 11 points per
outing. Goodlow also showed her ability to withstand the physical play inside as
she played in 30 of 31 games last season.
Jennifer Smith 6-3 Sophomore Center
Last year, Smith was first on the team and fourth in the Big Ten in field goal per-
centage as she shot 55.2 percent from the floor. Smith was also incredibly accu-
rate from the foul line, where she converted 81.4 percent of her free throws. In
conference play, Smith improved her scoring average to 9.8 points per game.
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Toledo and Louisiana State before the
Wolverines finally return home.
They will host Oakland on Dec. 21
for their second and final home non-
conference game.
"At first I didn't want to go on the
road that much," center Jennifer Smith
year's team.
Seven players return from last year's
team that reached the second round of
the NCAA Tournament, including four
starters. In addition, Michigan has
added a top-notch recruiting class that
includes Tabitha Poole from Ann Arbor
Huron High School. Poole was named
Miss Basketball for the state of Michi-
gan in 2000.
Four separate preseason publica-
,,MI