cJze lMkbigun Dailj
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SECTION B
Hail! Brady, Law lead Pats to victory
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The
New England Patriots made this a
Super Bowl to remember - for all
the right reasons.
Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard
field goal as time expired, capping
a thrilling final two minutes and
giving the Patriots a 20-17 upset
over the St. Louis Rams on a red,
white and blue Sunday.
"We shocked the world," New
England safety Lawyer Milloy said.
The Patriots won on a day filled
with patriotic themes inside the
Superdome and high security out-
side. Fans were urged to show up
five hours before kickoff to get
through a perimeter that looked
more like a military compound than
a football stadium, with soldiers on
the ground and sharpshooters on
the roof.
The winning kick came after the
Patriots had lost a 17-3 lead in the
final 10 minutes. The game
appeared headed for the first Super
Bowl overtime after St. Louis tied
it on a 26-yard pass from Kurt
Warner to Ricky Proehl with 1:30
left.
But MVP Tom Brady, whose sta-
tus as the starter was in doubt until
midweek, drove the Patriots 53
yards with no timeouts to set up the
deciding kick.
"No one gave us a chance to win
this game," said running back
Antowain Smith, who gained 92
yards in 18 carries.
After bypassing individual x
pregame introductions in favor of
running on to the field as a team,
the Patriots - wearing uniforms
splashed with red, white and blue
- went out and won with contribu-
tions from up and down their
unsung roster.
They did it with Vinatieri's calm-
as-can-be kicking, Brady's late
leadership and a defense that
scored one touchdown, set up two
other scores and shut down the
most high-powered offense in the
NFL.
Brady was just 16-for-27 for 145
yards, compared to 28-of-46 for
Warner.
But Brady, a fourth-string rookie
last year, was mistake-proof while
Warner, a two-time league MVP,
threw two interceptions and the
Rams also lost a fumble that set up
a score.
The key play in thefinal drive
was a 23-yard pass from Brady to
Troy Brown to the St. Louis 36.
Three plays later came the kick
by Vinatieri, who had made two
field goals in the snow to give New
England a playoff win over Oak-
land.
But the game was won by the
defense, which held the NFL's best
offense without a touchdown until
less than 10 minutes was left in the
game.
"They say it's the best track team
in the National Football League,
but I never saw anybody win a 100-
yard dash with someone standing in
front of them," said New England
cornerback Ty Law, whose 47-yard
interception return gave New Eng-
land its first touchdown.
AP PHOTO
The New England Patriots celebrate with the Lombardi Trophy after shocking the
St. Louis Rams, 20-17, to win Super Bowl XXXVI.
Shredded
cheese
MICHIGAN 64,"
Herbology
101:
Intro to
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
EteeAnn Bles and the rest of the Wolverines had to fight, scratch and claw to get
9ast a gritty Northwestern squad yesterday. Michigan beat the Wildcats, 74-67.
GFuevara unhappy, but
:M' escapes with win
Herb Gibson
I'll admit it. When I learned before Saturday's
game that former walk-on Herb Gibson was to
tart for Michigan, I furrowed my brow and
rolled my eyes. Part of me
is getting used to coach
Tommy Amaker's oddball
lineups, but I was begin-
ning to believe that the
first-year coach was set-
tling into his regular start-
mg lineup. After all, the
Wolverines have cleared
the halfway point of the DAVID
season, and most people HORN
feel that there are five
guys on the team that Tooting My
ought to be starting every Own
game now.
# Amaker has repeatedly made it clear that to start
for his team, you have to earn it in practice. Hustle.
Hard work. Responsibility. Determination. These
vague intangibles are the keys to the starting gate,
and Amaker should be commended for staying true
to that method.
So Gibson, the former walk-on senior forward
started. Less than two minutes into the game he
received a quick pass from center Chris Young and
See HORN, Page 5B
By Bob Hunt
Daily Sports Writer
In keeping with the saying "you
play like you practice," the Michigan
women's basketball team had a horri-
ble practice on Saturday and it showed
yesterday.
Despite the Wolverines' 74-67 win
against Northwestern, they failed to
look like
a team NORTHWESTERN 67
attempt-
ing to MICHIGAN 74
make a
run at postseason play. Yesterday,
WMichigan let a team that had lost just
one Big Ten game by fewer than 10
points this season stick around until
the very end.
"We were kind of worried (Satur-
y)," junior center LeeAnn Bies said.
'E e had a bad practice and our coach-
Rs were on us, and we thought we
could turn it around, but we played like
We practiced."
* Michigan's superior talent showed
throughout, but whenever Michigan
seemed to make a run, Northwestern
clawed back into it thanks to the stellar
play of star freshmen Sarah Kawanski
and Melissa Culver.
Michigan and Northwestern traded
basket for basket in the opening min-
utes of the second half. Kawanski's
height advantage over Bies and Cul-
ver's occasional 3-pointer kept the
Wildcats in the game until right before
the 12:00 media timeout, when North-
western coach June Olkowski pulled
them both out to get them rest before
the final stretch. Then Michigan made
a quick run to extend its lead to eight
and Northwestern was never able to
come back.
But for a team that has failed to win
a Big Ten game this millennium (the
Wildcats' last conference win came
against Iowa in the first round of the
Big Ten Tournament back in March of
2000), Northwestern was just thrilled
to even compete with Michigan.
"We actually made another coach
coach," Olkowski said.
That's probably why Michigan
coach Sue Guevara was not happy
with Michigan's performance after the
Wolverines played so well in their win
against Iowa on Thursday night. In
fact, if Northwestern had not commit-
ted 20 turnovers and missed so many
shots in the first half, the Wildcats
might have left with their first win in
Crisler since 1996.
"It was a performance that, unfortu-
nately, I saw yesterday," Guevara said.
"Everyone in America knows that you
play like you practice, and what is a
little discouraging to me is that we
See WILDCATS, Page 3B
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Wisconsin couldn't find a way around Chris Young on the low blocks in Michigan's 64-53 win on Saturday.
Wolverines throttle pesky Wisconsin, 64-53
By Steve Jackson
Daily Sports Editor
After an embarrassing 71-44 loss
against Michigan State last Wednes-
day, the Wolverines responded
against
Wisconsin WISCONSIN 53
with the
"next-play MICHIGAN 64
at t it u d e"
that coach Tommy Amaker has been
preaching all season.
"We thought coming off the game
in East Lansing, how we were going
to respond - good, bad or indiffer-
ent - was going to be one of the
keys to our team and our season,"
Amaker said. "I thought this was a
crossroads for us internally."
The Wolverines gave their coach
exactly the start he wanted. Michi-
gan took it right at Wisconsin from
the opening tap, scoring on its first
eight possessions and building an
18-4 lead in the game's first five
minutes.
The Wolverines never trailed in
the 64-53 victory, which Amaker
dubbed the team's biggest win so far.
In a surprising move, the Michi-
gan coaching staff opted to give for-
mer walk-on forward Herb Gibson
his first career start.
"We have let our kids know that
they all have a chance to play for us
by what we have done with the line-
up," Amaker said. "It depends on
how they practice, how they
respond, how they carry themselves,
how they represent themselves, the
team and the school. I think in terms
of Herb Gibson, he was a kid that
we felt could have an impact in this
game."
Gibson took advantage of his
moment in the sun, inspiring his
team with back-to-back blocks, a
steal and a breakaway dunk, which
punctuated the Wolverines' early
run.
Gibson set career highs in points
(four), blocks (three) and minutes
(27). Before Saturday night, Gibson
had played just 26 total minutes this
season.
"I wouldn't say I played my best,
but I held my own out on the court
tonight," Gibson said.
Gibson started in place of star for-
ward Bernard Robinson, who
opened the game on the bench for
the third time this season. But
See BADGERS, Page SB
6me.
Icers sweep Lakers, close gap in CCHA
By J. Brady McCollough
Daily Sports Writer
DETROIT - After three consecutive CCHA
series (Notre Dame, Alaska-Fairbanks and Bowl-
ing Green) without a sweep, the Michigan hockey
team threw the monkey off its back Saturday,
squeaking by Lake Superior 1-0 at Joe Louis
Arena.
The victory, coupled with a 5-0 win Thursday
night in Sault Ste. Marie, helped the Wolverines
inch two points closer to rival Michigan State in
the CCHA standings. The Spartans tied Ohio State
twice this weekend in Columbus and maintained a
two-point lead on the Wolverines.
"We're still in the fight for first place, and we're
in a fight to make the NCAA Tournament," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said. "We can't stumble
again. We only have six games remaining in league
play, and we have to take advantage of every one
ofthn."
Spartans in the standings during the past three
weeks due to untimely losses, was finally able to
take advantage of Michigan State's blunders
against the Buckeyes.
"It's huge to have other teams help us out in the
league," freshman forward Michael Woodford said.
"But we have to take care of business ourselves.
We moved up two points, and that's so huge to get
back in the race..We just need to take the help
when we can get it."
The Wolverines (13-5-4 CCHA, 16-8-5 overall),
who extended their road unbeaten streak in confer-
ence to 11 games (9-0-2), wasted no time Saturday.
Michigan jumped on the Lakers (4-17-1, 7-20-1)
just 2:23 into the first period on the game's first
powerplay.
Senior forward Craig Murray fired a rocket from
the point, which caromed off the pads of Lake
Superior goaltender Terry Denike, opening up the
top right corner of the net for freshman defense-
man Eric Werner who did the rest.
Down the stretch they come
With six CCHA games left to play, the
Wolverines currently trail Michigan State by
two points in the conference standings.
Here's the gauntlet that each team will
have to overcome if they want to claim the
title.
Michigan:
Feb. 8,9 - Nebraska-Omaha at Yost ice Arena
Feb. 16 - Michigan State (nonconference)
Feb. 22, 23- Ohio State at Yost
Mar. 1, 2 -Western Michigan at Yost, at
Western Michigan
Michigan State:
Feb. 8, 9 - Notre Dame at Munn Ice Arena
Feb. 16 - Michigan (nonconference)
Feb.22, 23- at Miami
Mar. 1,2 - at Ferris State, Ferris State at
:: '- -
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