.6 The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - Monday, January 27, 2003 - 3B YESTERDAY'S GAME Blue nipped at wire STEVE SPenn State 72 70 JACKSON jMichigan By Brian Schick Daily Sports Writer Gueva-rant "We went eight or nine posses- sions where we could not buy a basket. Their zone really stymied us. "- Michigan coach Sue Guevara, on Penn State's second half defensive scheme that handcuffed the Wolverines. Daily's MVP Tanisha Wright Wright performed for Penn State when Kelly Mazzante could not. Wright drained 13 points, including the game- winning shot. Key Stat 8:04 The time Michigan went without a field goal in the second half. The Wolverines saw a 13-point lead shrink to a 4-point deficit. YESTERDAY'S GAME Penn State (72) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Mazzante 32 6-18 1-1 1-2 3 2 13 Brungo 33 9-16 4-4 3-6 1 4 25 Tomlinson 21 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 0 Oi Strom 38 4-7 0-0 0-1 5 3 11 t Wright 33 6-11 1-3 3-10 6 3 13 Joseph 18 2-2 0-1 2-3 1 4 4 Brenden 23 2-4 0-0 0-2 1 3. 6 Croser 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 200 29-58 6-9 9-27 17 23 72 FG%: .500. FT%: .667. 3-point FG: 8-22_ 364 (Strom 3-4, Brungo 3-5, Brenden 2-4, Mazzante 0- 9). Blocks: 5 (Brungo 2, Mazzante, Tominson, Wright). Steals: 4 (Strom 2, Mazzante, Wright). Turnovers: 15 (Strom 5, Brenden 3, Brungo 2, Croser 2, Mazzante, Tomlinson, Wright). Technical Fouls: none. MICHIGAN (70) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Pool 33 5-11 0-0 2-5 3 2 11 Goodlow 21 4-6 1-2 0-4 3 1 10 Smith 21 5-7 0-0 0-5 1 1 11 Carney 36 2-6 2-2 1-1 5 3 7 Gandy 40 5-11 0-0 0-2 2 1 10 Bies 28 2-4 7-10 4-8 1 2 11 Reams 17 1-3 8-8 0-1 1 2 10 Andrews" 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 24-49 18.22 7-29 16 12 70 FG%: .490. FT%: .818. 3-point FG: 4-12, .333 (Good- low 1-1, Carney 1-2, Smith 1-2, Pool 1-5, Gandy 0-1, Reams 0-1). Blocks: 2 (Gandy, Goodlow). Steals: 7 (Carney 4, Goodlow, Reams, Smith). Turnovers: 16 (Smith 5, Bies-2, Goodlow 2, Pool 2, Andrews, Car- ney, Gandy, Reams). Technical fouls: none. Penn State..........,...........29 43 - 72 Michigan..........................38 32 - 70 At: Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor Attendance: 1,058 After freshman guard Niki Reams hit her second free throw to tie the game at 70 with 22 seconds left, all Michigan needed to do was stop Penn State one last time to send the game into overtime. With the clock winding down, Penn State's Tanisha Wright drove down the lane untouched and layed it in to put the Nittany Lions up 72-70 with 5.7 seconds left. The Wolverines inbounded the ball to point guard Rachael Carney, who dribbled down the court and passed to Reams - the hot hand on the court - cutting in along the baseline. She put up a close-range shot at the buzzer but couldn't get it to fall. "We would have set the same play (had we called a time- out);' Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "(Reams) was driv- ing on the left side of the basket. It was a great job, but it just didn't fall." The 13th-ranked Nittany Lions (6-1 Big Ten, 16-5 overall) avoided a huge upset at the hands of the Wolverines (2-4, 11- 6), who watched a 13-point second half lead evaporate. This was largely due to an eight-minute span in which Michigan failed to hit a single field goal. In a reversal of the first half, the Nittany Lions began to pound the ball inside, as both Penn State starting forwards combined for 21-of-43 second-half points. Michigan had been exploiting the post in the first half, when forward Jennifer Smith went 5-for-5 from the floor with 11 points. She failed to score in the second half. A defensive switch by Penn State coach Rene Portland created problems for Michigan's post players. "They went into a zone, and we stopped moving on the wings," Guevara said. "We went eight or nine possessions and we couldn't buy a basket." In addition to a stifling zone defense, the Nittany Lions pressed the Wolverines for the majority of the game. But unlike a month ago - when St. Louis pressed Michigan for 40 minutes and forced numerous turnovers - Carney was the floor general yesterday. She turned the ball over just once, while dishing out five assists. In just her third career start, Car- ney showed the poise of a senior. "It seemed they always played one of their girls up on me, and we worked (in practice this week) beating players one-on- one," said Carney, who finished with career bests in points, assists, 3-pointers and free throws. "I tried to beat my girl down the court to set something up." As Carney continued to blow by her defenders, she helped share the wealth on offense. The Wolverines had the most bal- anced scoring attack of the season, as six of the seven players Super Bowl deserves to become national holiday NICOLE TERWILLIGER/Daily Forward LeeAnn Bies struggles for possession in yesterday's 72-70 loss to Penn State. Bies led the team with 11 points. who saw significant action scored in double figures. Although the Wolverines were fortunate to have everyone on the court contributing, Penn State only needed key players to make the shots down the stretch. Forward Jessica Brungo finished with 25 points and preseason All-American Kelly Mazzante added 13, despite shooting 6-of-18 from the floor and 0-for-9 from behind the arc. "I think the key was other people stepping up," Mazzante said. "Everybody stepped up and made their shots." The Super Bowl needs to be a national holiday. There is no question about it. The game should be moved to a Monday night, and the entire country should be allowed to devote an entire day to watching the NFL determine its champion. Close the post offices, close the banks, close the schools and close the factories. This is what it's all about. It's time to write a letter to your congressman. Last night's "Pirate Bowl" was much more than a football contest between the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game wasn't especially close or exciting, but that doesn't mean much. Ten years from now, football fans will watch Steve Sabol and NFL Films_ make this game seem No weeken like one of the all-time classics. year will , It's not just a day for weddings football fans either. Bowl h According to market- _ ing researcher Insight- Express, nearly 40 percent of people watching the Super Bowl did so because of the ads, which this year cost $2.2 million for each 30-second spot. Who can forget "Bud ... Weis ... Er" in the swamp or Mean Joe Greene trad- ing his Steelers' jersey to a young fan for a Coke? The Super Bowl takes men and women from all religions, all ethnic backgrounds and all socio-economic classes and engages them in one activi- ty for an entire night. No other single event can unite more people in celebration of all things American. Millions come from all walks of life to pay homage to con- sumerism, violence, competition, sex appeal and gambling. What other holiday can say that? Christmas and Easter, at least in the- ory, are Christian holidays. New Year's and St. Patrick's Day are nationwide drinking days more than anything else. We have holidays to celebrate the lives of famous dead people (Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day and Columbus Day) and others that, in practice, merely mark the beginning of spring, summer and fall (Groundhog Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day). Thanksgiving already set the prece- dent for holidays built on a football foundation. So why not follow the will of the masses - nearly one BILLION fans worldwide tuned in last night - and show the proper respect for the event that single-handedly taught gen- erations of Americans how to use Roman numerals. nd ha th wei Last night there was an NHL game and a Michigan women's basketball game that took place during the Super Bowl. That is a crime. I don't care what the random number generator said the attendance at Crisler was. The Super Bowl deserves the undivided attention of everyone in America. Here are a few facts compiled by my crack research team that proves just how important this event really is. Six months after Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon, Super Bowl IV drew a higher television audi- ence than that famous moonwalk. More than 130 million Americans tuned in last year to watch former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots upset the St. Louis Rams. That's about 35 million more people than voted during the in our last presidential election - give or take ye fewer a few hanging chads. an Super No weekend during ekend. the year will have fewer weddings than Super Bowl weekend. Sales of big screen televisions increase by 500 percent in the week before the Super Bowl. In 1984, the Super Bowl's half- time was blamed for a water main break in Salt Lake City. While there are no hard facts, it was alleged to have broken because too many people went to the can. According to the American Institute of Food Distribution, the Super Bowl is second only to Thanksgiving in terms of total food consumption. In this one day, nearly 16 million pizzas will be delivered. More than 4,000 tons of popcorn and 15,500 pounds of potato chips will be consumed. And the Califor- nia Avocado Commission issued a press release that claimed Ameri- cans would eat enough guacamole to cover the Super Bowl playing field with a five-foot deep layer from end zone to end zone. I'll take their word on that one. In what might be a related note, sales of antacid tablets increase by 20 percent the day after the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl has everything except its own Charlie Brown special. It is a day that deserves to be marked with red letters on calendars across the country. The American people have spoken. The Super Bowl is destined to be this country's next official holiday. Steve Jackson is the leader of a one-man crack research team. He can be reached at sjackso@tmich.edu. Mazzante tamed by M' defense By Daniel Bromner Daily Sports Writer BIG TEN STANDINGS Conference Overall Team W L W Ohio State 6 1 15 Penn State 6 1 15. Purdue 5 2 16 Wi2 i -T'( 3 ,3 Minnesota 4 3 15 Michigan State 4 3 10 Michigan 2 4 11 Iowa 2 4 10 Indiana 2 5 9 Wisconsin 2 5 4 Northwestern 1 7 6 Weekend results: PENN STATE 72, Michigan 70 Purdue 76, NORTHWESTERN 60 OHIO STATE 74, Iowa 59 ILLINOIS 94, Minnesota 80 Michigan State 64, INDIANA 53 Arizona 62, WISCONSIN 55 L. 3 3 3 7 6 7 8 14 13 For 40 minutes, the Michigan women's basketball team did a tremen- dous job defending All-American guard Kelly Mazzante. But in the end, it was Penn State's other shooters that would end up killing the Wolverines. Mazzante - who is currently third in the nation with 26.1 points per game - managed just 13 points on 6-for-18 shooting Yestbttay's game marked the only time all season that Mazzante "failed to conlect on a 3-point field goal (0-9). "I got open looks, and those are shots I usually make," Mazzante said. "They just weren't falling for me tonight." Penn State's trio of three point snipers - forwards Jessica Brungo, Jess Strom and Jennifer Brenden - combined to scorch the net eight times on 13 attempts. "Everybody knows Mazzante's a shooter," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "But you also know Penn State has a lot of (other) shooters." "Sometimes (losing focus on the other shooters) can be done," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "I think you get fired up to play a kid like Kelly," Brungo kept her team close with all three of her triples coming in a first half in which the Wolverines outplayed the Lady Lions. "Her 3-pointers were big time," Port- land said. , Proving that they can drain it from anywhere on the court, Brungo and Brenden each connected on three point- ers (in the first half) from NBA three point range. This forced the Michigan defense to guard them as far as 25 feet from the basket. "Actually I think for a couple of them, I was wide open," Brungo said. "They were probably concentrating more on Kelly." In an effort to combat Penn State's outside fire, the Wolverines tried giving them some different looks defensively, switching to a zone defense. "I thought for the most part (the zone D) did a pretty good job," Guevara said. "We knew Jessica Brungo can shoot, I know Jennifer Brenden (can shoot). She came in in the first half and hit some shots. That's why we went into the zone." Michigan was able to hold Penn State to just 3-of-10 from behind the arc in the second half, generating some steals that led to easy buckets the other way. A swipe by freshman Rachael Carney led to a Stephanie Gandy layup with 12:29 to go, and Michigan had its biggest lead of the game, 56-43. "Our key as a team is defense," Car- ney said. "Basically, we wanted to keep our hands up the whole time, not allow tem to get any easy shots." In the end, though, stopping the three was not enough for the Wolverines. Penn State was held without a trey in the last nine minutes of the game, but man- aged to pull out the victory when they went inside in the second half. Thursday's games: Michigan at MicHmAN STATE Indiana at IOWA Ohio State at PENN'STATE Purdue at ILUNOIS Wisconsin at NORTHWESTERN Sunday's games: Michigan at WISCONSIN Indiana at PENN STATE Illinois at IOWA Northwestern at MINNESOTA Ohio State at PURDUE 8 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 1-p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. Despite accuracy from line, misses come at bad times By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer 'M' STATS Player G Smith 12 Pool 17 Gandy 17 Bies 17 Reams 15 Goodlow 17 Andrews 17 Hauser-Price 15 Burlin 15 McPhilamy 9 Carney .15 Cortis 9 Min 23.9 28.3 32.3 25.1 25.5 15.6 20.1 12.4 16.2 3.2 12.3 3.0 A 1.1 1.8 1.9 1.2 1.9 1.2 2.9 0.9 1.9 0.0 1.6 0.2 Reb 6.1 7.4 5.2 5.4 2.9 3.0 1.8 0.7 2.2 0.6 0.9 0.4 Pts. 13.4 12.4 12.3 11.9 7.5 5.7 4.6 4.2 2.4 1.0 0.9 0.4 Shooting 18-for-22 from the free throw line in, a game is something most coaches would die for. But during yesterday's 72-20 loss to Penn State, the Michi- gan women's basketball team found out that 81 percent isn't always enough. "I know we shot 81 percent for BASKETBALL the game from the free throw Notebook line," Michigan coach Sue Gue- vara said. "But we had some big, big misses, and you've got to make free throws." Two key misses were from senior captain LeeAnn Bies, a 79-percent free throw shooter on the season. Bies failed to connect on the front end of two one-and- one situations in the second half. On the other hand, freshman Niki Reams was clutch. Despite earlier misses, she remained calm with the game on the line, connecting on two free throws with 22.6 seconds left to pull the score even at 70. Reams was 8-for-8 from the line for the game. OFF AND RUNNING: During the first half of yesterday's game, the Wolverines' offense clicked in ways rarely seen this season. Michigan opened up a 2-0 lead on its second possession on a jumper from Jennifer Smith. Following a steal by Rachael Carney, senior Raina Goodlow connected from inside the paint. Several minutes later, Michigan opened up a 17-11 lead with 13:09 left to play in the first half. "I thought we did a pretty good job of executing our offense," Guevara said. "I thought we were able to get the ball inside out, against their man (defense)." The Michigan offense peaked with 11:07 left in the first half, when a 3-pointer by Smith gave the team an 11-point lead, 22-11. IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED: A key for Penn State -in the second half was its second-chance points. The Lady Lions fought for seven points from offensive boards compared to just one for the Wolverines. "I thought in the second half Penn State did a pretty good job of rebounding their missed shots" Guevara said. "They had some big offensive rebounds." Despite being outrebounded 29-27 for the game, Penn State had six offensive rebounds in the second half, compared to Michigan's tally of just three. BALANCING ACT: Despite coming up short in the end, six Wolverines finished in double figures in the points column for the first time all season - the previous high number of double-digit scorers was four. Carney came up just short of double figures with seven points of her own. "It was balanced scoring, but there wasn't enough of it;" Guevara said. NEXT: MICHIGAN STATE When: 8 p.m. Thursday Where: Breslin Center, East Lanping The Spartans have been a little better than average so far this season, with a 4-3 record in Big Ten play, and they will have the home court advantage Thurs- day night when the Wolverines come to town. FOOD FOR THOUGHT The Vietnam Protesters Truong Nhu Tang, afounder of NICOLLET EILLGER/D a Freshman point guard Rachael Carney sets up on defense against Penn State's Jess Strom. Carney had a career day in points (seven) and assists (five), and had four steals, the team high. I I I :>L'- t on,)ptVVo yep. :I wL.)uu) f VJIIIIII ii ep.toLyep