The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 10, 2003 - 38 FRIDAYS'S GAME Nowhere to go but up for Blue STEVE 4 Michigan Purdue 50 72 JOSH IoLMAN ON WOMEN'S HOOPS JACKSON Gueva-rant "I certainly didn't see this, and it's not something I want to experience again,"- Michigan coach Sue Gue- vara's final thoughts on her team's dis- appointing collapse. Key Stat 50 Michigan's offensive output, the sec- ond lowest total of the season. After scoring 83 the previous day against Illi- nois, the 43-point turnaround was as puzzling is the rest of their season. Stat of the Season .500 Michigan went 8.0 when they made more than half their shots. Unfortunate- ly, the Wolverines only shot 40.6 per- cent against Big Ten teams this season. Daily's Season MVP jennifer Snhth Smith has been one of the few bright spots for the Wolverines this season. An Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selec- tion, she finishes the season leading the team in points, field goal percent- age and three-point percentage. FRIDAY'S GAME MIchIgan (50) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Pool 24 3-14 0-4 2-9 3 0 6 Gandy 30 5-11 1-2 1-4 1 1 11 Smith 30 5-10 5-5 1-4 0 1 15 Carney 22 0-4 0-0 0-1 2 3 0 Reams 28 1-6 1-2 5-9 0 3 3 Andrews 14 2-5 0-0 0-1 3 1 4 Hauser-Price 12 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 2 Goodlow 9 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 3 Burlin 8 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 Bies 23 1-2 2-2 0-0 1 4 4 Totals 200 20-6 9-15 12-3414s15 50 FG%: .328. FT%: .600. 3-polat FG: 1-7, .143 (Good- low 14, Pool 0-2, Bies 0.1, Burlin 0.1, Carney 0-1, Smith 0-1). Blocks: 5 (Gandy 2, Andrews, Bies, Smith). Steals: 11 (Pool 3, Bies 2, Gandy 2, Andrews, Goodlow, Hauser-Price, Reams). Turnovers: 15 (Pool 4, Carney 3, Andrews, Burlin, Gandy, Goodlow, Hauser-Price, Reams, Smith). Technical Fouls: none. PURDUE (72) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Hicks 27 3-7 0-0 1-4 5 1 6 Wright 30 3-10 57 1-8 4 0 12 Noon 21 6-11 0-0 3-8 1 4 12 Jones 23 2-3 2-2 0-0 2 2 8 Valek 32 7-14 2-2 2-5 1 1 19 Taylor 14 0-2 0-0 0-3 2 2 0 Howard 2 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Keys 4 0-0 0-0 00 0 0 0 Duncan 11 2-3 0-0 2-3 0 2 4 Webb 20 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 1 3 Heikes 16 4-7 0-0 0-5 0 1 8 Totals 200 28-59 91i11-43 1814 72 FG%: .475. FT%: .818. 3-pont FG: 7-11 636 (Valek 3-4, Jones 2-3, Webb 1-1, Wright 1-1). Blocks: 4 (Hicks, Noon, Webb, Wright). Steals: 7 (Hicks 2, Wright 2, Duncan, Heikes, Webb). Turnovers: 15 (Valek 4, Webb 4, Jones 2, Noon 2, Duncan, Hicks, Taylor). Technical fouls: none. Michigan .............23 27-- 50 Purdue ......................35 37 - 72 At: conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis Attendance: 5,743 ' M' STATS It was an unflattering end to an unflattering season. No. 12 Purdue handily finished off the Michigan women's bas- ketball team, 72-50, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tour- nament on Friday. There is no shame in losing to Purdue - a team that could walk away with the Big Ten title tonight in Indi- anapolis and can certainly look forward to more success in the NCAA Tournament - but shame may have been the prevailing feeling among Michigan players, coaches, fans and media. The Michigan family Wasn't ashamed that Michigan couldn't topple the mighty Boilermakers. It was ashamed because any chance that the Wolverines had of redeeming themselves this season had ended, along with one of the darkest chapters in the program's history. "It's disappointing. I don't think there's any doubt about that," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "I certain- ly didn't see this, and it's not something that I want ,to experience again." The 2002-03 basketball season was a failure in one aspect or another. Not one member of Michigan would say other- wise. Someone may try and spin some of the positives that came from it, but the fact remains that this team came nowhere close to reaching the goals set for itself at the outset of the season. But that's a fact that everyone knows, so why continue to pound it down everyone's throat? There's no way to figure out why this team imploded, otherwise Guevara would have fixed it ages ago. Guevara said herself after the team's 67-38 loss to North- western that a lesson should be learned after every loss, and rest assured, Michigan will learn those lessons and pick up the pieces next year, because there's nothing else to do. For starters, this team will grow up. The Wolverines were composed of five freshmen this year,.two of whom started much of the season. But while the quantity of play may have been consistent, the quality of play was not. Guevara echoed this observation following Friday's game. It was obvious to everyone that the team that had shocked Illinois 83-59 on Thursday was not the same a day later. "It was what's been haunting us all season," Guevara said. "It was just the inconsistency from one game to the next." Experience breeds consistency, but it also spawns another attribute that may have been sorely missed on this year's team - leadership. Senior co-captains LeeAnn Bies and Raina Goodlow will ride into the sunset following a season that treated nei- ther of them very kindly. Bies was demoted to the bench at ,the start of the Big Ten season, and Goodlow only aver- aged 14.8 minutes per game all year. It begs the question, how effective a leader can you be if you're not given the opportunity to lead? By the end of the season, junior Jennifer Smith had become the most consistent performer and a model for the young players to follow. Guevara alluded to the fact last week when asked about how the freshmen would handle their first collegiate postseason. Instead of crediting the seniors, Gue- vara said it would help the youngsters by watching how Smith handled herself. Her fellow senior captain next season will likely be. Stephanie Gandy, normally the most vocal and emotional Wolverine on the court, and also the team leader in min- utes played. Even if those two don't live up to expectations, Michigan should have no problem investing some trust into freshman Rachael Carney. She has received nothing but praise from players and coaches since she took over the starting point guard role. This season was more than just turnovers and poor shoot- ing. The problems Michigan experienced ran deeper than the hole it sat in at the bottom of the Big Ten, but there's still a chance to correct them. The tools are there. There's no need to pull the plug on this team just yet. The program may have looked terminally ill after a handful of losses, but if you check, it still has a faint pulse. Pres deserves much of blame in Bonnie scandal ccording to americancatholic.org, the real St. Bonaventure was a oly man with great intelligence and determination. After overcoming a terrible childhood illness, he went on to become one of the greatest Franciscan theologians of the 13th century. But sadly, people are now calling him the patron saint of quitters because the men's basketball team at the university baring his name voted to go on spring break this week in lieu of playing their final two games. As a result of an NCAA violation (playing an academically ineligible player), the team was forced by the Atlantic 10 to forfeit its two remaining conference games and sit out of the upcoming conference tournament. In the national media onslaught that has descended upon the quaint town of Olean, N.Y., the word "quitter" has been plastered over this school like a dozen buckets of paint'hurled against a brick wall. The place is literally dripping with it at this point, which is bad news when you realize that the sports world reserves a special place in hell for its quitters. Drug users? It coddles them and gives them a chance to reform - that is if they face meaningful testing at all. Wife Beaters? Rapists? Their actions are all too often simply ration- alized away. Coaches that backstab their recruits and take jobs in the NFL? Apparently, that is part of the business. Power forwards for the Sacramento Kings that lie to grand juries? Judges allow them to finish their season before standing trial. Day after day, we support and defend the most vile, selfish, me-first schleps in the athletic biosphere, but the Bon- nies are shoved down to the lowest, darkest possible corner of existence because they made one emotional choice that never should have been an option to them. Don't get the wrong idea. I don't agree with the players' choice. No one does. If the 1970 Marshall football team can find a way to field a squad after a plane crash killed most of the team, I'm sure the school had other options. But lambasting the "quitters" con- stantly, as the mass media has done, misses the point and ignores the real causes of the insanity at St. Bonaventure: corrupt President Robert Wickenheiser. We are preconditioned to think that NCAA violations are caused by some combination of selfish athletes, sleazy coaches, and greedy athletic directors. We immediately assume that the univer- sity president will be the one person with his priorities in the right order. Not so in this case. The ineligible player in question, 6- foot-8 junior Jamil Terrell, failed to meet academic standards when he transferred last year from Coastal Geor- gia Community College. So how did he get in with just a weld- ing certificate and no high school diplo- ma? Wickenheiser made it happen. According to local newspaper reports, Wickenheiser and head coach Jan van Brenda Kooff formed an alliance to sidestep the university's tra- ditional recruiting avenues to admit ath- letes with questionable eligibility. Sources told the Buffalo News that Terrell was not the only player to have his transcripts approved by Wickenheis- er, and other players on the team might not have been accepted if Barbara Questa, the director of compliance, had the final say. St. Bonaventure pushed the registrar at Terrell's junior college to send a letter stating that his credentials were some- thing more than what they were. When that didn't work, Wickenheiser, who also has a son on the coaching staff, overrode the recommendations of the school's compliance officers and ordered Terrell's admission. This scandal is as gross and blatant a case of lack of administrative control as the NCAA has ever seen. Wickenheiser is supposed to be the president of a Franciscan university with nearly 150 years of integrity. Instead, he is fool that embarrasses his institution with wildly profane rants at officials from his courtside seat. Instead, he is cheater that has shown complete disregard for the NCAA's aca- demic standards. Yesterday, Wickenheiser resigned after the St. Bonaventure Board of Trustees met and unanimously asked for his resignation. The board also placed van Brenda Kloff and Athletic Director Gothard Lane on administrative leave. Much has been made about what should be done with the St. Bonaventure quitters. Tony Kornheiser called for their scholarships to be rescinded on his ESPN show "Pardon the Interruption" The Atlantic 10 is also considering kick- ing the program out of the conference. But while the players need to bare the consequences for their mistake; no one should lose track of the presiden- tial snake that is really responsible for this mess. Freshman Mie Burlin made her share of starts earlier this season, such as the Creighton game. The freshmen will have to grow up soon if the Wolverines hope to avoid a repeat performance of this year's dismal season. BOILERS Continued from Page 1B with a game-high 19 points. Purdue nailed seven threes, including three by Valek. But what caught Guevara's eye was center Mary Jo Noon, who record- ed 12 points and eight rebounds. "She did a nice job getting us in the low post," Guevara said. "We were successful the last time we defended her. This time she did a nice job of using her body in scoring." Noon stands at an opposing 6-foot- 5, and used her brute size to dominate Michigan on the interior. "It was very physical (in the post)," Guevara said. "If you looked at Jen- nifer Smith, she got the tar kicked our of her, and she got tired because it was so physical" The loss marks the fourth straight year that Purdue has eliminated Michi- gan from the Big Ten Tournament. Although it is Guevara's first losing season at Michigan, she remains opti- mistic and looks forward to next year. "The good thing about (finishing with a losing record) is that with the players that are coming back, they cer- tainly understand the toughness that we have to have, how much better we have to be as far as being consistent and scoring and how much they have to work on their games in the offsea- son," Guevara said. Player G Smith 24 Pool 29 B ies 29 Gandy 29 Reams 27 Goodlow 29 Andrews 28 Hauser-Price 26 Burlin 27 Carney 27 McPhilamy 14 Cortis 12 Min 27.7 27.5 23.4 30.3 25.9 14.8 16.3 11.2 14.1 16.6 2.9 3.0 A 0.7 1.6' 1.1 1.9 2.1 1.2 1.5 0.7 1.2 2.0 0.0 0.2 Reb 6.5 6.9 5.0 4.7 3.4 2.6 1.5 0.5 1.6 1.1 0.6 0.3 Pts. 14.6 11.0 10.4 9.2 7.9 5.2 3.7 3.1 2.1 1.1 1.1 0.7 Steve Jackson can be reached at sjjackso@umich.edu. Difference between two tourney games is night and day Rachael Carney feeling more comfortable on the court after Big Ten season grind, looking forward to next season By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer Yesterday's results: No. 4 Ohio State 72, No. 1 PENN STATE 61 No. 3 PURDUE 84, No. 7 Iowa 57 INDIANAPOLIS - After looking like a dif- ferent team Thursday, the Michigan women's basketball team fell back to resembling its old self and was bounced from the Big Ten Tourna- Friday's results: No.3 PURDUE 72, No. 11 Michigan 50 No. 1 PENN STATE 67, No. 8 Indiana 64 No. 7 Iowa 80, No. 2 MINNESOTA 77 No. 4 OHIo STATE 71, No. 5 MSU 55 UPCOMING 2003-2004 The Wolverines enter the offseason after concluding a 13-16 season - the worst of Sue Guevara's coaching career. Michigan's streak of five con- secutive postseason appearances will come to an end following its early Big Ten Tournament exit. ment by Purdue on Friday. In Michigan's 83-59 win over No. 6 seed Illinois on Thursday, the No. 11 seed Wolverines shot the lights out by Michigan stan- dards, hitting on 57 percent of their shots from the floor, an , 1 UY o Illinois, giving Michigan different looks defen- sively. Playing a zone following made baskets and man-to-man following misses offensively frustrated the Wolverines. The different looks defensively appeared to rattle Michigan all night long. "If we were going to do a good job defending the high-low, then we had to keep them off bal- ance as far as what we were doing defensively," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. "We had to make sure we kept (Michigan) out of tempo and out of rhythm. The girls executed the game plan really well." Purdue also utilized a variety of double teams out of its different defenses to slow Michigan's post players. The Boilermakers allowed Smith to score just 15 points. Bies became a virtual non-factor, scoring only four points. Her only field goal came with 2:56 remaining on the clock, when Purdue appeared to pull up on the reigns. Purdue was playing so well defensively that it was able to adjust at halftime to turn Michigan's best weapon - guard Stephanie Gandy - into another non-factor in the second half. Gandy came out quickly, scoring 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first half. But she was limited to just one point in the second half, missing all four of her field goal attempts from the field. "(We wanted to) just limit her touches and do a better job in transition," Curry said. "She was getting it more in the open court, and that was a concern coming in." Mary Jo Noon, Purdue's 6-foot-7 center, also did a good job defensively on Gandy. "In the second half, (Gandy) looked to pene- trate to the basket," Guevara said. "And she was penetrating into Mary Jo Noon, or into three people, and it's pretty tough to score one-on- three." DISHING IT ouT: Michigan guard Rachael Car- ney finished Thursday's win over Illinois with seven assists, a season high for any Michigan player. "; didn't really shoot at all," Carney said. "Basically, I was just looking to get it inside, because Jen (Smith) and (LeeAnn) Bies were playing an unbelievable game"' At one point in the middle of a 23-0 second half run by the Wolverines, the team turned the ball over twice in arow on ill-advised passes down the court when Guevara wanted her team to slow the tempo down. On the next play, after a Michigan steal, Carney received the ball, and she gathered herself in the backcourt before heading towards the other end. This move exemplified Carney's tremendous poise for a freshman. "We wanted to keep pushing it because we were getting so excited about scoring," she said. "Basically, we had to realize that we had the lead, and we needed to slow it down, so that's just what I did." Carney has been solid at the point since she took over the starting role in the middle of Janu- ary, and she feels like she's gotten even more comfortable running things as the season has progressed. "I think it's just kind of continued the whole season," Carney said. "Each game we've had, I've gotten more confident, so basically, the more you play, the more practice you get, the better you become." improvement over the team's abysmal 43-percent mark on the season. For the first time all season, Michigan's two strongest post players, Jennifer Smith and LeeAnn Bies, both scored over 20 points each and played the high-low game to perfection. Freshman Niki Reams also added 17 points and missed only one of her eight field goal attempts. Friday was a different story. Purdue defended the high-low game much more effectively than I. The Most Important Exam You'll Ever Take At U of M I All exce~1 j ~e m _w'nv Quicken Loans and Rock Financial are "All of the above." 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