The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 13, 2003 - 3B

YESTERDAY'S GAME

Turnovers still dogging

M'

STEVE

{A Purdue

52
69

JACKSON

Gueva-rant
"Until we stopturning the ball over,
we're not going to win very many
games in the Big Ten,"- Michigan
coach Sue Guevara, on her team's
inability tocontrTthie ball in Big Ten
play.
Key Stat
22
Turnovers by Michigan, resulting in 25
points for the Boilermakers. Michigan is
averaging 23.7 turnovers through the
three Big Ten losses this season.
Daily's MVP
Lindsey Hicks
The junior forward led the Purdue scor-
ing with a career-high 16 points and
grabbed six boards. Hicks helped build
an early Boilermaker lead, hitting five of
her first seven shots from the field.
YESTERDAY'S GAME
Michigan (52)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Pool 30 5-9 0-0 3-9 0 2 11
Goodlow 18 1-5 0-0 0-0 0 2 2
Smith 29 4-10 3-3 3-7 2 0 11
carney 14 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 3 0
Gandy 28 3-8 0-0 0-4 2 2 8
Cortis 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Andrews 29 3-7 3-3 0-2 0 3 10
Hauser-Price 25 3-3 1-2 0-0 3 2 7
Burlin 6 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Bies 19 1-4 1-2 1-1 3 0 3
McPhilamy 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 200 20.50 810 8.28 1 15 52
FG%: .400. FT%: .800. 3-point FG: 4-10, .400
(Gandy 2-2, Andrews 1-1, Pool 1-4, Goodlow 0-1,
carney 0-2). Blocks: 4 (Pool 2, Goodlow, Bies).
Steals: 11 (Carney 5, Gandy 2, Andrews 2, Bies 2).
Turnovers: 22 (Pool 5, Smith 4, Andrews 4, Gandy
4, Carney 2, Goodlow, Hauser-Price, Bies). Techni-
cal Fouls: none.
PURDUE (69)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Hick~s 27 6-11 4-5 1-6 0 0 16
Wright 32 5-11 5-6 2-5 10 1 15
Noon 21 3-7 0-0 2-3 1 3 6
Jones 24 2-6 0-0 0-2 6 0 4
Valek 32 5-9 1-1 1-3 0 2 12
Taylor 8 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 1
Howard 3 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2
Keys 6 0-3 0-0 1-2 0 0 0
Duncan 1 2-3 0-0 1-2 0 4 4
Webb 21 1-3 2-2 0.1 6 1 4
Heikes 15 2-4 1-1 3-7 0 2 5
Totals 200 26-58 16-1913-35 14 13 69
FG%: .448. FT% .842. 3-point FG: 1-9, .111 (Valek
1-3, Wright 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Jones 0-2, Webb 0-2).
Blocks: 3 (Noon 2, Webb). Steals: 12 (Wright 4,
valek 3, Jones 2, Hicks 2, Heikes). Turnovers: 14
(Valek 6, Webb 6, Wright, Jones). Technical fouls:
none.

By Gennaro Filice
Daily Sports Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE - As the
pregame-warmup clock ticked down to
zero, Purdue Athletic Director Morgan
Burke surfaced at midcourt with a glis-
tening piece of hardware. While the
Boilermakers slowly strolled to the
general vicinity of their bench, Michi-
gan players and coaches hurried back
into the tunnel. The athletic director
then gave a rousing speech, presenting
last year's Big Ten championship tro-
phy to the 11,387 raucous Boilermaker
faithful. The festivities briefly rocked
the crowd, but after a couple minutes,
the basketball-starving fans were ready
for tip-off. Only one problem: There
was no sign of the Maize and Blue.
Following a few moments of confu-
sion, the public address announcer
smoothly preached over the micro-
phone, "We need the Wolverines to
report to the arena please." Seconds
later, Michigan jogged back onto the
court. The Wolverines had shown up to
play, but with the way they took care of
the ball, staying in the lockerroom may
not have been a bad idea.
Michigan (0-3 Big Ten, 9-5 overall)
dropped its third-straight game in a 69-
52 loss to No. 7 Purdue (2-1, 13-2) and
continued to take poor care of the ball,
turning it over 22 times.
The Maize and Blue came out rusty
early in the first half as freshman
Rachel Carney and senior Raina Good-
low threw up consecutive airballs in
the Wolverines' first two possessions.
Michigan tied the game at two in its
third possession when Gandy hit a
midrange jumper. Smith converted an
impressive runner in traffic, knotting
the game at four. Unfortunately, this
was the last time Purdue didn't hold
the lead. The Boilermakers controlled

The sports stories of the
year not seen on ESPN

AP PHOTO
Purdue's Shereka Wright steals the ball from Michigan's Tabitha Pool. It was one
of Michigan's 22 turnovers in yesterday's 69-52 loss.

the next three minutes and produced a
9-0 run quickly making the score 13-4.
The game played evenly for the next
four minutes, and at the 7:50 mark,
Michigan trailed 19-11. After a Purdue
timeout, the Boilermakers ran off anoth-
er 9-0 run and took a 28-11 lead. Michi-
gan gained some ground in the final five
minutes, and freshman Lauren Andrews
hit a jumper, while being fouled at the
buzzer. With no time on the clock,
Andrews converted her free throw and
Michigan faced a 36-24 halftime deficit.
The most telling statistic of the first half,
and especially the two big Purdue runs,
was Michigan's 12 turnovers -- many of

which directly translated into Boiler-
maker fast breaks.
"Until we stop turning the ball over,
giving teams 25-29 points a game off
turnovers, we're not going to win very
many games in the Big Ten," Michigan
coach Sue Guevara said.
Purdue came out strong in the sec-
ond half, creating a 51-28 lead by
outscoring the Wolverines 15-4 in the
first nine minutes. The Boilermakers
coasted the rest of the half, milking
each possession down to the last few
seconds and converting numerous
back-breaking jumpers as the shot
clock expired.

With apologies to the New
England Patriots, Lance
Armstrong and the Rally
Monkey ... In sports, 2002 was the
year of Bobblehead terrorists, sparrow
biters, topless dancers and "The Attack
of the Killer Zambonis."
These aren't the kind of famous
tales that are played over and over for
you on ESPN. There will be no men-
tion of Tiger Woods, Michael Vick,
Kobe Bryant or even John Navarre.
Chances are, you have never seen or
heard any of this before. But that
doesn't make these stories any less
memorable.
Inspired by Sports Illustrated writer
Steve Rushin, I have scoured the
often-scary world of message boards,
websites and talk-radio to collect the
most bizarre and
hilarious sports sto- The Hagerst
ries of 2002. Last Class A aN
week, Rushin penned
his list entitled "The San Fransi
Stuff You Can't Make considered
Up," and in doing so,L
publicized most of my Laden Bobb4
collection.
But despite his best efforts, there
are still a few ridiculous tales yet to
be told.
After Friday night's hockey game,
many Michigan fans are now the proud
owners of Red Berenson Bobblehead
dolls. Rushin pointed out how this
sports marketing craze has now grown
to include religious leaders like Martin
Luther. But he neglected to mention
that just five months after Sept. 11, the
Hagerstown (Md.) Suns, a Class A
affiliate of the San Fransico Giants,
announced an upcoming promotion
called "Osama bin Laden Bobblehead
Giveaway Night."
To be fair, the geniuses behind
this idea had planned for the crowd
to destroy these collectibles en
mass. But the promotion went in the
tank when the Bobblehead's manu-
facturer, Alexander Global Promo-
tions, of Bellevue, Wash., refused to
produce them.
"The answer from us consistently
has been no," the company's
spokesman told The Associated Press.
"The reason is, I think it's tasteless."
Ya think?
While we're on the topic of tasteless,
I should mention Aron Bright, a high
school wrestling coach in suburban
Indianapolis. Apparently, Bright was
not satisfied with the taste of his
mom's home cooking. Why else would
he bite the head off a live sparrow in
front of his team?
Oh ... someone on his team dared
him to do it. That explains everything.

ti
I
leh

"It was innocent fun," Bright told
the AP. The 31-year-old said the stu-
dents who saw the incident "laughed
and laughed. They're still laughing
about it. I think everyone took it as
such - as innocent fun."
Bright - a geography teacher who
still lives with his parents - was sus-
pended for two weeks without pay.
I guess he was just caught up in the
moment like Carla Sanchez of New
York University.
Sanchez and the NYU dance team
were just 15 seconds into their routine
at the national championships in April,
when the plastic snap on her spandex
top inexplicably came undone.
I know what you are thinking: Why
is a two-second boob flash one of the
most memorable sports stories of
2002? Because she did-
wn Suns, a n't pull her top back up!
sate of the Sanchez said she was
concerned that stopping
o Giants, and fixing her outfit
Osama bin would cost her team
,ead Night. points. After the per-
___d__g__ formance, the judges
said that they would
have a made a special exception for her
imitation of Kirsten Dunst in "Bring it
On," and they would not have deducted
any points if she had opted to cover up.
Any red-blooded male can guess
how this story turned out. She danced
topless for two minutes, her team won
its division, and she was declared a
hero.
"That was very brave," co-captain
Carolyn Comparato told USA Today.
"She's a rock star."
Dancing with bare breasts takes a
certain level of athletic skill. So does
avoiding a Zamboni, but not everyone
is as gifted as Miss Sanchez.
According to the University of
Saskatchewan's school paper, Patrick
Guay - a Midget Triple-A hockey
player in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec -
was not swift enough to avoid the giant
ice-clearing machine.
The driver, who was not identified,
took road rage to new levels when he
redirected his Zamboni into a crowd of
19 youth hockey players. Guay was not
seriously hurt, but he did speak to
reporters.
"We gave our rallying cry," Guay
told Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe.
"It is not everyone which saw it com-
ing. We thought that it was going to
stop."
Steve Jackson would like to thank
Google.com's French-English translator
for that last quote. He can be reached at
sjackso@umich.edu.

Michigan........................24
Purdue...........................36

28 -52
33 -69

At: Mackey Arena, West Lafayette
Attendance: 11,387

BIG TEN
Team
Penn State
Ohio State
Minnesota
Purdue
Illinois
Michigan State
Northwestern
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Wisconsin

STANDINGS
Conference Overall
W L W L
4 0 13 3
1 0 10 2
3 1 14 1
3 1 13 2
3 1 11 3
1 1 7 5
1 3 6 8
0 2 7 4
0 2 8 5
0 4 9 5
0 3 2 11

AP PHOTO1

Michigan forward Jennifer Smith struggles for possession with two Purdue players in yesterday's game. Smith lead the
Wolverines in scoring with 1 and pulled down seven rebounds.
Purdue runs fuel easy victory

Weekend results:
PURDUE 69, Michigan 52
MINNESOTA 94, Iowa 65
INDIANA 54, Ohio State 50
ILLINOIS 73, Wisconsin 56
Penn State 79, NORTHWESTERN 63
MICHIGAN STATE 72, Detroit 49

By Josh Holman
Daily Sports Writer

Thursday's games:
Indiana at MICHIGAN STATE
Northwestern at IOWA
Ohio State at WISCONSIN
Penn State at PURDUE
Sunday's games:
Indiana at MICHIGAN
Ohio State at NORTHWESTERN
Illinois at WISCONSIN
Michigan State at PENN STATE
Purdue at MINNESOTA

7 p.m.
7 p.m.
7 p.m.
7 p.m.
2 p.m.
12 p.m.
1:30 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.

'M' STATS

Player G
Smith 9
Pool 14
Gandy 14
Bies 14
Reams 12
Goodlow 14
Andrews 14
Hauser-Price 13
Burlin 13
McPhilamy 8
Cortis 8
Carney 12

Min
24.2
28.6
31.6
24.8
26.8
15.1
21.8
13.1
17.7
3.3
3.0
8.7

A
0.9
1.9
1.9
1.1
2.2
1.0
2.1
1.0
2.1
0.0
0.3
1.0

Reb
6.3
7.5
5.3
5.1
3.2
3.0
2.0
0.7
2.5
0.6
0.4
0.9

Pts.
13.4
13.3
12.2
11.8
8.2
5.1
5.0
4.3
2.8
1.1
0.5
0.4

WEST LAFAYETTE - The Michigan women's basket-
ball team expected to see a high-powered offense from Big
Ten powerhouse Purdue. A great part of the game hinged on
whether the Wolverines could find a way to answer those
runs. Michigan is still looking for that answer.
For the second game in a row, Michigan found itself down
by double digits early in the first half, taking the team out of
its initial game plan for the remainder of the half and, effec-
tively, the remainder of the game.
"We were really looking to push it in transition and get
some easy baskets," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said.
"Everyone's going to make runs throughout the game, but
ours need to be longer."
The Wolverines showed a bit of resilience in the first half,
weathering a pair of 9-0 runs and trailing just 36-24 at the
half. The 12-point deficit was encouraging after the 25-point
hole Michigan had dug itself after the first half of the Illi-
nois game on Jan. 5.
The Boilermakers stomped out any chance of a competi-
tive game, though, opening the second half with two straight
hoops. Michigan coach Sue Guevara called a quick timeout
to try and settle her players down, but the strategy worked to
no avail, as Purdue continued on a 15-4 run, taking the
Wolverines down, if not out.
Perhaps the most glaring reason for these differing results
rested on an old problem that continues to plague Michigan
through conference play. Twenty-two Michigan turnovers
resulted in 25 Boilermaker points.
"We came out in the second half and had six turnovers,"
senior co-captain LeeAnn Bies said. "We kill ourselves.

That will end any run that anyone can put together."
Yesterday's matchup was the third-straight in which the
Wolverines committed 20 or more turnovers in a game.
Sophomore forward Tabitha Pool led the team with five
turnovers, followed by junior forwards Stephanie Gandy and
Jennifer Smith, and freshman guard Lauren Andrews, all of
whom had four.
The recent affinity for losing the ball has forced Guevara to
start making drastic changes in her lineups. Freshman guard
Rachel Carney made her first career start while Bies came off
the bench for the first time this season. Guevara tried every-
thing from a four forward set to smaller lineups in which Bies
and Smith barely shared any time on the court at all.
"I'm trying to find that special combination of players
that won't turn the ball over," Guevara said.
The turnover problem was just one of the many things that
took Michigan out of their gameplan, ensuring the final result
well before the final buzzer for the third consecutive game.
Michigan only managed to make it to the free-throw line ten
times in the game, not nearly enough for the power game they
have become accustomed to running with Bies and Smith.
Purdue junior Lindsey Hicks also exploded for 16 points
after struggling in her past few games. Her unexpected per-
formance may have resulted from the threat of All-America
candidate Shereka Wright, who the Wolverines were keying
on most of the game.
Add 11,387 screaming fans in Mackey Arena onto that,
and it's no wonder that Michigan's offense continued to
function in such disarray.
"We actually cut the turnovers down from 30 to 22. So
it's in the right direction, but it's still way too many," Bies
said. "We'll just keep running in practice. If you turn it
over, you run."

Field-goal percentage leaders
Hauser-Price 21-31 d.677
Smith 44-76 .579
3-point percentage leaders
Gandy 17-34 .500
Pool 18-38 .474
Free-throw percentage leaders

Crisler could help Big Ten woes

Smith
Goodlow 1
Blocks leaders
Bies
Pool, Goodlow
Steals leaders
Gandy
Bies, Andrews
Turnover leaders
Pool

31-37
15-18

.838
.833

By Gennaro Filice
and Josh Holman
Daily Sports Writers

17
10
22
16
61

1.2
0.7
1.6
1.4
4.4

WEST LAFAYETTE - Michigan's
0-3 start in confer-
ence play is the BASKETBALL
team's worst start Notebook
in Big Ten play Nte____
since the 1998-99

similar results, going 8-8 in the Big
Ten and exiting the second round of
the WNIT.
While history speaks against the
team, the future looks a little bit
brighter for the Wolverines, who now
host three conference games in a row.
Michigan can also take some solace in
the fact that yesterday's game against
Pnrdue was its final regular-season

Guevara said. "Obviously when their
team gets on a run, that's a sixth player
that is a great asset."
LACK OF HACKs: In Michigan's 13
games prior to yesterday's matchup,
the Wolverines made 201 free throws
- six more than their opponents
attempted (195). Against the Boiler-
makers, Michigan made it to the
charitv striae iust 10) times (convert-

L1 Y.'7