The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 25, 2002 - 7B
No. 1 Texas falls to 'M' tankers
Swoosh
I
By Jake Rosenwasser
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's swimming and
diving team responded to the pressure of
competing against top-ranked Texas with
a shocking road victory. The fifth-ranked
Wolverines edged the defending NCAA
champion Longhorns 123-120 in a very
competitive meet.
"It was exciting from start to finish.
There was never more than a few
points separating each team," Michi-
gan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "This
is what college swimming should be
with two of the top programs facing
each other like this. It brought out the
best in both teams."
Michigan trailed by a slim margin
going into the final event of the night
- the 400-yard freestyle relay. The
foursome of Garrett Mangieri, Chris
Dejong, Peter Vanderkaay and Dan
Ketchum came through when it mat-
tered most and clinched the win for the meet without the help of one exceptional ..
Wolverines. Urbanchek had nothing but diving performance. Jason Coben placed
praise for Ketchum. first in both the 1-meter and 3-meter div- b
"Dan was instrumental in our victory ing events. , .j
tonight," Urbanchek said. "He knew the "Jason dove really well tonight," div- 'r...E
pressure was on our team in the final event, ing coach Chris Bergere said. "He knewx° .f.
and he anchored our team to the win." the pressure was on, and he dives better
To win the meet, Michigan had to rely knowing his team needs him to do it. I
on its long distance swimming, one of its think the rest of the team fed off his con-
strengths against a formidable Texas fidence, and it helped them to dig down
team. Michigan swimmers placed first, deep and pull this one out."
second and third in both the 500-yard Prior to this meet, Texas had blown
and 1,000-yard freestyle events. Van- out all of its competition. The Long-
derkaay, Andrew Hurd and Brendan horns also had received all but one first-
Neligan finished in the top three spots in place vote in last week's national poll, .
each of those races. Vanderkaay won the not to mention the fact that they havet
500-yard race while Neligan took the won the last two NCAA championships.t
1,000-yard race. The win is Michigan's first over
"We capitalized on our strengths Texas in its last four meets against the
and that is our distance events," Longhorns.
Urbanchek said. "We had to do that to On Saturday the teams squared off again
keep us in the meet as they are a very in an exhibition event. Michigan showed DANNY MOLOSHOK/Dail,
good sprinting team." that Friday's competition was no fluke by With a win in the 400-yard freestyle - the final event Friday night - the
Michigan could not have won the dual beating Texas in six of nine events. Wolverines edged No. 1 Texas 123-120.
f4Unchecked Smith hurts Jays
By Gennaro Filce
Daily Sports Writer
"Tonight, you saw point guard by
committee. You look in the post, we
had post-play by committee. You
look out on the perimeter, at our
two's and three's, it was perimeter
play by committee."
As well evidenced by Michigan
women's
basketball CREIGHTON 75
coach Sue
Guevara's MICHIGAN 66
words, the
Wolverines defeated Creighton 75-
66 by using a team-by-committee
approach in their season opener.
"I had the luxury of playing 10
people tonight," Guevara said. "I
told the team that it's really encour-
aging to me to be able to look down
the bench, and play people I know
are going to come in and make a
difference."
Utilizing their depth, the Wolver-
ines kicked off their season with a
convincing win over a solid
Creighton team, which won the Mis-
souri Valley Conference and
advanced to the NCAA Tournament
last season.
Although the word of the night
was synergy, the first 10 minutes of
the game were the "Jennifer Smith
Show." When Smith, a junior center,
subbed out at the 9:39 mark, she
had individually outscored the Blue
Jays 14-11 (Michigan held a 24-11
lead). Guevara believes that Smith's
early dominance may have caught
Creighton by surprise.
"We exchanged tapes with
Creighton," Guevara said. "I don't
know if you remember, but (Smith)
was 2-of-13 against the Dominican
Republic, so if I'm watching that
tape, I'm thinking, 'Well, I might
not have to worry a whole lot.' But
she did a good job of running,
catching and finishing."
Besides Smith, Michigan received
a very large contribution in the first
half from junior Stephanie Gandy.
The energetic forward came off the
bench, and contributed 11 points in
13 minutes.
Although the Wolverines played an
impressive first 20 minutes,
Creighton hung in the game, mostly
due to guard Dayna Finch and her 14
first-half points (27 for the game). At
halftime Michigan led 39-26.
Although they had handled the
Blue Jays' full-court press in the
first half, at the beginning of the
second half, Michigan crumbled
under the pressure.
"We were being kind of lack-
sadaisical with the ball, not hanging
onto it like we should, not ball-fak-
ing like we should and that's exactly
what coach Guevara told us," Smith
said. "She told us to settle down,
take our time, ball-fake and do all
the little things."
The Wolverines regained their
composure, and weathered the Blue
Jays' storm.
But eight minutes into the half,
Creighton was still threatening.
Guevara then turned to freshman
Lauren Andrews, and the guard gave
turnover-happy Michigan the need-
ed stability at the point.
"We put her in at the 12-minute
mark, and she gave us 12 really,
really good minutes," Guevara said.
"That is one of the things we talk to
the kids about a lot: 'Make the most
of your minutes,' and she got that
steal right away and converted the
three-point play. She also did a good
job of handling the pressure down
the stretch."
Late in the game, the Blue Jays
made a run, and found themselves
down just 69-63, with possession.
But senior LeeAnn Bies delivered
the final blow as she blocked a Finch
3-point attempt, and hit two free
throws in the ensuing possession, giv-
ing the Wolverines a 71-63 lead that
they wouldn't relinquish.
"We definitely have things to
work on, but I think we looked good
out there, and this was a key game
for us to start our season off,"
Gandy said.
FRIDAY'S GAME
Creighton (66)
FG FT RED
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Wessling 23 0-4 0-0 042 0 3 0
Burns 22 2-7 00 2-3 1 5 6
Spanheimer 31 1-6 0-0 2-5 3 3 2
Neneman 24 4-15 4-4 1-4 1 5 12
Finch 36 10-18 0-0 1-4 2 4 27
Rochelle 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Woodard 12 2-2 0-0 0-1 1 1 4
Erickson 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Ferguson 1 0-0 0-0 1-1 1 0 0
Walk er 19 0-3 2-2 3-4 2 2 2
Janis 15 2-6 2-2 2-3 0 2 6
Hoffman 13 2-3 1-2 0-3 0 3 5
Totals 200 2465 9-10 14311128 66
FG%: .369. FT%: .900. 3-point FG: 9-24, .375
((Finch 7-13, Burns 2-5, Neneman 0-4, Spanheimer
0-2). Blocks: None. Steals: 13 (Spanheimer 5, Nen-
eman 3, Finch 3, Walker 2). Turnovers: 18 (Janis 4,
Walker 3, Wessling3, Burns 2, Finch 2 Span-
heimer, Neneman, Woodard, Hoffman). frchnIcal
fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (75)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Pool 19 1-6 1-2 0-4 3 3 3
Smith 33 7-11 6-6 1-6 2 1 21
Bies 26 4-6 3-4 2-6 1 3 11
Reams 29 3-7 1-2 2-4 1 0 8
Burin 21 1-3 00 0-4 5 2 2
Andrews 12 1-1 6-9 1-3 0 1 8
HauserreH C7 0-0 1-2 0.2 0 0 1
Carney 7 0-1 0-1 1-1 0 1 0
Goodlow 15 3-6 2-2 1-3 1 1 8
Gandy 31 4-5 4-5 1-3 2 1 13
Totals 200 24-46 24-33 9-37 15 13 75
FG%: .522. FT%: .727. 3-point FG: 3-6,_500
(Reams 1-2, Gandy 1-1, Smith 1-1, Burlin 0-1, Car-
ney 0-1)). Blocks: 6 (Bies 3, Goodlow 2, Gandy).
Steals: 7 (Pool 4, Gandy 2, Andrews). Turnovers: 21
(BDuriin 5, Biles 4, Pool 3, Gandy 3, Smith, Reams,
Andrews, Hauser-Price, Carney, Goodlow). Technical
fouls: none.
Creigton ................26 40 - 66
Michigan..................39 36 - 77
At: Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor
Attendance: 1,101
Blue is
thii rd at
Nike Cu
By Steven Shears
Daily Sports Writer
Most of the time, third place is rather
unconvincing. But this past weekend,
Michigan women's swimming and div-
ing team showed that third place is just:
a small starting block in its race for a
successful season in the water.
Michigan captured that spot in a field
of 10 teams at the Nike Cup in Chapel r
Hill, N.C. Many Wolverines accom-
plished career-best performances and
the team admits how far it has come u
from last season.
"We didn't have these types of results
last year' coach Jim Richardson said. "I
think any time you can swim faster than 7
you've ever swam in your life, that is
exceptional."
Many strong swimmers completed
record times that were faster than last
year's NCAA Championships qualifica-
tion standards. This already puts a num-
ber of swimmers in consideration for
this year's championships, including
Amy McCullough, who is guaranteed a
trip to Auburn, Ala. with a 1:46.89 time
in the 200-yard freestyle. Other season-
best performances were recorded by
Erin Abbey in the 100-yard backstroke
(55.17), Kelli Stein in the 100-yard
breaststroke (1:02.26) and Anne Weil-
bacher in the 100-yard butterfly (54.20).
In addition, the Wolverines broke a
Nike Cup record in the 400-yard med-
ley relay. Again it was McCullough,
Abbey, Stein and Weilbacher shattering
the record by more than four seconds.
While these team leaders were com-
pleting career-best times, the Wolver-
ines admit that they are still far from
their peak this early in the season.
"We have a few relays that are excel-
lent," Richardson said. "However, we
need to get the other relays going at
high levels in order to be in contention
down the road. We have people swim-
ming faster they have ever been in their
lives, but our number one priority is to
have the whole team accomplish great
performances. We are swimming good,
but we want to be better than good.
An important part of this success
from the bottom up starts with the fresh- -
men, and the Nike Cup showed that
Michigan's young swimmers are ready
to handle that-task. Freshman Abby
Seskevics helped the 200-yard freestyle
relay team to a second-place finish. She
was also utilized as an anchor leg in the
400-yard medley relay, a position usual-
ly given to upperclassmen.
"As the meet went on, you could see
Seskevics' deep determination,"
Richardsonwsaid. "She has the courage
to do what we need?'
While a few swimmers will be com-
peting in the U.S. Open on December 5-
7, the next meet for the team will be the
Rainbow Invitational in Honolulu,
Hawaii on Jan. 2. From now on, the
team's training regimen will become
more strenuous as the swimmers will be
focused on progression in hopes of their
ultimate goal: "We want to swim scary
fast and rip the lid off the competition
this year," Richardson said.
Coming off the bench, junior Stephanie Gandy scored 11 points in 13 minutes and
helped Michigan beat Creighton 75-66.
Off bench, freshman Andrews makes impact
Full-court press nearly costs Wolverines; Michigan newcomer leaves team
By Brian Schick
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan women's basketball coach Sue Guevara
knew heading into this season that the play of her
freshmen would be an important factor for the Wolver-
ines, but she probably didn't expect them to have an
impact in the very first game.
In Friday's contest against Creighton, four freshmen
combined for 69 minutes and 18
points in their first regular season BASKETBALL
action. Whether off the bench or Notebook
from the starting lineup, every
player made her minutes count.
Guard Mie Burlin started for the Wolverines, and
led the team with five assists in the first half, mostly
feeding forward Jennifer Smith in the post. Guard
Niki Reams led all freshmen with 29 minutes, and
committed just one turnover throughout the game.
Guevara indicated that she liked rotating several play-
ers into the lineup, and rotating guards in and out was
a key to beating the Blue Jays.
"Tonight you saw point guard by committee," Gue-
vara said. "If that's what it takes (to win) this season,
that's what we'll do."
Perhaps the biggest impact came from guard Lauren
Andrews.
Coming off the bench at the 12-minute mark in the
second half, the Wolverines had been struggling to
find the rhythm from their first half. As soon as
Andrews came in, she stole a pass, ran coast-to-coast
for a layup, got fouled and completed the three-point
play. The effects were immediate as Michigan began
to attack the basket again.
Andrews also remained in the game during the wan-
ing minutes as Creighton cut into the Wolverines lead,
but Michigan held on for a nine-point win.
"When Lauren Andrews came in for us in the sec-
ond half, she made a huge difference for us," Guevara
said. "She also did a good job of handling their pres-
sure down the stretch."
PRESSING CONCERN: In the early minutes of both
halves, Creighton came out with an aggressive full-
court press, which forced several Michigan turnovers
and resulted in quick points. The first two Michigan
possessions in the first half resulted in two turnovers.
The only saving grace for Michigan was that
Creighton didn't score very often in the first half,
which didn't allow them to press.
"If we could score and get into our press, we would
have a lot more success than we did," Creighton coach
Jim Flanery said.
In the second half, the press was much more effec-
tive. The Blue Jays opened the half on a 9-0 run, and
ended up cutting the 13-point halftime lead down to
three. Had it not been for Andrews' entrance to the
game, Creighton might have taken the lead.
"(Our turnovers in the second half) made this game
too close for comfort," Guevara said. "We had (numer-
ous) unforced errors."
HAPPY TRAis: Guevara announced Friday that fresh-
man guard Stephanie Douglas officially quit the team.
One of six freshmen on the roster this season, Douglas
did not play last week in the exhibition game against
the Dominican Republic national team.
"While we hate to see any player leave the program
after spending just over two months here, we really
wish her the best," Guevara said.
No REST FOR THE WEARY: The Wolverines only had
two days to rest and prepare for tonight's game against
California-Santa Barbara. Guevara predicts that hav-
ing a deep bench will allow her team to be fresh after
an unusually short break between games.
"We turn around and play Santa Barbara (tonight),
and I have people that I can rotate," she said.
"I'll be anxious to see if we are
sas State in going to have anything left in our
ament today tank, not necessarily physically, but
ng from the the emotional tank of our team right
is. now," Amaker said.
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Continued from Page 113
Senior LaVell Blanchard shot a dis-
mal 1-for-12 from the field, including
missing all six of his shots from
behind the arc. Blanchard's perform-
ance was indicative of the whole team,
which connected on just three of its 18
attempts from 3-point land - all hit by
freshman point guard Daniel Horton.
Before the season started, Amaker
tabbed Blanchard as the team's best
worker and best player. So as Blan-
chard goes, Michigan goes, and last
night neither went well at all.
"We're not going to be competitive
or have a chance to win if we can't get
solid play and offensive production
from (Blanchard)," Amaker said. "Not
to put it all on his shoulders, and I'm
not blaming him, but just being
absolutely honest. We can't be a team
that is going to expect to win if we
can't get him to score."
One of the few bright spots of the
where the game was never in ques-
tion. Blanchard dropped in 21
points, but the Wolverines were out-
matched early on and could never
get back into the game after trailing
YESTERDAY'S GAME
Virginia Tech (65)
54-34 at the half.
Michigan will face Kan:
the final round of the tourna
to try and salvage somethin
weekend in the Virgin Island
First Presbyterian Church
662-4466
Contact Graham Baird for details:
grahamjbaird@aol.com
The!
Ann Arbor
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Matthews 21 2-4 1-3 4-8 1 5 6
Thompkins 28 1-7 01 2-5 3 3 2
Taylor 31 7-13 9-10 2-5 0 3 23
Chase 27 0-2 2-3 0-2 4 2 2
Dixon 38 7-15 1-2 0-3 0 2 20
Branham 16 1-2 1-2 0-2 1 1 3
Davis 11 2-2 0-0 0.1 1 2 5
Galloway 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Harris 8 2-6 0-1 2-2 0 0 4
McCandies 14 0-2 0-0 1-3 1 2 0
Team 6-8
Totals 200 22.53 14-2217-3911i21 65
FG%: .415. FT%: .636. 3-point FG: 7-13, 2538
(Dixon 5-7, Matthews 1-2, Davis 1-1, Chase 0-2,
Harris 0-1). Biocks: 7 (hompkins 6, Dixon). Steals:
4 (Thompkins, Chase, Dixon, McCandies).
Turnovers: 10 (Branham 3, Matthews 2, Taylor 2,
Thompkins, Harris, Team). Technical fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (53)
FG FT RED
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Robinson 35 2-9 8-9 3-7 3 2 12
Blanchard 29 1-12 4-4 0-5 1 3 6
Hunter 20 3-7 0-0 2-4 1 3 6
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