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6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 1, 2003
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With Bies gone, Smith emerges
OY Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Writer
Ladies and Gentlemen: Introducing
the new Jennifer Smith.
Smith never scored more than 30
points in a single game during her
first three years on the Michigan
women's basketball team.
She's scored 30-plus points twice
in the past seven games - most
recently 30 on Friday against No. 5
Texas Tech in the first round of the
SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic in
Dallas - a career effort that fell
short as her Wolverines lost, 74-61.
But her game-high 24 points on
Saturday night in the consolation
match against Texas-Arlington led the
Wolverines over the Lady Mavs, 68-
51.
Smith's recent emergence could be
due to the departure of center
LeeAnn Bies, whose presence pre-
vented Smith from consistently play-
ing her natural position.
After three seasons of alternating
between center, power forward and
the bench, Smith has maximized her
potential at center, a permanent
switch made by first-year coach
Cheryl Burnett.
The 6-foot-4 senior has doubled
her per-game offensive production
from a year ago.
Last season, Smith averaged 14
points on eight shots and three free-
throw attempts per game.
This season, she averages 23 points
on 15 shots and nine free-throw
attempts per game.
Smith paced the Wolverines this
past weekend in Dallas, competing on
a national stage, a spotlight that
proved to be a little too bright.
Despite losing to depth-laden Texas
Tech the night before, the Wolverines
played one of their best halves of the
MCCOLLOUGH
Continued from Page 1B
ones you never thought you'd get to
have as high school kept going and
going and going.
There are times I yearn to be a fresh-
man again, with that "nobody can stop
me" mentality, if only for a night.
Never again will you rumble out of
your dorm on a weekend evening with
15 of your new best friends singing Biz
Markie at the top of your lungs. OH
BABYyou, you got what I neeeeeed!
Never again will you introduce your-
self to everyone you meet and actually
try and remember where everyone you
meet is from. Hell, as the years roll by
and you find your comfort zone, you'll
stop introducing yourself at all.
Never again, unless you chose to join
a fraternity or sorority, will you rumble
onto the dance floor at the frats with a
warm Schlitz Ice and shake it like a
folaroid picture. In three years time,
season against Texas-Arlington.
"I was very pleased with how we
played in the first half, especially
coming off such a hard-fought game
like the one we played last night,"
Burnett said. "I knew it would be a
challenge, so I called on their mental
toughness and their energy, and we
really came out and played a great
first 20 minutes."
Michigan took a 10-point lead
early in the first half on a 3-pointer
by Niki Reams and expanded its
lead to 23 points (51-28) behind
two Mie Burlin 3-pointers and
Rachael Carney's solid efforts off
the bench.
The Lady Mavs never cut the lead
to less than 16 points.
"As a coach, you are never happy
playing even in the second half, but
we hope to build on what we did in
the first half," Burnett said. "I admit
it is difficult to come out and play
with the same emotion and energy
when you are up by 20, but we need
to learn how to do that."
Forward Niki Reams, whose two
starts this weekend were her first two
of the season, added 15 points and
seven rebounds in 28 minutes for
Michigan.
"Niki is so smart with the basket-
ball, and she makes great decisions,
so we want the ball in her hands,"
Burnett said.
Reams wasn't as effective on Fri-
day night against Texas Tech, but
Smith almost single-handedly gave
the Wolverines a chance to beat the
Lady Raiders.
Knocking down her second 3-
pointer of the night, the center cut the
Lady Raiders' lead to four in the sec-
ond half.
Unable to slow Smith up to that
point, Texas Tech switched to a zone
defense that held the center in check
you'll be shacked up in a booth at
Mitch's or the Little Brown Jug drinking
pitchers. But make no mistake, the fresh-
man that dwells within you will still be
there, trapped inside your more robust,
less aerodynamic senior-year frame.
I don't want to give you the impres-
sion that sophomore through senior
years are a drag, but they're just differ-
ent. In the minute span of three years,
sometimes I feel like I've aged about 30.
Freshman, heed my words. We were
all just like you at one point in time.
Appreciate every glorious freshman
day you have. Appreciate the short-
lived sound of Biz Markie and the fleet-
ing fragrance of a warm Schlitz.
Above all, appreciate the sweet smell
of roses; you may not smell them again.
J Brady McCollough sfreshman is wait-
ing to get out, but he needs to be on the
list first. He can be reached at
bradymcc@umich.edu.
and gave up only one basket to the
Wolverines - a 3-pointer by Tabitha
Pool - over a 7:37 stretch late into
the second half.
Michigan cut the lead to five (59-
54) late in the second half on a Pool
steal and bucket, but couldn't pull off
the upset.
"I don't like moral victories, but
we did make some strides tonight,
and we did a better job of executing
certain things," Burnett said.
FRIDAY S GAME
Texas Tech (74)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Grant 31 3-8 0-0 0-3 6 1 6
Perkins 14 4-8 0-0 1-2 2 1 8
Ritchie 18 3-7 0-0 1-4 0 0 7
Jackson 31 3-9 2-2 5-7 2 2 8
Ayers-Curry 16 2-3 0-0 1-5 1 3 4
Dabbs 10 1-3 2-2 1-1 0 0 4
Baughman 25 1-2 4-5 0-1 4 1 7
Greenwalt 11 3-4 3-3 1-4 0 4 9
Clark 14 &-6 2-3 2-3 1 0 8
Davis 8 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 0
Robertson 22 5-8 2-2 1-4 2 2 13
Totals 200 28-59 151713361815 74
FG%: .475 FT%: .882. 3-point FG: 3-7, ..429 (Baugh-
man 1-1, Ritchie 1-3, Robertson 1-3). Blocks: 3
(Jackson, Clark 2). Steals: 11 (Jackson 5, Ayers-
Curry, Dabbs 2). Turnovers: 15 (Grant 5, Perkins 2,
Jackson, Dabbs 2, Robertson). Technical fouls:
none.
MICHIGAN (61)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Pool 36 7-13 1-2 3-11 2 2 16
Hauser-Price 36 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 2 2
Reams 26 0-5 2-2 3-5 3 5 2
Helvey 32 2-5 0-0 1-3 3 3 4
Smith 40 11-18 6-6 2-8 1 0 30
Carney 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 3 0
Gandy 21 3-8 1-2 0-1 1 3 7
Burlin 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
McPhilamy 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 200 24-54 10.14 9.28 13 18 61
FG%: .444. FT%: .714. 3-point FG: 3-11, .273 (Pool
1-2, Hauser-Price 0-1, Reams 0-3, Helvey 0-1, Smith
2-2, Gandy 0-1, Burlin 0-1). Blocks: 6 (Pool 3,
Gandy 2) Steals: 8 (Pool 4, Hauser-Price, Reams,
Helvey, Smith). Turnovers: 17 (Pool 5, Reams,
Hauser-Price 2, Helvey 3, Smith 5, Gandy). Techni-
cal Fouls: none.
Massachusetts.... ....42 32 -74
Michigan ............31 30 -61
At: Moody Coliseum, Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 1,522
' 'STATS
Player G Min A A
Pool 7 32.9 2.7F
Andrews 5 4.0 0.41
Hauser-Price 7 28.0 2.11
Carney 7 13.7 1.31
Reams 7 23.3 2.4G
Helvey 7 19.4 1.91
Gandy 7 33.6 1.34
Burlin 6 10.5 0.71
McPhilamy 7 5.6 0.01
Smith 7 35.3 0.47
Reb
8.6
1.0
1.7
1.1
5.7
1.7
4.4
1.3
1.1
7.6
Pts.
12.0
0.4
4.6
3.3
6.7
2.6
11.6
2.2
1.0
23.4
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SATURDAY'S GAME
TEXAS-ARLINGTON (51)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Graves 12 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0'
Buchanan 31 3-6 0-0 0-1 2 0 7
Lewis 22 1-3 2-2 0-0 1 3 5
Thompson 15 0-4 0-2 0-0 1 2 0
Brown 16 1-4 2-2 1-2 2 3 5
Yaokum 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hawkins 11 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 1 0
Johnson 17 3-6 1-2 1-3 0 1 7
Wallace 16 1-7 4-4 0-0 1 1 6
Rumph 11 0-0 0-0 3-3 0 1 0
Kilgore 7 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Lane 11 1-4 0-2 3-4 0 3 2
Ogunoye 27 7-15 5-7 4-9 0 0 19
Purgason 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 200 17-54 14-211425 9 15 51
FG%: .315. FT%: .667. 3-point FG: 3-12, .250 (Graves
0-1, Buchanan 1-4, Lewis 1-3, Thompson 0-1, Brown
1-1, Wallace 0-1, Kilgore 0.1). Blocks: 1 (Ogunoye).
Steals: 10 (Buchanan 2, Thompson 3, Brown, Wal-
lace, Rumph, Lane, Ogunoye). Turnovers: 18 (Graves,
Buchanan 5, Lewis, Thompson 2, Brown 2, Johnson,
Wallace 2, Rumph 2, Lane, Ogunoye). Technical
fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (68)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Pool 23 3-9 0-0 2-8 2 4 6
Hauser-Price 26 1-3 0-0 1-3 3 5 2
Reams 28 .5-7 44 2-7 2 3 15
Helvey 12 0-1 0-0 0-1 4 3 0
Smith 32 9-13 6-8 2-6 0 2 24
Andrews 16 0-1 2-2 1-5 2 1 2
Carney 14 2-2 0-0 1-3 2 2 4
Gandy 30 3-9 0-0 2-4 0 2 6
Burlin 8 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 6
McPhilamy 11 1-3 1-2 2-3 0 2 3
Totals 200 26-5013.1613-40 16 24 68
FG%: .520. FT%: .813. 3-point FG: 3-6,_500
(Hauser-Price 0-1, Reams 1-1. Gandy 0-2, Burlin 2-
2). Blocks: 5 (Pool 3, Gandy 2) Steals: 7 (Hauser-
Price, Helvey 3, Smith 2, Carney, Gandy, Burlin,
McPhilamy). Turnovers: 24 (Pool 5, Hauser-Price 4,
Reams 2, Helvey 2, Smith 3, Andrews2, Gandy 2,
Burlin 2, McPhilamy). Technical Fouls: none.
Texas-Arlington ........23 28 - 58
Michigan ............42 26 -68
At: Moody Coliseum
Attendance: 1,401
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SHUBRA OHRI/Daily
Michigan's Jennifer Smith has kicked her game into high gear of late, scoring 30-
plus points in two of the past seven games.
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Road wins supply momentum for NCAAs
By James V. Dowd
For The Daily
Torbert throws one
dlown in Spartans' w in
EAST LANSING (AP) -
Kelvin Torbert showed Michigan
State teammate Shannon Brown
that he can dunk, too.
"You'll have to find out from
Shannon what kind of marks he
gave me," Torbert said after No. 3
Michigan State's 89-81 victory
over DePaul yesterday in the
championship game of the Spar-
tan Classic.
Torbert, the tournament MVP,
s-cored 19 points and Chris Hill
added 15 points and a career-high
I 1 assists for the Spartans.
Alan Anderson scored all 17 of
his points in the second half to
help the Spartans (3-1) hold off
the Blue Demons (3-1).
"I said going in we'd have to
play two good games to win this"
tournament," Michigan State
coach Tom Izzo said.
"I saw enough good moments to
say, 'This is where we can be,'
and enough bad minutes to say,
'We have a lot of work ahead of
' "
us.
"The highlight for me was
watching K.T. get his," Brown
said of Torbert's slam. "I almost
elbowed Coach in the head jump-
ing up on that play. That was
nice. And if I brought some ener-
gy, all the credit should go to the
upperclassmen."
DePaul's Delonte Holland had
27 points, Andre Brown had 18
points and 10 rebounds, and Que-
mont Greer added 15 points.
EVANSTON -Winning on the road can be one
of the hardest things for any sports team to do.
Unfamiliar surroundings, a hostile crowd, and sim-
ply the wear and tear of traveling can all spell trou-
ble. None of these seem to slow down the
Michigan volleyball team,
which improved to 20-11 over- Mc__GAN __
all and 8-4 on the road this past
weekend, as it picked up a pair
of 3-1 wins at No. 18 Illinois MicHGAN_ _
on Friday and unranked North- N____wESTERN__
western on Saturday.
"We've been playing very well on the road all
year," coach Mark Rosen said, "We're actually
playing better on the road than we are at home in
a lot of ways."
The Wolverines came out strong Saturday,
sparked by two blocks from freshman Megan Bow-
man, giving them an early lead. Typically solid
play from seniors Lisa Gamalski and Nicole
Poquette helped Michigan hold on for a 30-17 win
in game one.
Game two, however, was a different story. Nei-
ther team could build a substantial lead, until final-
ly the Wildcats overcame frustration over a
questionable call and took a 29-27 lead - but they
could not close out. The Wolverines fought back
and scored four consecutive points to take game
two 31-29.
Just when it appeared that Michigan had seized
control of the match, Northwestern came surging
back. Wildcat senior Iwona Lodzik led her team to
an early five-point lead, and the Wolverines could
not regain control. Lodzik committed two service
errors, but time and time again she and fellow sen-
ior Erika Lange spearheaded a strong Northwest-
ern front which would not let the Wolverines back.
Lodzik redeemed herself by serving out the Wild-
cats' 30-24 victory in game three.
Game four was a fight all the way through, as
the teams traded points, but Northwestern fought
to take a 28-24 lead and looked determined to take
the match to a fifth game. Michigan senior Erin
Moore stepped up to lead her team to a 30-28 vic-
tory, finishing off the match with a six-point rally.
Moore took it upon herself and the veterans to
right the Wolverines' ship after they began to fall
apart.
"I just feel that when it gets like that we have to
go back to something that works. (Gamalski) and
(junior Jennifer Gandolph) have been here as long
as I've been here, its been (Gamalski's) set and
(Gandolph) and my balls when its gotten crazy. We
0
I
JOELFIEDMLIAIN/ Dily
The Michigan volleyball team earned a key sweep away from home this weekend and will head into the first
round of the NCAA Tournament against Colorado with momentum.
always seem to go back to that system, and it
works."
Gandolph also stepped up to help the Wolverines
in a big way. With such a strong Northwestern
front line, Michigan was forced to get more balls
out to her, and she stood up well to the challenge.
"We got (Gandolph) way more balls than we
normally do, and that's a lot of pressure on her,
especially against a big blocking team like that, I
thought that she held up really well, her stats
maybe didn't look great, but I think we put her, in a
situation where she was going to suffer because of
it," Rosen said.
Friday night was a different story for the
Wolverines, perhaps the inspiration for their quick
start on Saturday. The Illini opened up with a 30-
21 victory, but after opening a two-point lead mid-
way through game two, Michigan never looked
back, winning the final three games 30-26, 30-28,
and 30-22.
Friday night's win was a bit of a surprise, as Illi-
nois had been 11-0 at home and was contending
for a Big Ten title and a chance to host first-round
competition in the NCAA Tournament. The win
gives Bowman newfound confidence in her team
as it heads into the NCAA Tournament, where it
will face Colorado.
"I think our team took that next step, we can
make it all the way if we keep playing like we
have," Bowman said.
Beating Colorado will not, however, be an easy
task. The Buffaloes (13-7 Big 12, 21-9 overall),
have played a tough schedule and will be prepared
for the challenges Michigan brings. Six of the 12
teams in the Big 12 conference advanced to the
tournament, and Colorado also faced top-16 teams
Penn State and Colorado State.
The match is scheduled for Friday at Haas Pavil-
ion in Berkeley, Calif.
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