8 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 2, 2003
Berenson shakes things up to get Blue going
Tambellini one of 34 players invited to Canada's World Junior selection camp
By Sharad Mattu
Daily Sports Writer
Not too long ago, Minnesota - national
champion the past two years - was 2-7-1 and
struggling mightily. So before a _
series at Wisconsin Nov. 14 and
15, Minnesota coach Don
Lucia decided to shake up his t 1 X '
line.s in a drastic way.
"Coach Lucia put all the for-
ward's names in a hat and picked
out four lines ... and every line is playing better
than they've played all year," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said he heard from former Minnesota
coach Doug Woog.
"It's not who you're playing with," Berenson said.;
"It's the attitude you're playing with."
The idea worked, as the Gophers have won four
games in a row, with the last win coming Saturday '
over Michigan.
With the Wolverines' disappointment of getting
swept at home against Wisconsin and Minnesota1
still lingering, Berenson is trying to shake Michigan ;
out of its slump with line changes of his own,
though he won't go to the same lengths as Lucia.
The biggest change Berenson is making is split-
ting up a pair of duos that have been together all
year - T.J. Hensick and Jeff Tambellini, as well as
Andrew Ebbett and Brandon Kaleniecki.
But Berenson knows line changes can only do so
much. What is most important is that Michigan cuts
down on mental mistakes.
After a listless effort in Friday's loss to the Bad-
gers, the Wolverines felt they played well on Satur-
day. But Michigan made a pair of minor mistakes
and watched Minnesota capitalize on them for a
shorthanded goal and a goal off of a faceoff.
Berenson noted that good teams have a knack for
taking advantage of any opportunity they get and
limiting their opponent's chances, which is exactly
what Michigan has struggled to do during its three-
game losing streak.
"It's just a matter of getting those small mistakes
out of our game," captain Andy Burnes said.
"We've got the game going our way, and it's just
one mistake that turns the tide.
"(We need) mental toughness for 60 minutes. It's
breakdowns that are costing us. You look at the
game tapes, and we're playing hard. It's a matter of
mental toughness. It's things you have to hammer in
and get ingrained in your head. You have to play for
60 minutes without lapses."
In East Lansing, Michigan's No. 1 rival and next
opponent, Michigan State, is trying to do the very
same things.
The Spartans also took part in last weekend's
College Hockey Showcase, and they fared no better
than the Wolverines. Like Michigan, Michigan State
was lackadaisical Friday and lost to Minnesota 5-1.
The Spartans also bounced back Saturday and
played well, but lost due to a lack of discipline.
With less than a minute left in the third period and
the score tied at one, Spartan forward Ash Goldie
committed a tripping penalty. On the powerplay, the
Badgers' Jeff Likens scored to take the game in
overtime, 2-1.
TEAM CANADA FOR TAMBELLINI?: Sophomore for-
ward Jeff Tambellini was invited to Team Canada's
World Junior Championship team selection camp,
which will take place Dec. 11 to 18 in Kitchener,
Ontario.
Tambellini is the only U.S. college player among
the 34 players picked to attend the camp. Twenty-
two players will be selected to represent Canada in
the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation
World Junior Championship, scheduled for Dec. 26
to Jan. 4 in Helsinki and Hameenlinna, Finland.
Freshmen Mike Brown and Matt Hunwick
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JASON COOPER/Daily
battle with Minnesota's Garrett Smaagaard.
ngs on the Ice on Friday against Michigan State.
Difficult
o onents
will help
c
ater
By Megan Kolodgy
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's basketball
team has been dealt a difficult hand in
its first few weeks of the season. In a
mere seven games,
the team has gone
up against No. 19
Rutgers and No. 5 A
Texas Tech through
tournament draws.
It did not prevail
against either of these teams, but the-
players now consider themselves bet-
ter equipped for the more significant
portion of the season: Big Ten play.
"I think it definitely boosted our
confidence, knowing that we can
compete with the number-5 team in
the nation," senior captain Jennifer
Smith said. "I think it's good for us to
play against teams that are tougher."
The captain was especially proud of
her team's persistence during the try-
ing weekend at the SMU Hoops for
Cure Tournament in Dallas.
"When we were down, we always
fought to get back up," Smith said.
"We were up by a lot, but we tried
not to let our guard down and played
as a team."
Smith put up 30 points in her effort
to compete with the best. She has
played remarkably well during these
first few weeks of the season. If she is
able to keep her momentum up
throughout the year, she could be on
her way to leaving her mark in the
Michigan athletic record books. The
6-foot-4 center is on pace to score 639
points this season, which would rock-
et her career point total to 1,734
points. If that happens, Smith would
be second among career scoring lead-
ers at Michigan. She would also
become the leading single-season
scorer in school history.
TURKEY TROT: Though most stu-
dents don't have visions of eating
Thanksgiving dinner at a hotel in Dal-
las, a holiday away from their biologi-
cal families provided Michigan's
women's basketball team a chance to
bond. Save a few intrepid family
members, the Wolverines largely
relied on their teammates as a
makeshift family for the holiday.
"I think road trips are always good
for team chemistry," Smith said.
"They give us a really good chance to
get to know each other, and I think
that since this road trip was such a
long one, it was an especially good
opportunity for us."
The turkey and potatoes they
feasted on fueled them in their
matchups against No. 5 Texas Tech
and University of Texas-Arlington.
But perhaps, it weighed them down
in their first game, as they fell to
Texas Tech, 74-61.
STEPPING UP: Sophomore forward
Niki Reams replaced senior captain
Stephanie Gandy in the starting lineup
in Michigan's pair of games this past
weekend. Reams currently leads the
team in offensive rebounds, grabbing
20 in seven games. At 85.7 percent,
she is second on the team in free-
throw percentage.
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