I Friday January 16, 2004 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com POTBaS 10 I Lady Lions' strong 'D' downs Blue By Josh Holman Daily Sports Writer No doubt about it - last night's women's bas- ketball game at Crisler Arena was all about Kelly Mazzante. Coming in, Penn State's superstar guard was only 28 points away from becoming the all- time Big Ten women's scoring leader. Michigan's task was not to let her break that record on its home court. Mission accomplished. Unfortunately, that didn't help the Wolverines meet their primary goal of beating the Lady Lions, as Michigan suffered a 68-59 loss. PENN STATE 68 "I think it was a battle. Both MICHIGAN _59- teams were pretty physical on each other so we just kept taking it at them," Maz- zante said. "We had a lead the whole game so we wanted to increase on it." Mazzante scored "just" 19 points in any way she could against the Wolverines. Her 7-of-17 shoot- ing night was nothing stellar, but the Lady Lions didn't need a record-breaking performance from one of the Big Ten's greatest ever. They did most of their damage on the defensive side of the ball, something Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett took the blame for following the game. "Very rarely do we miss on how we prepare our team, but I really missed this one," Burnett said. "It was great coaching by Penn State, bad coach- ing by us, but I also told our players if you take away the easy layups and the inside dishes, then it's also another ballgame." As soon as Penn State opened up a lead, coach Rene Portland was able to get creative with her defenses, throwing in some half-court traps in the second half. She also got some help from 6-foot-6 freshman Reicina Russell, who gave senior center Jennifer Smith a handful of problems early in the game. Russell recorded five blocks in the game and held Smith to just five points in the first half. Smith finished with 21 points on a substandard 8- of-19 shooting performance. "She definitely has some long arms," Smith said. "I think I caught on to that in the second half, and I finally ball-faked her, so that helped out." The defensive attention on Smith did open up some shots for junior Tabitha Pool, who sank a Under-18 team brings Yost future Wolverines By Sharad Mattu Daily Sports Writer The last time the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 squad visited Yost Ice Arena to play Michigan, the roster included three Wolverines-to-be - Mike Brown, T.J. Hensick and Matt Hunwick. Though Hunwick was injured at the time and sat the game out, the other. .Ail two started together and heard their names intro- duced to the Yost crowd. U.NT! Even now, over a year t'" : after that game, Brown Yosd still gets excited when he thinks about playing against his future teammates. "(We) were so pumped up when we came out for warmups," Brown said. "The crowd was going nuts, and then we heard the fight song and every- thing. It was our first chance to get a feel for the rink, and it was just an awesome moment." With USA Hockey's developmental program based in Ann Arbor, Michi- gan has an advantage with recruiting. Using the game to welcome in future Wolverines has become a yearly tradi- tion. Juniors Dwight Helminen, Eric Nystrom and Jason Ryznar came to Michigan from the program, as did sophomore Al Montoya. And tomorrow, four future Wolver- ines will be on the ice for the Under- 18 team. Next year, forwards Chad Kolarik and Kevin Porter will don the Maize and Blue, and according to assistant coach Billy Powers, the two can come in right away and contribute. Powers compared Kolarik to Hen- sick, describing him as "a dynamic player, a good skater, a great one-on- one player, and a guy who can kind of change the game with one shift." Powers likened Porter's all-around ability to that of Jed Ortmeyer, Michi- gan's captain from 2001-03, saying: "He'll be around the puck, he'll finish his checks, and he'll be a reliable defensive player." Jack Johnson and Bryan Lerg are committedI to joining the Wolverines for the 2005-2006 cam- In. :.< :. paign. RAY "It will be fun to watch what they do in our envi- ronment," Powers said. "That will be a real kick o.p.>>. for the coaches, players Are.a and fans. We'll probably be watching them out of the corner or our eyes." "I'm sure they're just nervous and excited to play this game, just like I was last year," said Hensick, who is good friends with Porter. "They're both quality players, and they'll come with their A-games to prove they deserve to be here." Brown remembers focusing extremely hard on making a strong impression, while Michigan's players treated the game as the exhibition it was for them. "I think it's a great emotional expe- rience for those kids," Powers said. "They want to come in here and put their best foot forward, but at the same time, they have a lot going through their minds. It's just an inter- esting experience to go up against guys that are also going to be team- mates the following year." Though they have struggled against college teams, Michigan coach Red Berenson notes that the Under-18 team has as much size and skill, without the experience of college programs. "I always say every year: I'm glad we're playing them when they're 17 and not when they're 20." DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Penn State's Kelly Mazzante shoots over Michigan's Sierra Hauser-Price. Mazzante, who sits just nine points away from the Big Ten career scoring mark, led the Nittany Lions with 19 points. career high five 3-pointers while scoring 19 points in the game. Senior Stephanie Gandy also tossed in 14 points. But in terms of offensive production for the Wolverines, that was about it. Sophomore Niki Reams was the only other Michigan player to score, hitting two free throws. For the second game in a row, Michigan's "MV3" (Smith, Pool and Gandy) were the only players to hit a field goal. other places," Burnett said. "Niki Reams is one of those kids we think we need to get more scoring from, but I think I'm challenged to find those places where we're going to be able to score." Besides Mazzante, the Lady Lions received a big 16 points from Tanisha Wright. Freshman Amanda Brown had 11 points off the bench, most off easy layups in the lane. While the Wolverines kept Mazzante from entering the record books, they may have been left Vanderkaay punks friends, competition "We wish we were getting more scoring from envying her supporting cast. Michigan prepares for journey into Breslin By Krystin Kasak Daily Sports Writer By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer Daniel Horton's never been there. Colin Dill's been there twice as a col- lege student and a couple times in high school. Bernard Robinson was there once during his freshman year and again dur- ing his sophomore year. The rest of the Michigan basketball team hasn't been there since college began. So where is this elusive destination? North Campus? Nope. Disneyland? Quite the opposite. Tomorrow afternoon, the Michigan basketball team will make its first trip in two years to East Lansing to play in the Breslin Center, and it definitely won't be a trip to Disneyland. "Obviously the Breslin Center is con- sidered one of the tougher places to play in the country," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "It will be a tough atmosphere for our team. "The home court environments in the Big Ten are second to none in my opin- ion. I've had the chance now to be in a couple different leagues - (the ACC, Big Ten and Big East) - and none are better than the home court environ- ments that you have in the Big Ten." The last time Michigan (1-1 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) played in the Breslin Center was on Jan. 30, 2002, when the Wolver- ines were flattened 71-44. Robinson (four points in 31 minutes) was the only player on Michigan's current roster to appear in that game. As a perennial top-25 team, this sea- son has been atypical for the Spartans. Michigan State (1-1, 6-7) has played one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season, and it has paid the price. The Spartans have suffered losses to all six ranked teams they have played en route to their sub-.500 record. But Michigan State has depth and tal- ent on the perimeter. Junior Chris Hill shoots 49 percent from behind the arc, while freshman Shannon Brown has connected on 39 percent of his chances. Sophomore Paul Davis is solid in the middle, leading the team with 15 points per game. Coach Tom Izzo has been looking to turn his team's season around, one game at a time. On Wednesday, the Spartans breezed by Penn State (2-1, 8-6), 76-58, behind the strength of four double-digit scorers. The Wolverines, who rank third in the Big Ten in scoring defense, know that they will need to tame the Spartans' multi-faceted offensive attack to win on Saturday. "The defensive end is where we have to control those guys and play our style," Robinson said. "(Our) offense will get there. We've been working on that." Despite Michigan's 26-for-68 (38 percent) shooting against Indiana on Sunday, Amaker doesn't believe that putting up numbers on offense will be a problem this weekend. At his weekly press conference on Wednesday, the third-year coach said that he's not worried about the team's shooting percentage, just about the quality of the shots that his team takes. "We feel that if we continue to take high-quality shots, eventually those balls will go in the basket if they have not gone in before," Amaker said. Sophomore point guard Horton has been part of Michigan's offensive strug- gle, averaging just 11.5 points per game, down from his 14.9 average at the same point last season. But the 6-foot-3 Texan still feels poised in his playmaking ability. "I'm always confident - nothing's gonna change the way I play or change my confidence in myself," Horton said. "I haven't been pleased with the way I've been shooting the basketball, but I'm always gonna feel confident." As the only player with significant experience playing in East Lansing, Robinson has given the young team some idea of what to expect tomorrow. "The crowd and the student section is something you do not see everyday at other arenas," Robinson said. "You have to go out and be focused and try not to do too much. You know that the crowd is going to say things to you. I just try to let the guys understand that a lot of things go into playing on road, especial- ly against Michigan State." While the Breslin Center may be one of the toughest places to play - the Wolverines haven't won there in their last five tries, dating back to 1996 - Michigan knows that the noise from the seats won't win or lose the game. "The bottom line is that it comes down to the guys who are down there playing the game, and not the fans in the crowd," Dill said. Last year, the Wolverines topped the Spartans 60-58 in Ann Arbor, snapping its eight-game losing streak to its rival. Senior swimmer Christian Van- derkaay has always been known as a straight-edge kind of guy. However, since Ashton Kutcher, former host of the MTV show "Punk'd," recently retired, Van- derkaay might just be next in line to take over his favorite show. "I'm usually known for being j a straight arrow, Y getting my work done, staying out of trouble kind of guy," Vanderkaay said. "But when I Vanderkaay was a senior in high school, my brother and some friends talked me into doing this thing called 'purs- ing.' You take a purse and tie a string to it and throw it into the middle of the road and hide in the bushes. So people stop by and we tried to see if they would pick up the purse. So I did this one night with my brother and his friends, and it was just a disaster. We got some people, and it was pretty funny, but finally the police showed up and we ran away." While practical jokes and close encounters with trouble may not be normal for Vanderkaay, his positive attitude and determination most certainly are. They have helped him get through months of physical hardships. In May of 2002, Vanderkaay suf- fered an abrupt shoulder injury which kept him out of competition. His ensuing surgery was accom- panied by three months of intense rehabilitation. On top of that, Vanderkaay required daily strengthening exer- cises and stretching to rebuild his shoulder and prevent further injury. Even with more than a year of difficulties, Vanderkaay still man- ages to get his feet wet day in and day out for the Michigan swimming and diving team. Determination looms large for this athlete, as he continues to train and try to be what the team needs him to be. "I'm not sure how it happened," he said. "It just kind of showed up one day and I decided to swim through it - which was a dumb idea. "Eventually I just had to get out of the water. I had surgery that November. They tightened the cap- sule to make it more stable, and I was in rehab for a couple months until I started swimming again that February." Unfortunately, repercussions from the injury didn't end in Febru- ary. Vanderkaay still suffers from problems with his shoulder on a regular basis. "I have to be very careful," Van- derkaay said. "Everyday I do: Spe- cial stretches and exercises. And it still gives me a lot of problems." Despite the constant problems he regularly has with his shoulder, Vanderkaay not only continues to put produce great times for the Wolverines, he does it with a spec- tacular attitude that helps keep a very positive poolside atmosphere for the entire team. i v v a U <. I; MICHIGAN UPCOMING EVENTS Hockey Exhibition Game #8 men's iriatics #4 MA- Men's & Women's Tennis Men's vs-Western Michiga Women'swin Michigan Invitational I[ 11 III i