a7Jbe Libign ta I T PORTS UESDAY January 20,2004 SECTION B Fru r Worst of times awaits unless men stabilize Women's worst fear comes true By Eric Ambinder Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - The Michigan women's basketball team realized a sea- son-long fear Sunday afternoon in East Lansing - what happens if Jennifer Smith can't score? AgaHnGA N3 A gainst No. 25 _________ _ '. Michigan State (3-2 Big Ten, 13-3 overall), that meant a 67- 33 loss. Plan B - guard Stephanie Gandy and forward Tabitha Pool - combined for just 12 points on 5-of-22 shooting in front of a season-high 7,923 fans at the Breslin Center. The "MV3" of Smith, Pool, and Gandy, have accounted for 76 percent of the offensive production this season for the Wolverines (2-3, 9-9). Facing a relentless matchup zone defense, the Big Ten's third-leading scorer, Smith, was held to just seven points on 2-of-6 shooting. She averaged 22 points per game coming into the contest. "They were doubling, even tripling her almost every single possession," Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett said. "When we're not getting the shot from the outside, it makes that a very easy thing to defend and a very difficult thing for an offensive team to counter with." Michigan State coach Joanne McCal- lie set a goal for her team in stopping Smith. "We never really thought we would stop her," McCallie said. "Just simply try and keep her below her average, four- teen points or something in that area. So, we did a little bit better than that." With Michigan's main ingredients lacking, no other Wolverines were able to step up. "When (Smith) is not scoring, Tab's not scoring, and Steph isn't scoring, no one looks to do anything, and no one knows what to do," freshman guard Kelly Helvey said. Helvey tried to inspire her Wolverines late, playing with the type of aggressive- ness that Burnett expected in her starters from the beginning. But even Helvey, who shot 14 percent in the second half, couldn't make the score respectable. The game began on a relative high note for Michigan, when guard Sierra Hauser-Price hit a perimeter jumper to tie the score 2-2. Hauser-Price was the See WOMEN, page 4B CHRIS BURKE Goin' to work EAST LANSING - It was the best of teams. It was the worst of teams. It was an offensive juggernaut. It was mediocre at best. It was victorious and a conference title contender. It was outmatched and outworked. And, in light of Saturday's disap- pointing effort at Michigan State, the most critical thing for the Michigan bas- ketball team to definitively figure out now is what "it" is. If there is any one word that could be selected to describe the Wolverines' sea- son so far, it has to be this: Inconsistent. Michigan beat a very good N.C. State team to move to 4-0. In its next game, Michigan was demolished by Vanderbilt. Then, the Wolverines were impres- sive in taking down UCLA. Three days later, they dropped a one-point stunner to Boston University. And, finally, Michigan opened the Big Ten season with a thorough trounc- ing of Northwestern. In the 10 days since then, Michigan's offense and, in some instances, its desire, has seeming- ly disappeared, and the Wolverines have fallen to Indiana and Michigan State. So, at 1-2 in the conference, and with three out of four games on the road in the next two weeks, the Michigan basketball team is still searching for an identity. Sometimes, the Wolverines have shown up as a cohesive offensive unit. In those instances, they've been nearly impossible to stop, as their speed makes them difficult to match up with. But, other times, they've been sloppy, facing shots as they did against Indiana and Michigan State. When that occurs, the Wolverines make the other team look great, as they did with the Spartans on Saturday. "(The Spartans) played defense just like everybody else has been playing," Michigan point guard Daniel Horton said. "They did a good job, but they weren't trapping, they weren't press- ing. We were just careless with the basketball." Last year, the solutions for Michigan were more obvious. Even though the Wolverines will tell you they were comfortable with anyone shooting, Horton and now-departed for- ward LaVell Blanchard were the go-to guys. There was no question which two players Michigan was going to turn to in the clutch. This year the answers haven't come so easily. "I don't know," said Michigan for- ward Lester Abram about what went See BURKE, page 5B Spartans retake control of rivafry with easy g' By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - The gap between the Michigan State and Michigan basketball programs might be closing, but you never would've known by watching Saturday's game. In their last meeting, the Wolverines finally ended an eight-game losing C7 streak to the Spar- tans with a thrilling two-point win last year in Ann Arbor. And Michigan sat at 10-3 overall before Saturday's game, while Michigan State, frequently over- matched in nonconference play, held a 6-7 record. But the Spartans outplayed the Wolverines for 30-plus minutes on Saturday afternoon, including most of the second half. Michigan State's easy 71-54 win at the Breslin Center re- established its status as the superior program in the state of Michigan. For the first 10 minutes of the game, Michigan looked like a confident team with the chance to steal a win on the road. Michigan led 19-15 halfway through the first frame behind nine points by guard Daniel Horton. But the Wolverines would go more than nine minutes before scoring their next field goal - missing 11 straight shots and turning the ball over eight times in the process - which allowed the Spartans to go on a 17-4 run to close out the first half. Michigan trailed 32-23 at the break. See MEN, page 5B DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily (above, bottom right) and DORY GANNES/Daily (bottom left) TOP: Point guard Daniel Horton voices his frustration during Saturday's 71-54 loss to Michigan State. BOTTOM LEFT: Freshman Kelly Helvey is laid out on the Breslin Center floor during Sunday's 67-33 defeat to the Spartans. BOTTOM RIGHT: Tommy Amaker and his staff can't bear to watch their team struggle offensively. Resilient Dowd leads grapplers to third at National Duals ByEric Chan Sports Writer At the end of last season, one couldn't even imagine Michigan wrestler Foley Dowd climbing up the rankings in 2004. The 133- pounder's season ended abruptly in 2003 after a neck injury threatened to leave him para- lyzed. But after surgery in the offseason, the senior is back to contend for a national title. This past weekend in Cleveland, Dowd battled his way through a two-time national champion to claim the National Wrestling coach Joe McFarland said. "I think that award was well-deserved." Dowd toppled No. 4 Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State and defending Big Ten champion Josh Moore. Dowd should jump from his current No. 7 national ranking into the top five. "He had some tough competition, and he really stepped up to the plate," McFarland said. Dowd may have beaten Oklahoma State's Thompson, but the rest of the Cowboys were too much for Michigan. After beating West matches to advance to the finals. The defend- ing national champions would eventually go on to beat Missouri and claim the National Duals crown. Michigan battled back, beating Hofstra and Penn State to take third place. "I was really proud of the way we compet- ed," McFarland said. "The guys were really getting after it." Michigan redshirt freshman Mark Moos once again proved that he is a force to be reckoned with at 125 pounds. Moos, ranked No. 4 nationally, went 5-0 while defeating Hofstra's third-ranked Tom Noto and All- While Dowd and Moos wrestled brilliantly, defending national champion Ryan Bertin struggled. After beating No. 9 Matt Nagel of Minnesota, Bertin fell 7-6 to unranked John- ny Hendricks of Oklahoma State. Bertin bat- tled back and beat No. 13 Paul Siemon of Hofstra and James Woodall of Penn State. "(Bertin) didn't have a great tournament," McFarland said. "But the way he battled back after his loss showed what a true national champion he is. He came back strong the sec- ond day and beat a tough wrestler in Woodall." TL t T _ ..« . 1..1.,.«. MAI.aflnra*ttaa.n..Il~I a - -~ -- - -