4 Wednesday February 4, 2004 sports.michigandaily. corn sports@michigandaily.com SPORTS 12 4 Reams emerges as fourth scoring threat Tigers get serious, Drew gets out, L.A. gets nasty By Josh Holman Daily Sports Writer Sophomore Niki Reams finally made some noise for the Michigan women's basketball team on the offensive end last weekend at Illi- nois. Reams scored 12 of Michi- gan's 78 points, as the team produced its best offensive output since its first game of the season against Miami (Ohio) when it scored 79 points. It's exactly what the Wolverines thought they needed from Reams, the player that has done everything but score. Unfortunately, Reams picked the wrong time to pitch in on the offensive side. Michigan left any form of a defen- sive game plan at home and let Illi- nois - the 10th place team in the Big Ten standings - light up the scoreboard for 94 points on 56.5 percent shooting. Illinois forward Angelina Williams racked up 31 points on the Wolverines, mostly on uncontested transition layups. The Fighting Illini's guard combo of Tiffanie Guthrie and Erin Wigley put up 17 and 15 points, respectively. It was a complete defensive collapse on the part of the Wolverines. "We're not a team that takes any pride in someone scoring that many points and shooting that kind of per- centage," Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett said. Reams got the daunting assign- etters hoj By Jamie Josephson Daily Sports Writer ment of guarding Penn State's Kelly Mazzante on Jan. 15. And she did a respectable job, holding Mazzante - the Big Ten's leading scorer - to 17 points, even as Mazzante was closing in on the Big Ten's career scoring record. Reams obviously can't shoulder all the blame for Sunday's less-than- stellar defensive performance, but she's not free from all of that blame, either. "Every game I try to play 100 percent defense," Reams said. "My offense will come from my defense." Her offensive contribution is a positive sign for a team in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Reams was the first Wolverine not named Stephanie Gandy, Tabitha Pool or Jennifer Smith to score in double figures since a Nov. 29 win over Texas-Arlington, when Reams scored 15 points. In fact, sophomore Rachael Carney and junior Sierra Hauser-Price are the only other Wolverines to score in double fig- ures in a game. "I want to do what's best for the team, and if that involves me shoot- ing the ball more, I'm going to do that for the team," Reams said. But Sunday's game showed that her offensive output might not be the most important contribution Reams can make. The best way to classify her is as a hustle player. She is third on the team in rebounds, second in SHUBRA OHRI/Oaily Niki Reams blows past Indiana's Jenny DeMuth during Michigan's victory over the Hoosiers earlier this year. CHRIS BURKE Goin' to Work I couldn't avoid it. I tried to. Believe me, I did. But when it came right down to it, there was no way not to mention the Detroit Tigers' signing of catcher Ivan Rodriguez in this space. I'll get to some of the other stuff in a minute ... but first things first. I don't know how it happened, or why (though I suspect the $40-million contract had something to do with it), but the Tigers, fresh off a 119-loss sea- son, signed the MVP of the National League Championship Series. Help, I've fallen and I can't get up. Apparently the 119 losses finally provided the wake-up call that Tigers' owner Mike Ilitch needed to stop addressing all of his checks to the Red Wings and throw some money into his dead-to-the-world baseball team. Or maybe he realized that the Red Wings and the rest of the NHL could be on strike next year, so he transferred the payroll money over to TigerTown. Whatever the reason, all of a sud- den, this offseason has turned into a real-life version of when Ebenezer Scrooge wakes up at the end of "A Christmas Carol" - instead of pinch- ing pennies, Ilitch appears to be run- ning around Comerica Park throwing money at any free agent that will lis- ten. Rodriguez heard him, and the Tigers secured themselves one of the greatest catchers in the history of baseball.- And as if Tigers fans aren't dancing in the streets already, Rodriguez threw this little nugget into the mix during the press conference announcing his signing on Monday. "We're going to see this organiza- tion, this Detroit Tigers team, in the playoffs very soon." Now that's going out on a limb. The guess here is, though, that Rodriguez will be joined out on that limb by every true Tigers fan that has become so frustrated with this fran- chise over the past decade or so. Rodriguez is the first huge name to come play in Detroit since Juan Gon- zalez. As of Monday, he appeared as happy to be here as any player since current Tigers' manager Alan Trammell played for the club. So, whether or not the Tigers are playoff contenders this season, Ilitch and his franchise have finally and mer- cifully restored some excitement in a city that - when it's been given good teams to rally around -has shown itself to be one of the best, most knowledgeable baseball cities in the country. That enthusiasm has been lost during year after year of sub-.500 ball. Monday's signing appears to be the biggest step the Tigers have made in years to begin cleaning up the stink of defeat in Detroit. OK, while we're in baseball, let's get the Drew Henson ballyhoo out of the way, as well. After playing 501 minor league and a whopping eight major league games, Henson has opted to forfeit the last $12 million of his con- tract with the New York Yankees, and will pursue an NFL career. Surprise, surprise. It's been speculated since Henson first started bombing in the Yankees' minor league system that this was going to happen. Now, it finally has, and there's only one thing I can think: His football career cannot possibly be as bad as his baseball career. I know Henson loved baseball. I also am aware that he is, statistically, he's the state's all-time high school leader in runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs and walks. But when he got to Michigan, and tried to pull double-duty in the minor leagues, it was becoming increasingly See BURKE, Page 14 I offensive rebounds and has 23 steals on the year. She even leads the team in assists while spending much of her time down in the lane. Reams will need to bring all of that hustle to the table if the Wolver- ines stand any chance in the coming weeks. Three of their next four games come against teams ranked in the top 20, and a repeat against Illi- nois won't cut it. "Can we defend better? Yes," Bur- nett said. "Do we need work harder? Yes. Do we need to block out better? Yes. But we're trying to do the right things." to continue doubling their fun Every point counts for the Michigan women's tennis team. But the one point that is the most coveted is referred to as the "doubles point." For each dual match, the team that wins two of three doubles matches wins the doubles point. After the doubles competition, six singles match- es are played, with a point being awarded to the winner of each. The team that wins the best of seven total points wins the dual match. Though the doubles point only accounts for one point of a possible seven, it often means the difference between winning and losing. "(The doubles point) has a big impact on momentum," senior Kim Plaushines said. "It's such a confidence builder, getting that doubles point." In Michigan's most recent victory over Notre Dame, the competition came down to the Wolver- ines winning the doubles point, and they edged out the Fighting Irish, 4-3. Plaushines and her doubles partner, sophomore Debra Streifler, sealed the deal by taking the doubles point with their victory at the No. 3 position. The current scoring system has not always been used, however. Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt explained that for years, dual matches were nine- point competitions, with each victory (in both dou- bles and singles) counting for one point. Doubles See NETTERS, Page 13 Stay ahead of the curve At Citadel, we work every day to gain an edge in the global financial markets. With world-class analytics, risk management capability, state-of-the-art technology and a global footprint, we see what others cannot see. Founded in 1990, Citadel is a world leader in alternative investments. Our team of more than 600 professionals excels in relative value, event-driven and fundamental investment strategies. 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