The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 16, 2004 - 5B
alkin' the talk
"We watched a great team play a great
game."
- Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett, after losing to Penn
State by 29 points. Michigan has only lost this badly one
other time during the season - to Michigan State by 34.
YESTERDAY S GAME
Michigan 44
Penn State 73
Players of the game
Kelly Mazzante
(Penn State)
Mazzante, as usual, led the Nittany
Lions in scoring with 16 points and
four steals. The senior holds the Big
Ten record for career scoring.
Jennifer Smith
(Michigan)
Smith scored half of the Wolver-
ine's 44 points, pushing her into
third place on Michigan's career
scoring list.
Nittany Lions take out
frustration on Wolverines
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE - Coming off its
worst loss of the season at Minnesota last
Sunday, the Penn State women's basketball
team had seven days worth of frustration to
take out on Michigan.
Conversely, the Wolverines had just two
days of rest following their loss to Michi-
gan State last Thursday, in which Michigan
blew a 17-point lead at home.
"We had just played Michigan State - a
great game at home, we should have won,"
Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett said. "It is
very difficult sometimes for a young pro-
gram to emotionally emerge the next game
against a very good team like Penn State."
Michigan (4-9, 11-15) and Penn State
were teams at opposing ends of an emo-
tional spectrum, and they played like oppo-
sites.
With the extra time off, Penn State was
able to refuel before its push towards a Big
Ten Championship.
"I think it helped us refocus," Penn
State's Jess Strom said about the team's
time off. "We had more time to think about
what we were doing. I think we might have
wanted to play this game (last) Thursday."
Michigan might have wished they could
haye played the Nittany Lions next Thurs-
day instead of yesterday.
The Wolverines have dropped six of their
past seven game, and are 2-4 on the road in
the Big Ten, losing by an average of 22
points.
"We've got some things to work out and
we've got to step it up," sophomore Niki
Reams said. "It's getting toward the end of
the season. We need to move on and let this
game go."
Burnett admitted the team struggled in
practice after the loss to Michigan State.
"There's no question we were flat in a lot
of ways today," Burnett said. "The last two
days of practice for us have been horrible."
Freshman Kelly Helvey, who played a
season-high 37 minutes against the Spar-
tans, admitted she was fatigued following
that contest.
"I had never played that many minutes
before," Helvey said. "My legs were shot, but
I came out (today) and tried my hardest."
Not many of the other Wolverines
seemed to feel that the backlash of the
Michigan State game had anything to do
with yesterday's less-than-stellar loss at
Penn State.
"I think this game was completely differ-
ent from the (Michigan) State game," sen-
ior center Jennifer Smith said. "I thought
we were really prepared for State. I would-
n't want to blame it on (emotion)."
Despite their slow start, the Wolverines
did not just give up.
Penn State (11-1, 19-4) only out-scored
Michigan by six in the second half, and the
Wolverines were trapping on the game's
final possession. Michigan held the Big
Ten's leading scorer, senior Kelly Maz-
zante, to 16 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
"We have three games left and hopefully
we can turn it around," Smith said.
SUNDAY'S GAME
MICHIGAN (44)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Pool 16 0-7 0-0 0-0 0 4 0
Helvey 16 1-2 2-2 0-2 0 2 4
Smith 36 4-12 13-173-10 2 1 22
Hauser-Price 18 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Gandy 34 1-4 1-2 1-3 1 0 4
Andrews 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Carney 22 1-2 0-02-4133
Reams 16 3-7 3-5 0-2 1 3 10
Burlin 21 0-2 0-0 1-3 0 2 0
McPhilamy 17 0-1 1-2 1-2 1 2 1
Team 1-2
Totals 200 1040 2028929 6 20 44
FG%: .250. FT%: .714.3-point FG: 4-17,
.235 (Pool 0-2, Smith 1-4, Hauser-Price 0-1,
Gandy 1-3, Carney 1-2, Reams 1-3, Burlin 0-
2). Blocks: 1 (Reams). Steals: 7 (Gandy 2,
Pool, Hauser-Price, Andrews, Carney,
Reams). Tumovers: 24 (Smithr4,Helvey 3,
Gandy 3, Carney 3, Burlin 3, Pool 2, Hauser-
Price 2, Andrews, Reams, McPhilamy). Tech-
nical fouls: none.
PENN STATE (73)
MIN
Brungo 28
Russell 17
Mazzante 31
Strom 36
Wright 34
Brown 18
Joseph 11
Schwab 7
Harris 18
Team
Totals 200:
FG%: .500 FT%:.
FG
M-A
5-9
2-4
7-17
3-8
7-10
2-6
2-2
0-1
2-3
FT
M-A
0-0
0-0
0-3
4-6
0-0
0-2
1-2
0-0
6-6
REB
0-T
2-5
4-9
1-3
0-3
2-5
3-6
2-2
0-0
0-1
1-3
A F PTS
1 4 10
0 3 4
1 0 16
12 2 10
1 1 14
0 1 4
0 20
0 2 10
PAT LITTLE/Penn State Collegian
Senior center Jennifer Smith's offensive efforts were not enough to keep the Wolverines afloat against the Lions.
3060 11-1915371519 73
.579. 3-point FG: 2-12, .167
(Brungo 0-1, Mazzante 2-6, Strom 0-4, Harris
0-1). Blocks: 4 (Russell 2, Brungo, Wright).
Steals: 15 (Mazzante 4, Strom 4, Russell 3,
Wright 2, Brungo, Harris). Turnovers: 11
(Wright 4, Strom 4, Russell 2, Mazzante).
Technical fouls: none.
Lady Lions drain life from Pool
Reams back on the offensive end; Lions sell out the house
Michigan ....:......15
Penn State ..........38
29 - 44
35 - 73
At: Bryce Jordan Center, State College
Attendance: 15,389
BIG TEN STANDINGS
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE - For the
first time this season,
ward Tabitha Pool
was held scoreless.
The junior was 0-
for-7 against Penn
State, and played
just 16 minutes.
Pool didn't
Michigan for-
that was effective against Penn
State's zone-to-man defensive tran-
sitions.
"It's frustrating but I never do
blame my teammates for it," Smith
said. "We have a lot of things to
work on. That's just one of them.
We always need to come back after
a loss and get mentally prepared.
We just didn't do that (today)."
SoLD our: Michigan played before
a packed house of 15,389 yesterday.
The attendance mark set a Bryce
Jordan Center record, and was the
first sellout ever for the Lady Lions
in the arena.
"As the opposing coach, I just feel
badly that we couldn't be more com-
petitive in such an incredible envi-
ronment," Burnett said. "It's an
incredible accomplishment for Penn
State."
Inside the spacious and modern
Bryce Jordan Center, the game had
more of a Big Ten Tournament feel
than just an average conference
road game.
The crowd was the largest the
Wolverines have played in front of
since their 67-33 pounding at the
hands of Michigan State in the
Breslin Center on Jan. 18.
Team
Purdue
Penn State
Michigan State
Minnesota
Iowa
Ohio State
Illinois 14
Michigan
Indiana
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Conference Overall
W L W L
10 1 20 2
10 1 18 4
9 3 19 4
7 4 18 4
7 4 13 9
6 5 14 8
4 7 10 12
4 8 11 14
3 9 10 13
2 10 8 14
1 11 8 15
attempt a shot until Michigan
trailed 15-3 with 14 minutes
remaining in the first half of the
game.
"We must have done something
to her or she must have done some-
thing to herself," Penn State coach
Rene Portland said. "Burnett didn't
play her in the second half."
A month ago, Pool played one of
her most complete games of the
season against Penn State at Crisler
Arena. She scored 19 points,
grabbed 11 rebounds and had five
assists in a 68-56 loss to the Nittany
Lions on Jan. 15.
But this season, Pool has strug-
gled in conference road games. She
averages just eight points-per-game
on the road compared to 19.6
points-per-game at home.
Burnett didn't start Pool in the
second half. She sat on the bench for
14 of the game's final 20 minutes.
Pool's minimal playing time not
only hurt the Wolverines on
offense. The power forward is one
of Michigan's best defensive play-
ers. With Pool out of the picture,
Penn State exposed Michigan's
interior defense. They outscored the
Wolverines 48-10 in the paint.
WHO CAN SCORE?: Michigan's 15-
point first half was its second-low-
est point total in a half this season.
Trailing by 23 points at halftime,
the Wolverines used their bench for
most of the second half. Sophomore
Niki Reams scored 10 points in just
16 minutes of action. Reams has
come off the bench lately because
of an injured left foot.
Starter Jennifer Smith scored a
game-high 22 points and grabbed
10 rebounds in the losing effort.
With the exception of Reams,
Smith was the only scoring option
BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily
Senior captain Stephanie Gandy contributed a mere four points and one rebound
to Michigan's total yesterday afternoon.
Poor shooting and abundance
of turnovers plague Michigan
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Sunday's Results:
PENN STATE 73, Michigan 44
NORTHWESTERN 48, Indiana 36
Iowa 87, WIScONSIN 82 (OT)
Michigan State 84, OHIO STATE 70
Thursday's Games:
Illinois at Purdue
Michigan at Indiana
Minnesota at Iowa
Northwestern at Ohio State
Wisconsin at Penn State
Sunday's Games:
Penn State at Iowa
Indiana at Wisconsin
Illinois at Ohio State
Michigan State at Purdue
Northwestern at Minnesota
Key Stat
15,389
The sell-out crowd at yesterday's
game was the largest at a women's
basketball game in Penn State's his-
tory. These fans' noise guided the Nit-
tany Lions to an easy victory.
UP NEXT:
INDIANA
Michigan was able to hold off
the Hoosiers at Crisler earlier
this season, but this time the
Wolverines must travel to the
storied Assembly Hall. Indiana is
the worst-shooting team in the
conference, and after two tough
losses, Michigan will be eager to
exploit this weakness.
NITTANY LIONS
Continued from Page 1B
"We were turning the ball over
incredibly large amounts in all differ-
ent ways," Burnett said. "We'd get a
defensive stop and throw the ball to
the outlet, and they're getting the
steal. They were getting one-pass-
away steals."
Altogether, Penn State outscored
Michigan on fast breaks 22-0. The
Wolverines created almost zero
offense from their defense, something
they had done well in last Thursday's
close loss to No. 17 Michigan State.
The Lady Lions, conversely, scored
a whopping 29 points off of turnovers.
Mazzante and Strom each had four
steals, all in their own style. Maz-
zante's steals often came as Michigan
h1an to acdvance the hall uncourt.
ing defense, led all scorers with 22
points. She shot only 4-for-12 from
the field, but converted on 13 of her
17 trips to the free throw line.
Sophomore Niki Reams turned in
the only other productive performance
for Michigan, contributing 10 points
on 3-for-7 shooting. Reams was one
of the few aggressive players left for
the Wolverines in the closing minutes,
when she picked up most of her
points.
"When I got in there, I wanted to do
anything I could to help out the team,"
Reams said.
But what may have concerned Bur-
nett more was the lack of production
that came from two of her star players,
senior Stephanie Gandy and junior
Tabitha Pool.
Gandy scored just four points in 34
minutes of plav. and mustered only a
DANNY MOLUSHOK/Daily
Junior Tabitha Pool, usually a standout, was unable to put the ball in the hole, and
spent the entire second half on the bench due to foul trouble.
HOW THE WOMEN'S AP TOP 25 FARED
Team
1. Texas
2.Connecticut
3.Tennessee
4. Duke
5. Purdue
6. Louisiana Tech
7 Texas Tech
Record
21-2
18-2
19-2
18-3
19-2
17-2
20-3
This weekend's results
Beat Colorado 51-45
Beat Rutgers 66-43
Beat Vanderbilt 94-88
Beat North Carolina 89-79
Beat Northwestern 80-45
Beat San Jose State 82-51
Beat Texas A&M 59-58
This week's games
at Texas Tech; Baylor
Pittsburgh; at Boston College
Florida; at Mississippi
Virginia; at Maryland
Illinois; Michigan State
at SMU
at Missouri; Texas