Tuesday November 16, 2004 sports. michigandaily. com sports@michigandaily.com Oe R TSigan Baidv 9 . . ........ ---- ------ --- - -- . . . .......... ...... . Cagers advance in preseason NIT For Burnett, it's the future that counts v By Eric Ambinder Daily Sports Writer With a little less than 13 minutes remaining in the opening round of the Preseason NIT, Michigan B GA and Binghamton MIN 59 - a team that lost to Division II St. Rose in an exhibi- tion game just 12 days ago - were tied at 39. Junior guard Daniel Hor- ton brought the ball up the court after a Bearcats miss and saw sophomore Brent Petway ahead of the play, curl- ing towards the basket. "I (saw) it was open, and Daniel always sees it when it's open," Petway said. "So he just throws it up there and made a great pass, and he made it easy on me." Petway's alley-oop invigorated the previously quiet Crisler Arena crowd, giving Michigan its first lead at 41-39 since a Horton 3-pointer in the opening minutes of the first half. Petway's energy resonated for Michi- gan, as it relied on efficient defense down the stretch to secure a 59-46 vic- tory over the Bearcats in its first game of the season. "The way we played (defense) in the second half is how we want to play the whole season," Horton said. "It can even get better." After 32 first-half points, Bingham- ton scored just 14 in the second half on 4-of-26 shooting. "I was very pleased with the second- half performance of our team, in terms of our defensive effort," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "I thought (Bing- hamton) got a little tired and missed some shots that they ordinarily would have made. And I thought that was one of the factors of us being able to wear them down a little bit." The Bearcats were stymied by the Wolverines's varying pressure defense in the second half. Michigan was able to cut off Binghamton's screens and force the Bearcats into sloppy perimeter shots. Possibly the Wolverines' biggest ally in the game, however, was the abundance of fouls called by the referees. Bingham- ton 7-footer Nick Billings - a legitimate NBA draft prospect - played just seven minutes, attempted just one shot and did RYAN WEINER/Daily Brent Petway (23) and Daniel Horton teamed up for an alley-oop in Michigan's win. not score. Billings racked up two first- half fouls, which kept him off the floor for 16 minutes before halftime. Then he committed two more violations within the first minute of the second half. A teammate of Billings at Bing- hamton, current Wolverine Dani Wohl transferred from the school to attend Michigan before last season. Wohl was See BINGHAMTON, page 10 ree throw shooting key for Blue DANIEL BREMMER Garden State of Mind "Do we have to go back there?" his was just the first of many hesitations from Michigan women's basketball coach Cheryl Burnett when asked about the bumpy past few years of the women's basketball program at Michigan. Burnett didn't want to speak about any of the difficulties that the program has endured over the past few years - former coach Sue Guevara's sud- den resignation or having six players leave the program following her own first season as a coach - not merely because she was dodging the questions. Burnett didn't want to dwell on the pro- gram's past because she is excited for her team's future, and she doesn't waste time worrying about where it's already been. Now, after spending more than three years in the Big Ten basement and one year rebuilding from the foundation, the women's hoops team is headed in the right direction under Burnett. And even though the team might struggle this season - which kicks off on Friday against Alabama - things look good for the long term future of the program. It's been a wild ride for the team over the past 19 months. On March 24, 2003, the women's basketball pro- gram at Michigan was in shambles. Former coach Sue Guevara had just resigned after an awful 13-16 season (3-13 Big Ten) in 2002-03. The year before, Guevara guided the team to a winning overall record, but just a 6-10 conference record. During both these seasons, the chemistry between most of the players and the coach were non- existent. Off the court, Guevara didn't give herself much of a chance of win- ning by recruiting players who, with only a few exceptions, weren't good enough to compete in the Big Ten. Enter Burnett. Burnett took a hands-on approach with nearly every aspect possible of her team and her program. She involved herself in the team's mar- keting and reached out to the local women's basketball community. As a result, she was able to set a single-sea- son attendance record despite failing to reach the .500 mark on the court. Burnett became a vocal, enthusias- tic cheerleader on the sidelines dur- ing games - hyping up the crowd at every chance she could get. It worked. The excitement at women's basketball games last year was as high as it's been in the last four years. Most importantly, Burnett took steps towards correcting the biggest problem that Guevara left her with: She hit the recruiting trails hard, bringing in the type of talent that Michigan needs to win games and the type of players who embody the role of the Michigan student-athlete. Take a look at the profileĀ§ of seven (that's right, seven) new faces of the women's basketball team. For every basketball accomplishment listed - and there are plenty - there's an aca- demic accomplishment, as well. Many coaches preach about the importance of academics, but the two valedictorians Burnett recruited speak even louder. While things are headed in the right direction for this program - with new talent on the court and a renewed local interest - this season will still be filled with challenges. For starters, the team has just three nonfreshmen - seniors Tabitha Pool and BreAnne McPhilamy, and sopho- more Kelly Helvey. In the physical Big Ten conference, it's likely it will take these freshmen some time to adjust to the rough style of play. With a mini- mum of two freshmen on the floor at all times, it's going to be hard for the team to avoid mistakes, both physical and mental. It's also going to be tough without a true center. McPhilamy is the tall- est on the team at 6-foot-1. But she's going to pale in comparison to some of See BREMMER, page 10 By Josh Holman Daily Sports Writer Binghamton surprised almost everyone in Crisler Arena last night when it jumped out to as much as a 12- point lead over Michigan in the first half. The Wolverines were down 29-17 at the four-minute media timeout, and they were showing no signs of a productive offense. But the Bearcats gave Michigan its chances to get back in the game, and the Wolverines cashed in on those chances - exactly 91.3 percent of them. Michigan made 21-of-23 from the free throw line in its 59-46 victory. Five Wolverines were perfect from the charity stripe on a night when free throws kept the Wol- verines in the game and buried the Bearcats in an ugly second half. "We were tremendous from the line tonight, and that was a big weapon for us because we certainly struggled offensively in the first half," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "Free throws allowed us to make a game of it in the first half when they jumped out and got a double-digit lead on us." Binghamton led 32-28 at the half, but it could have been much worse had the Wolverines not shot 10-for- 11 from the stripe. For a team that shot just under 70 percent from the line last year, that improvement is the difference between going into halftime down four - but with momentum - or going in down seven or eight, wondering how a team from the America East Confer- ence could jump out of the gates so fast. The Wolverines took that momentum and carried it into the second half. They kept getting to the line, and the Bearcats paid for it. Just 19 seconds into the second half, Binghamton's 7- foot center, Nick Billings, collected his third foul of the game. Thirty-seven seconds later, he picked up a fourth. "We tried to get some early fouls on (Billings) so we could keep him off the floor," junior tri-captain Graham Brown said. "Our guys did a great job with that. He came in with a lot of energy. We knew he was a shot blocker, and we tried to use that against him." Then, with 17:09 remaining, forward Alex Adediran, Binghamton's third-leading scorer, was tagged with a fourth personal foul. Neither Adediran nor Billings made an impact for the remainder of the game. Billings came in later, only to foul out after two more minutes of play. He finished the night with no points, two rebounds and five fouls in just seven minutes of play. "We were just playing our game," sophomore center Courtney Sims said. "Fortunately, we got a couple of calls our way. It just went that way. Some days it hap- pens to me, so I know how (Billings) feels." The Bearcats committed 22 personal fouls, leading to the 23 trips to the line for Michigan. "We spend a lot of time shooting free throws," sopho- more Dion Harris said. "It's kind of contagious. Once one guy goes up there and knocks free throws down, I think that gives the rest of us motivation to go up there and knock ours down."