The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 31, 2005 - 3B WHAT DID YOU SAY? "I guess we're the team that, at least, never says die." - Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett on her team's effort to comeback at the end of yesterday's game YESTERDAY'S SCORE PLAYERS OF THE GAME Michigan 71 79 Jolene Anderson (Wisconsin) The guard scored 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished four assist against Michigan. Wisconsin Tabitha Pool (Michigan) Pool recorded her ninth double-dou- ble this season, bucketing 28 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. SATURDAY'S GAME MICHIGAN 71 Anderson cracks Blue 'D' By Matt Venegoni Daily Sports Writer MADISON - Michigan knows all too well that freshmen can contribute to the game plan, as the Wolverines feature seven on their team. But Wisconsin freshman Jolene Anderson showed what kind of positive impact young players can have in a Big Ten game. Anderson led all Wisconsin scorers with 21 points and added seven rebounds and four assists. Anderson continually spurred the Bad- gers when they needed it the most. "I think that their team does a great job to get her open looks," Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett said. "Her uncanny ability to dribble penetrate and her range makes it very difficult to guard her. It is uncanny for a freshman to move so well without the basketball." Despite being just a freshman, the 5-foot-8 guard seemed to take control of the game in its critical moments. Down the stretch, Anderson took over point guard duties and directed the Bad- gers offense. While she was not perfect - Ander- son had nine turnovers - Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone was impressed by her maturity. "Jolene came on fire," Stone said. "You saw her running the point for quite a long time in the second half. I was able to get Steph Rich some rest (by having Jolene play the point)." Anderson was always in the right place at the right time. With just over nine minutes left in the second half, Wisconsin began to take con- trol of the game. After a missed Badger layup, it looked like Michigan might have a chance to cut Wisconsin's lead to single digits. But Anderson came away with a sneaky offensive rebound and 'M' looks for third option on offense By Matt Vengoni Daily Sports Writer a layup to put the Badgers up by 12. Wisconsin reeled off a 13-3 run to go up by 20 with less than six minutes left in the game. Michigan put its best defender - sophomore Kelly Helvey - on Anderson, but it was not enough to slow down the pesky guard. Ander- son was able to get open throughout the game, and she hit her shots when she needed to. At the end of the game, when Michigan began its frantic comeback, Anderson showed a keen bas- ketball sense as she slowed down the tempo and reset the Badger offense several times. While Anderson has led Wisconsin all sea- son long - she was the Big Ten's fourth-lead- ing scorer going into the game - she needed senior Ebba Gebisa to help seal the game for the Badgers. Gebisa's 10 free throws put Michigan away just as the Wolverines seemed to be starting a comeback. In the last six minutes, Gebisa hit her 10 free throw attempts and made Michigan regret putting her on the charity stripe. Those makes allowed Gebisa to notch a season-high 18 points. But Gebisa also affected Michigan's offensive looks. "I really think that she used her size to change some shots for our team," Burnett said. "Her long wingspan really changed shots." With the Badger duo combining for half of Wisconsin's points, the Wolverines could not complete its valiant late rally. Michigan fresh- men Krista Clement and Becky Flippin came away impressed with the performance of fellow freshman Anderson. "She's a great player," Clement said. "We really keyed on her in the pregame (warm-ups), but she just did a good job." FG FT MIN M-A M-A Pool 38 11-22 2-4 Helvey 31 2-8 2-5 Walker 30 1-7 6-8 Clement 33 5-7 0-0 Cooper 23 0-3 1-2 Starling 24 0-3 0-0 Flippin 22 5-9 0-0 McPhilamy12 0-0 0-0 TEAM Totals 20024-591119 REB 0-T 3-12 1-4 3-5 0-2 1-3 1-1 0-1 1-4 2-3 A 4 3 0 5 0 1 3 0 F1 4 5 1 2 1 2 3 2 PTS 28 6 8 13 1 0 15 0 13-351620 71 FG%: 40.7 FT%: 57.9 3-point FG: 12- 21,.571 (Flippin 5-8, Pool 4-7, Clement 3-4, Starling 0-2). Blocks: 4 (Clement, Helvey, McPhilamy, Walker) Steals: 12 (Clement 3, Helvey 3, Cooper 2, Flippin 2, Pool, Starling). Turnovers: 20 (Clem- ent 6, Pool 4, Walker 4, Helvey 3, Coo- per, Starling, TEAM). Technical fouls: None. WISCONSIN 79 FG MIN M-A Gebisa 28 4-61 Nelson 33 3-8 Banks 34 2-7 Rich 32 2-5 Anderson 34 8-16 Welton 3 0-0 Alexander 2 0-0 Josephson 16 4-9 Wilson 8 1-3 Ward 10 4-5 TEAM FT M-A 10-10 0-0 2-2 2-2 3-4 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-3 0-2 REB 0-T A F PTS 3-3 0 2 18 4-13 1 3 6 1-4 4 3 6 0-2 5 2 8 3-7 4 4 21 0-0 0 0 1 0-0 0 0 0 0-3 1 1 9 1-2 0 2 2 0-3 0 1 8 2-6 13-38151879 Totals 200 28-59 5-14 DAVID TUMAN/Daily Kelly Helvey was unable to stop Wisconsin freshman Jolene Anderson from scoring 21 points. MADISON - For a team that has a never-say-die atti- tude, a 20-point deficit is not an impossible situation to overcome. While the Michigan women's basketball team ultimately lost 79-71 against Wisconsin yesterday, the final 5:45 of the second half showed the team's determination to never give up. Sparked by the hot shooting of freshman point guard Becky Flippin, the Wolverines got within six in a game that looked over. Wisconsin took a 65-45 lead off a pair of senior Ebba Gebisa free throws, but Michigan was just getting started. Flippin picked freshman Jolene Anderson's pocket and found fellow Michigan freshman Krista Clement for an open 3-pointer. That three started a 26-point outburst for Michigan after the Wolverines had scored just 14 points in the first 14 minutes of the second half. Flippin led the charge, connecting on three 3-pointers and dishing out two assists. "We did a great job at the end of the game finding our shooters," Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett said. All season, Michigan has lacked a third scor- ing option behind senior Tabitha Pool and freshman Ta'Shia Walker. Walker struggled throughout the game, shooting just 1-for-7 from the field. But, this time, Flippin picked up the slack in the second half, netting 15 points on five 3-pointers. Nine of Flippin's 15 points came during the late rally. In the first half, Michigan got 10 points from Clement, even as she looked to be the third scoring option. Clement's aggressive drives led to easy layups and open attempts for her teammates. "I don't think it was a plan before the game, but some- times defenses are different, and that's what the defense allowed us to do," Clement said. With the two freshmen combining for 28 points, it looks as if Michigan may play Flippin and Clement at the same time more often, as it did earlier in the season. THE SAME OLD SONG: 'A common concern for Michigan all season has been its lack of size. Yesterday's game was no different, as Wisconsin outscored the Wolverines in the paint, 38-18. "We've dealt with blocking out all year long," Burnett BADGERS Continued from page 1B "Late in the game, she's doing a lot of creating and finding our shooters. She's kicking and really creating some open shooting situations, and that's what occurred, especially late in the game." But Wisconsin never let Michigan get too close. Although the Badgers couldn't slow Michigan's incredible long-range shooting - the Wolverines finished 12-21 from 3-point range - Wisconsin made up for it with clutch free throw shooting on its end. The Badgers made all 16 of their second half free throws, including eight in the last two minutes to hold Michigan at bay. "Everyone believed in the team and knew that we had it under control," Wisconsin for- ward Ebba Gebisa said. "It would have been nice to have extended our lead more, but I think everyone definitely felt confident that we would take care of it." The wild finish was just one aspect of an entertaining, high-octane affair. Michigan jumped out to an early 15-9 lead thanks to aggressive play by Pool, who scored six points in the first six minutes. "We really tried to emphasize starting the game well, and Ireally feel like we did that," Burnett said. But Wisconsin's offensive star, freshman Jolene Anderson, wouldn't let Pool steal the spotlight. With 8:02 to go in the half and the Wolverines holding onto a 23-16 lead, Anderson went wild. She scored eight points in the next three minutes, sparking a 19-5 Wisconsin run. Despite Anderson's dominating stretch, Michigan finished the half on a positive note. With 10 seconds to go, Pool grabbed a defensive board and passed to Clement along the right foul- line extended. Clement then fired a pic- ture-perfect crosscourtpass to Flippin, who swished a 3-pointer as time expired, cutting the Wisconsin lead to 35-31. Michigan's momentum didn't last long. The Badgers controlled the first 14 minutes of the second half, outscor- ing Michigan 30-14 during that stretch. The Wolverines' ineptitude was most apparent during a four-minute score- less drought in which they committed three turnovers and gave up 10 consecu- tive Wisconsin points. But the Badgers eventually built a lead so great that even the Wolverines' best offensive perfor- mance of the season couldn't put them over the top. Team Ohio State Penn State Michigan State Minnesota Purdue Iowa Illinois Wisconsin Northwestern Indiana Michigan Bl Ten Overall 8 8 7 6 5 4 4 2 2 1 :1 1 1 2 2 4 4 5 6 7 8 8 21 13 18 16 12 15 12 8 5 8 5 2 7 3 4 8 4 7 10 17 11 15 FG%: 47.5 FT%: 72.0 3-point FG: 5-14, .357 (Rich 2-4, Anderson 2-5, Joseph- son 1-3, Banks 0-2). Blocks: 5 (Rich 2, Gebisa, Ward, Wilson). Steals: 14 (Josephson 3, Rich 3, Ward 3, Ander- son 2, Nelson 2, Banks). Turnovers: 18 (Anderson 9, Banks 3, Ward 2, Alexan- der, Josephson, Nelson, Rich). Technical fouls: None. Michigan....... .....31 40 - 71 Wisconsin .............35 44 - 79 At: Kohl Center Attendance: 7,721 BIG TEN STANDINGS THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS: WISCONSIN 79, Michigan 71 PENN STATE 81, Minnesota 69 Ohio State 69, ILLINOIS 55 Michigan State 52, INDIANA 40 Purdue 68, NORTHWESTERN 65 MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily Krista Clement netted 13 points against Wisconsin. said. "We're a smaller basketball team without that height, and we believe that blocking out is a discipline. But they were hitting the glass hard." The Badgers used freshman Danielle Ward's four-inch height advantage against the smaller Wolverines throughout the first half. The 6-foot-4 forward positioned well on the low block and netted eight points against Michigan's defensive combination of Walker and senior BreAnne McPhilamy. "The coaches said to just go play and not worry about messing up," Ward said. "Basically, I just take on coaches personality and, most of all, get the ball back." Ward was not the only Badger to use her height against Michigan. The 6-foot-3 Ebba Gebisa pounded the low post for eight of her 18 points. Gebisa's supe- rior size also forced Michigan to foul her. She went to the free throw line 10 times and nailed all 10 of her opportunities. THE POWER OF POOL: Tabitha Pool was just 3-for-li from the field at halftime, but that did not hurt her confidence in the second half. Pool kept shooting and finally found her stroke. Pool hit 8-of- I shots in the second half to help keep Michigan in the game. Pool's 20 second-half points and positive attitude kept the young Wolverines heads in the game. "I was trying to just step up the intensity a little bit and get everybody else going," Pool said. THURSDAY'S GAMES Penn State at Michigan 7 p.m. Wisconsin at Indiana 7 p.m. Illinois at Purdue 7 p.m. Northwestern at Michigan St. 7 p.m. SUNDAY'S GAMES MINNESOTA AT MICHIGAN 2 p.m. Penn State at Purdue 2 p.m. Illinois at Michigan St. 2 p.m. Indiana at Ohio State 2 p.m. Wisconsin at Iowa 2 p.m. KEY STAT 38 Number of points in the paint for Wisconsin yesterday. The Bad- gers used their size advantage to create 20 more points inside than Michigan. 6-foot-4 fresh- man Danielle Ward netted eight points in the post for the Bad- gers in just 10 minutes of play. MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily Becky Flippin hit five 3-pointers in the Kohl Center yesterday. 0 WATER POLO Rollercoaster weekend: 'M' splits in opener I By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Writer With just under a minute left in Sat- urday night's game against No. 11 Indi- ana, the No. 9 Michigan women's water polo team had the ball in Indiana terri- tory, trailing 7-6. Desperately needing a goal, the Wolverines passed the ball from wing to wing before finding junior defender Megan Hausmann open in front of the goal. The fans tensely watched Hausmann raise her arm above her head and pump fake a few times - trying to find an opening - before rifling the ball toward the goal. As the ball headed for the back of the net, Indiana's goalie Jes- t.- n..a~« 1, ..-+,_-_ -k said. "It was a matter of one or two inches. I knew it was going to come down to the end of the game and that we would have an opportunity to win it, which we did." With the loss to Indiana, the Wol- verines' unblemished record against the Hoosiers came to an end. Until Saturday, Michigan had held a 16- 0-1 all-time edge over Indiana, and the Wolverines were relieved that, if the streak had to end, it ended sooner rather than later in the season. "We were trying to uphold the tradition of never losing to Indiana," sophomore center Wesley Ellison said. "There was a lot of adrenaline, and we felt a lot of pres- sure because we were expected to win. I the Wolverines to struggle offensively. At halftime, the Wolverines trailed 7-0, but, in the third and fourth quarters, the game was much closer, with UCLA only out- scoring Michigan 6-3. "(Playing UCLA) was a good experi- ence," Ellison said. "They're like USC football; no one can play with them. They're unbelievable. It's good that we're playing the best team in the nation." Anderson knew that UCLA would be a tough team, but he was satisfied with the way that his team rebounded from the Indiana loss and gave full effort on every play. He also understood that playing high-caliber opponents can only help his team in the long run. solid performances. Senior goalie Betsey Armstrong totaled 11 saves against Indiana and 15 against UCLA while not playing against Colorado St. or Slippery Rock. "Against UCLA, Betsey showed why she's the top goalie," Anderson said. "She made saves against them that other goalies wouldn't have." Senior driver Sheetal Narsai moved within one goal of the exclusive 100-goal club. While she saw limited action against Colorado St. and Slippery Rock and didn't score against UCLA, Narsai notched two goals against Indiana to bring her career goal total to 99. Anderson also thought that Elli- 4, t , x x, ~0 Ica * r~ )PI s u