The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 9, 2005 - 9 Helvey meets boyfriend's goal By Daniel Bromwich Daily Sports Writer Michigan entered its game against the Uni- versity of Maryland Eastern Shore needing a win, trying to push its record to .500 for the first time in over a year. So when junior Kelly Helvey finished the first half 5-for-6 from the field. and 3-for-3 from down- }.,3: GH T town to match her sea- son-high with 13 points ....Mihgn at with still a half to play, she might have thought W pm. she had done her part. Ban But the stakes for her to Aren3 continue her aggressive- ness in the second half rose even higher when she received a message during the break. "At halftime, my boyfriend said that, if I didn't get 20, he was going to break up with me," Helvey said. "And when I was at the free throw line for my 20th point, I missed. I looked up at him, and he drew his finger across his throat." But that was the only miss from the line Helvey recorded all night, and she missed just one more shot from the floor en route to a career-performance. If you were told that one player opened the game against the Lady Hawks 5-for-5 from the field, with three of her baskets coming from outside the arc on the way to a career-high 30 points, you'd have several logical choices other than Helvey. You'd probably pick second-year guard Krista Clement. Clement has attempted more than twice as many threes as any- one else on the team this season, and she launched the game-winning trey against Athletes in Action. If you didn't go with Clement, maybe you would choose the former Ms. Basketball from Ohio - freshman point guard Jessica Min- nfield - who is second on the team in 3-point- ers attempted and made. You could even make a case for sophomore Ta'Shia Walker, who leads the team in scoring and is third in three-point field goals. But almost nobody would have picked Helvey. Although Helvey was third on the team in scoring coming into Tuesday night's game - averaging 6.4 points per contest - she is better-known for her defensive prowess and her hustle. But it was Helvey who finished the game with a career-high 30 points, going 8-for-10 from the field, 3-for-3 from downtown and 11-for-12 from the foul line. Each one of those numbers was a career best, and her scoring output dwarfed her previous high of 16. Helvey got her points on drives through the lane, fouls com- ing on those drives and an array of pull- up "rhythm jumpers." She also added 11 boards to mark her second straight game with a double-double. Helvey woke up the morning of the game with a sore right shoulder, but the pain didn't hamper the southpaw at all. Her 17 points in the second half came just one short of matching the UMES second-half total. "I think at the end, I might have been try- ing to do too much," Helvey said. "But when you're in the zone, you're in the zone." One had to pity the Lady Hawks, who prob- ably felt as if they had been unfairly blindsided by Helvey and the Wolverines. They expected scoring from Walker inside and Clement out- side, but appeared unprepared for Helvey's shooting performance. "They're doubling down on Ta'Shia, and that's our go-to player," Helvey said. "So, as a veteran and as somebody who has experi- ence, I have to step up. I know I can do it. I just needed the confidence from my team and my coach." And after a game like this, it would be hard to imagine that she hasn't earned that confi- dence. Helvey picked up her third foul just 30 seconds into the second half, but Burnett chose to keep her in the game. "You can look at her statistics, but what impressed me was not just her stat line," Bur- nett said. "What impressed me was when she got three fouls. I kept her in and just said 'Kelly you cannot foul again.' And she played very, very smart." Helvey's performance is not completely unprecedented. In high school, she once tal- lied 32 points, and she remembers exactly what it felt like. "I think I probably had about the same number of 3-pointers (in the high school game)," Helvey said. "You'd be surprised. I barely ever drove the lane in high school. I was nothing but a shooter, so it's a com- pletely different role here." As an all-around contributor who leads the team in assists, blocks, steals, charges taken and defensive rebounds, the Wolverines do not want her role to waver too much. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a player who wouldn't enjoy yet another scoring performance like the one she exhibited on Tuesday night. Helvey and the Wolverines will take their .500 record to Washington tonight to battle the Huskies. RODRIGO GAYA/Daily Sophomore Kelly Helvey scored a career-high 30 points on 8-for-10 shooting against visiting UMES Tuesday.