Friday January 6, 2006 sports. michigandaily. com sports@michigandaily.com PORTSigan Baiig 8 Run too small n loss to Hawkeyes 0 MEN'S BASKETBALL No comb-over for Boilermakers By Daniel Bromwich Daily Sports Writer Staring at a 10-point halftime deficit, the Michigan women's basketball team came out of the break on a mission. Freshman Jessica Minnfield started the Wolverine run with a 3-pointer lowA 77 off a pass from for- ward Carly Benson to cut the lead to seven. Benson and sophomore Ta'Shia Walker followed the triple with two jumpers sandwiched around a three-point play from Iowa sophomore Krista VandeVenter. Then, Minnfield knocked down a trey from the top of the key to cut the lead to three - the smallest deficit the Wolverines (0-3 Big Ten, 6-9 overall) had faced. The fans in Crisler Arena were jumping and screaming, and Michigan looked poised to take control of the game. But the Hawkeyes (2-1,9-5) remained relaxed, calmly put together an 8-2 run and never looked back en route to a 77- 63 win. "It was the first time this season that we really got some momentum," Michi- gan coach Cheryl Burnett said of the run. "Our defense created some momentum for us, and the offense came easily in that stretch. But then we didn't hit some shots and turned it over while they hit a few." With 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting, Walker led the team in scoring for the eighth time this year. Minnfield also con- tributed, hitting all three of her three-point attempts and finishing with 11 points. But the Wolverines were without Jessica Star- ling, who left the team for personal rea- sons. In the first half, Michigan never led and was unable to cut the Hawkeye lead below five. Iowa started the game with a 6-0 run, and the Wolverines' notoriously aggres- sive defense hurt them early on, putting the Hawkeyes in the double bonus with nine minutes remaining in the half. But Iowa couldn't capitalize, drawing just two fouls before the break. The Wolverines struggled to find an answer for 6-foot-6 Hawkeye freshman Megan Skouby. Skouby finished the half 6-for-7 from the field, with each of her attempts coming inside the lane. And Michigan was lucky to end the first half down just 10. Iowa shot 54 percent from the field while the Wol- verines managed to knock down just 12 JEREMY CHO/Daily Sophomore Krista Clement tries to drive past the Hawkeyes in last night's loss.. of their 32 attempts. "At first we were letting her catch the ball too easily," sophomore forward Katie Dierdorf said. "I think we finally realized that girl could score. She was just turning on us and scoring, so we had to adjust and try to prevent her from catching the ball in good position." After the Hawkeyes' strong response to the Michigan run that opened the sec- ond half, the Wolverines were unable to consistently hold the margin under 10 points. Every time Michigan looked like it would mount a run, Iowa had the answer. After the first half where Michi- gan could not stop Skouby, the Hawk- eyes dialed it in from outside during the second period. They knocked down five 3-pointers in the second frame, includ- ing three from senior Tiffany Reedy, who finished with 13 points. On Sunday, Michigan will continue to look for its first conference win when it faces Purdue at Crisler Arena. By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Writer During the national anthem Tues- day night, redshirt junior Lester Abram lined up with the Michigan players that stood in front of the Wolverines' bench. But instead of starting the game, Abram could only cheerlead from the bench - sidelined with a toe injury. With the absence of one of their most consistent players, the Wolverines needed someone else to step up.vv g+i Guard Dion Harris answered the call. ur In the first half, senior Daniel Horton and junior 12:0$ Courtney Sims totaled CrI'e just five points on 1-for-9 ESPN shooting, and Michigan desperately looked for an offensive spark to keep Indiana from jumping to a substantial lead. Harris scored 10 points during the first frame. The next highest scorer, Graham Brown, registered just four. The 6-foot-3 guard was also the lone Michigan player to hit a 3-point- er. Most of the Wolverines struggled to shake off their sluggish start, but Harris propelled them into halftime with the score tied at 24. "Once I hit one, obviously, I kept being aggressive," Harris said. "I tried to knock down shots for my team because I saw that we were struggling." Tomorrow against Purdue, Har- ris will have to maintain his aggres- sive play. With Abram's status still in question, the Wolverines will need the Detroit native's offense to continue to balance their attack. "(Michigan) has talented guards," said Purdue coach Matt Painter. "Dion Harris is a very good player. He had to play some point last sea- son in the absence of Daniel Hor- ton, and that probably made him a better player." Both teams come into tomorrow's game 0-1 in Big Ten play. For the Wolverines, a win would even their conference record before they travel to Champaign next Saturday for a show- down with No.6 Illinois. For Purdue (6-6), this will be the first time in 25 years that the team travels to Ann Arbor without the scowling but loveable coach Gene Keady. Instead, the Boilermakers and Painter - who served as asso- ciate head coach last season under Keady and his infamous comb-over - will look to steal their first con- ference victory after losing to North- western on Wednesday. "We have to concern ourselves with taking care of the basketball," Painter said. "We have to go out --- there and compete hard R0W at that Big Ten level. You really have to pick it up a at notch, especially when you go on the road." f After failing down the stretch against Indiana, x' the Wolverines (10-2) will """"'"" face off against a Boiler- maker squad that handily defeated them by 29 in West Lafay- ette last season. In that game, the Wolverines were without Abram and Horton, and unlike last Tuesday's game in Bloom- ington, Harris didn't exhibit aggres- siveness on offensive. He totaled just eight points in the losing effort. "They got beat by 29 points," Painter said. "They have some guys that were part of that game, and there's no doubt that when you get beat by 29 points, you're going to remember that." Abram's injury may have set back Michigan, but the Boilermakers have had their fair share of bad breaks this season. Just yesterday, Purdue found out that freshman guard Nate Minnoy will miss the season with an MCL tear. Minnoy went down early in the Boilermakers' loss to Northwestern on Wednesday. "You must have decision makers on the court, guys that understand what's going on and can make a pass or make a play:' Painter said. "He was going to be that guy for us. It was a huge blow for us." If Abram is forced to cheerlead again tomorrow, the Wolverines will need to have the Harris that scored those 19 points against Indiana earli- er this week, and not the Harris that tallied only eight points last season against the Boilermakers. 01 N ICE HOCKEY Team USA members will boost M' By Mark Giannotto Daily Sports Writer This weekend marks a critical juncture in the 2005- 06 campaign for Michigan hockey. The team is now more than halfway done with its schedule, and only CCHA division games remain. After 19 games, the Wolverines sport a solid 12-6-1 record. Last year's team TJIS Wf had a similar 14-4-1 record at the same point in time. From there, it went on to Michig win 13 of its next 18 games and compiled 7 p an impressive 13-3-2 mark. The 2004-05 YostkeA squad also competed against a schedule that exclusively featured CCHA oppo- nents. That team ended the regular season on top of the conference. This year's team needs to duplicate that perfor- mance in the second half if it hopes to be the top seed heading into the CCHA playoffs. Entering the weekend, the Wolverines trail CCHA-leading Miami (Ohio) by six points. Michigan has played one less league game than the RedHawks, but the conference leaders have already completed a sweep in their sea- son series against the Wolverines. ' Compared to last season, the current CCHA features much more balance. The second-place Wolverines are just five points ahead of eighth-place Alaska-Fairbanks. "There is so much parity right now," senior captain Andrew Ebbett said. "You go to the rink and any- body can beat anybody," Luckily for the Wolverines, they face off CEND against the Nanooks this weekend. With two wins, Michigan could put some serious dis- tance between itself and the lower part of the CCHA. But the Icers know they cannot take ma this weekend's foe lightly. When the Wol- verines were previously ranked No. I in the country earlier this season, Alaska-Fairbanks notched a win against them. In fact, with a season-open- ing victory against then-No. 1 Minnesota, the Nanooks are the only team in college hockey to have wins over two top-ranked teams. "Fairbanks is as good as anyone else in the league," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "They are a team that can compete and check well. There isn't much of a difference between us and them." When Alaska-Fairbanks notched a 4-2 victory over the Wolverines on Oct. 28, the Nanooks' forwards were able to extend the Michigan defense close to the red line, leaving gaping holes in the middle of the offensive zone. "Every time we play Alaska, we know they are a hard-working team and an aggressive forechecking team;" Ebbett said. "We need to play strong defense and outwork them. We need to help out our defensemen." The Wolverines will welcome back four players from the IHHF World Junior Championships. Sophomore forward Kevin Porter and freshman defensemen Jack Johnson and Mark Mitera have been representing the United States and freshman forward Andrew Cogliano has been playing for the Canadian team. They should all be in the lineup tonight, but their ability to contribute remains a question mark. Besides the brutal schedule during World Juniors, all four have been unable to practice with the team for the past three weeks. Junior T.J. Hensick, who participated in the 2005 World Junior Championships, does not think it will be an issue. "They are going to get back here tired and might be anxious to take some days off," Hensick said. "But they understand that it was only a three-week tournament and their priority is with Michigan." I The Society of Women Engineers and UBS Present: Summer Internship Presentation for Sales & Trading and Information Technology Date: January 9, 2006 Time: 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM: Information Technology Tech Talk 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM: Sales & Trading Mock Trading Venue: 1017 DOW Internship Resume Drop Deadlines: Business School Equities Sales & Trading: January 5, 2006 Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange-CCT: January 5, 2006 Engineering School Equities Sales & Trading: January 9, 2006 Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange-CCT: January 9, 2006 Information Technology: January 15, 2006 I I I