Spikers fall in first
round of NCAA
Tournament
VOLLEYBALL 3B

Bell compares
big Michigan
disappointments
SM COLUMN 2B

ortsMondav


--mw-

Monday, December 4, 2006

.AL

THE MICHIGAN DAILY
B S?

V

michigandaily.com6.

Brie hope
shredde by
Gator hype
Well, that does it.
Another trip to Pasadena's not the end
of the world, I guess.
But this stings. It really stings.
One week ago today, Michi-
gan sat comfortably at No. 3 in
the Bowl Championship Series
rankings. ;
No one seriously thought that
UCLA would knock off a heav-
ily-favored Southern Cal squad, rlAIT
re-opening the door for Michi-
gan's national title hopes. SINGER
But on Saturday, we all were
glued to our television screens. Spitting Fire
We all held our breath in the
desperate hope that the Bruins would somehow beat
the mighty Trojans, punching Michigan's ticket to
Glendale, Ariz. We all felt our hearts race as Karl
Dorrell's squad hung tight with Pete Carroll's crew
Then, with an absurdly acrobatic game-clinch-
ing interception by UCLA linebacker Eric McNeal,
Wolverine nation's wildest dreams appeared to come
true.
Horns honked. People screamed. Joy reigned in
Ann Arbor.
But at the Georgia Dome, events were unfolding
that would put everyone here in a much more som-
ber mood less than 24 hours later.
Florida, a team which rested two spots below
Michigan in the BCS Standings when the Wolver-
ires stopped playing two weeks ago, was taking on
Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Champi-
onship game.
Conventional wisdom stated that Michigan would
remain ahead of Florida, as long as the Gators didn't
completely destroy the Razorbacks.
Conventional wisdom was wrong.
Florida didn't crush Arkansas. The Gators didn't
even outplay them. But as the final minutes of the
thrilling, but sloppy, matchup wound down, a new
line of thinking came to the forefront of the college
football world.
CBS announcer Gary Danielson fired the first
See SINGER, Page 6B

ACCUSTOMED TO LETDOWNS?
Even though you're hurting right now, the latest Bowl Cham-
pionship Series controversy isn't thefirst time Michigan has
beenmarginalizedlonthenationalstage.intheWolverines
long and storied history,there stand two clear-cut years
when the pain was just as great as FOX personality Chris
Rose announcing.Florida in the National Championship
game.
1973: Heading into Michigan's season-ending matchupwith
Ohio State, both teams were undefeated. When the Nov.24
gamefinished with the two squads knotted at10-10, most
believed the Wolverines would get the nod over the Buck-
eyes to make the trip to a Rose Bowlto play for a possible
national championship. Ohio State coach Woody Hayes even
wished Michigan coach Bo Schembechler good luck in the
Rose Bowl. But when it came timetfor the Big Ten athletic
directorsto vote, they nominated the Buckeyes torepresent
the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl, leaving Michigan home for
the winter.
1997: The dominating Michigan squad led by Heisman
Trophy winner Charles Woodson finished the regular season
undefeated and handled a Ryan Leaftled Washington State
team in theRose Bowl to finishbthe1997campaign unblem-
ished and ranked No.1 in the Associated Press poll. But
Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer decided that Nebraska was a
better team than Michigan and gave the Cornhuskers afirst-
place vote in the Coaches poll. Due to Fulmer's decision, the
Wolverines wereforced the share the nationaltchampionship
with Nebraska.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"(The voters) did get it right. The rightiteam is the No.2 team in
the country, and that's Florida. It's based on what they did the
entire season. I'm glad that the voters waited until the season was
over, after the championship games to cast the final ballot."
- LSPN analyst Mark May
"I appreciate the Gators. They had a great year, and they deserve
to be there. It's just my humble opinion that I still feel that Michi-
gan is the second best team in the country. The voters clearly did
not want a rematch."
- ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit
"Quite frankly, I'm surprised that Florida has been able to make up
that much ground on Michigan. Michigan fell behind two weeks in
a row and hasn't played. It's obvious that the pollsters didn't want
to see a rematch."
- FOX analyst and former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez
"I think that people were voting for Ohio State and not against
Michigan. Florida deserves this opportunity because of the sched-
ule they played during the year. But what people were saying is,
'We don't think it's fair for Ohio State to play Michigan twice.'"
- FOX analyst Charles Davis


Blue
redeems
i tself at
Crisler
By CHRIS HERRING
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's basket-
ball team nearly made believers out
of everyone at
Crisler Arena Fri- NOTRE DAME 61
day night against MICHIGAN 58
Notre Dame.
But yesterday, MIAMI(FLA.) 55
when the team MICHIGAN 60
got a second shot
to make a statement on its home court,
the Wolverines made it clear they
aren't anyone's pushover anymore.
Just two days after Michigan
self-destructed in what could have
been the program's biggest win in
more than two years, the Wolverines
bounced back to beat a previously 7-1
Miami team, 60-55.
"This is a great tribute to (the play-
ers), coming off a tough loss," Michi-
gan coach Cheryl Burnett said. "I've
talked about them for years, about
how resilient they are ... and being able
to shrug off whatever disappointments
we've had."
Justnine games into the year, Mich-
igan has already matched last season's
win total.
The Wolverines' defensive attack
held Miami's two leading scorers
- Renee Taylor (20.5 points per game)
and Maurita Taylor (15 per game) - in
check. The duo shot just 6-for-21 and
combined for just 23 points.
The Wolverines' (6-3) solid perim-
eter defense often forced the Hurri-
canes (7-2) to take bad shots inside.
"Our reaction was to put our head
down and go to the rim," Miami coach
Katie Meier said. "(Michigan) is not
the team to do that against. As a team

.9999 .944 .934 .8326 .7953
ICE HOCKEY
Down men, and a man
down, Icers come back

By NATE SANDALS
DailySports Writer
KALAMAZOO - The Mich-
igan defense was a shadow of its
former self.
Clinging to a one-goal lead
with more
than six WMU 6
minutes left MICHIGAN 3
inthegame, ..---.
the pieces MICHIGAN 6
of a former- WMU 5
ly staunch
Wolverine backline could be
seen scattered throughout Law-

son Ice Arena.
Jason Dest and Jack John-
son wore suits and watched the
proceedings with their faces
pressed up against the glass by
the tunnel to the locker room.
Chris Summers sat in the
penalty box serving a high-
stickingminor.
With three of its six starting
defensemen stationed on the
wrongside of the boards, Mich-
igan was forced to scramble in
the hopes of protecting its slim
advantage against relentless
Western Michigan pressure

and a rabid home crowd that
began its "Let's go Broncos"
chants 30 minutes before the
puck dropped.
Add freshman goalie Steve
Jakiel in his first career start
to the mix, and it seemed inevi-
table that the game would slip
away.
But somehow, someway,
Michigan held. With defense-
men taking short shifts to stay
rested, the Wolverines held on
for a 6-5 win and were able to
breath a collective sigh of relief
See BRONCOS, Page 4B

ENS BASKETBALL
Cagers take frustrations
out in weekend whipping

Freshman Krista Phillips tallied 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks in the two weekend
games for the Wolverines. Michigan has already matched last year's win total of six.

we had been getting away with that,
and I knew (the Wolverines) wouldn't
allow us to get away with that."
The Wolverines got away with a few
problems of their own in the victory.
Michigan was holding a small lead
when post players Krista Phillips,
Stephany Skrba and LeQuisha Whit-
field all had to sit because of foul trou-
ble early in the second half.
The trio, which combines for 25
points and 15 rebounds a game, left a
hole both on the offensive and defen-
sive ends of the floor.
The Wolverines went almost seven
minutes without a point after Phil-
lips took a seat with three fouls. It was
then that the Hurricanes took advan-
tage of Michigan's lack of height in the
paint. Miami hit four straight inside
buckets to go on a 13-4 run and open

a 40-33 lead over the Wolverines with
just more than 11 minutes left.
But then the Michigan bench took
over.
With the Hurricanes up five, Wol-
verine reserves camew through in yet
another game, hitting five of Mich-
igan's next seven baskets. Melinda
Queen, Kalyn McPherson, Katie Dier-
dorf and Carly Benson all made big
contributions off the bench to propel
Michigan to a 51-47 lead with just less
than six minutes remaining.
As different players subbed in and
out, the one constant was starting
point guard Jessica Minnfield, who
played all 40 minutes of the game. Her
hard play didn't go unnoticed by her
teammates.
"She's tough," junior co-captain
See HURRICANES, Page 6B

By DANIEL LEVY
Daily Sports Writer
When your team feels it needs to beat Wofford
at home to prove itself, things probably aren't
going well.
But the reality is that Michigan needed
to erase all memories of-
Monday night's debacle in WOFFORD 49
Raleigh, N.C., and squash MICHIGAN 83
any self-doubt that might
have crept up during the week.
And to the Wolverines credit, they did just
that, dominatingboth ends of the court in an 83-
49 win at Crisler Arena Saturday afternoon.
"I thought we played the best total 40 minutes
of basketball that we played all season," Michi-
gan coach Tommy Amaker said. "It was a critical
moment for us to show that to ourselves, not to
anyone else."
Point guard Dion Harris turned in his best
game of the season by far. The senior kept the
ball flowing on the offensive end, finishing with
10 assists compared to just one turnover. He also
chipped in 14 points.
Harris did all that while dealing with Wof-

ford's leading scorer, Shane Nichols, on defense.
Harris blanketed Nichols all day long and held
him to just four points on 1-for-13 shooting.
"I thought Dion was the catalyst for us,"
Amaker said. "(He did a great job) defending,
taking care of the ball, getting a double-double
with points and assists and just being that leader
on that court."
Harris's efforts sparked Michigan's defense,
which utilized its size advantage to keep Wof-
ford out of the paint. This forced the Terriers
(4-5) out beyond the 3-point arc where the Wol-
verine guards were ready to put on the pressure.
Eleven of Wofford's 17 baskets came from down-
town. The Terriers attempted 31 triples on the
day, with many shots coming under duress late
in the shot clock.
Michigan's defense held Wofford at less than
30 percent from the field and forced 13 turnovers.
The Wolverines tookadvantage oflongrebounds,
steals and blocks to transition the other way for
easy points, leading to various runs throughout
the game. Leading 29-18, Michigan put together
a 14-0 spurt in the final six minutes of the first
half to put the Terriers away.
See TERRIERS, Page SB