The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Early runs bury 'M' By CHRIS HERRING number of fans with them Daily Sports Writer didn't help the Wolverines in their uphill battle, either. Forward Ta'Shia Walker "There's no question that said it best following Mich- when you're at home, you igan's NOTEBOOK need the quick start," Bur- loss to NO E O K nett said. Penn Freshman LeQuisha State on Sunday: "We can't Whitfield admitted Michi- let other teams dig us into a gan didn't come out with hole each time." the desire it needed to beat Last night, the Wolverines a strong team like the Spar- once again found out thehard tans. way what happens when they "At the beginning of every fall behind early - this time game, we should come out in an 18-point loss to archri- saying, 'We want this more val Michigan State at Crisler than the other team,' "Whit- Arena. field said. "We can't wait The Spartans started the until the last three minutes game on an 8-0 run. Before to want the game." Michigan could get anything OFFENSIVE OFFENSE: The going, Michigan State had Wolverines shot just 5-for-27 already jumped out to a 27-10 from beyond the arc in last lead. night's game. But it wasn't the Wolver- Burnett said the team shot ines' defense that performed more 3-pointers in an effort poorly during the game. to cut into the big Spartan Michigan held the Spartans lead. The 27 attempts were a 32-percent shooting (11-for- season-high. 34) in the opening half. "They have a lot of differ- "Going into halftime, ent players that can shoot we told our players that we threes,"MichiganStatecoach thought we had defended Joanne P. McCallie said. "It's (Michigan State) very well," part of their game." Michigan coach Cheryl Bur- Attempting that many nett said. 3-pointers may be within But as the game pro- their game, but making them gressed, so did the Spartans' might not be. At just under 29 shooting. They knocked percent, the Wolverines rank down 50 percent of their last inthe BigTen. shots (11-for-22) in the sec- "We're just a team that and frame, making things shoots a lot of threes," senior even harder for Michigan. Kelly Helvey said. The fact that No. 20 Mich- Of the 12 Michigan play- igan State brought a decent ers who saw playing time, all Friday, January 19, 2007 - 5 Age trumps youth Sophomore forward Ashley Jones and Michigan fell to Michigan State last night, as the Wolverines committed 21 turnovers. By DAN FELDMAN Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's bas- ketball team's underclassmen significantly outscored Michi- gan State's MICHIGAN STATE 66 non- MICHIGAN 483 seniors. But unlike the Wolver- ines, the Spartans had a bevy of senior leadership to draw upon. Just one of the four Michi- gan upperclassmen to dress scored (junior guard Janelle Cooper with eight points), but Michigan State's seniors poured in 48 points to lead the Spartans to a 66-48 victory last night in Crisler Arena. It was No. 20 Michigan State's ninth win in as many tries against the Wolverines. Spartan Senior Myisha Ban- nister scored 13 points and pulled in 10 rebounds. And teammate and fellow senior Victoria Lucas-Perry seemed to make plays consistently for the Spartans, scoring in a vari- ety of ways. The Flint native scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. "She showed a lot of expe- rience, really showed a lot of experience on the floor," Michigan State coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "Again, very calm and poised. I thought she was very aggressive. I liked her rebounding. I just liked her game overall. I thought she played very confidently, very poised." But the type of savvy Lucas- Perry showed for the Spartans was non-existent in the Michi- gan offensive. When sophomore point guard Jessica Minnfield hit freshman guard Kalyn McPherson streaking ahead of the pack just a minute into the contest, it seemed as if Michi- gan would easily score its first points of the game. But McPherson missed the open layup, the Wolverines' first shot. Michigan went on to miss its next six shots before McPherson found herself on a fast break again, with just under 14 minutes remaining in the half and the Spartans lead- ing 8-0. This time, even though McPherson was under some Spartan pressure, she hit the layup for Michgan's first bas- ket. "There's no question that when you're playing at home you need to quick-start," Bur- nett said. "You've got to play, I don't want to say perfect game, but you've got to do a much better job of not giving them what we gave them. And then at the same time, we've got to hit shots." But the points didn't come any easier for the Wolverines (8-12 overall, 1-6 Big Ten), who are last in the Big Ten in scor- ing. They shot just 29 percent from the field and had 21 turn- overs, two other categories in which they trail the confer- ence. But not everything was neg- ative for Michigan, especially the matchup of freshmen in the pivot, where the Wolver- ines were uncharacteristical- ly successful against a taller player. Michigan had faced just two players taller than its 6-foot-6 freshman center Krista Phil- lips before last night - Duke's Alison Bales and Indiana's Sarah McKay, both 6-foot-7 seniors. Bales beat Michigan up for 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds.and six blocks. McKay shot 11-of- 14 for 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots. In those games, Phillips shot a combined 5-of-15. One would expect Michi- gan State's 6-foot-9 freshman center Allyssa DeHaan would enjoy similar success. Entering the game last night, DeHaan led the Big Ten in blocks per game (4.53). She led Big Ten freshmen in scor- ing (12.8) and rebounding (8.9) and is second among confer- ence freshmen in field-goal and free-throw percentage (.528 and .746, respectively). But Michigan kept DeHaan under wraps most of the game. The Grandville native finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds,but most of that pro- duction came in garbage time. She shot just 1-of-7 for four points with just four rebounds until the game's final two min- utes. Meanwhile, Phillips was a respectable 4-for-5 for nine points and six rebounds despite playing just 17 minutes with foul trouble. Freshman forward LeQui- sha Whitfield also saw signifi- cant playing time in the post, adding 12 points and nine rebounds for the Wolverines. Even though Michigan won the battle of youngsters inside, the Spartan seniors proved to be just too much for the Wol- verines to handle. but two (sophomores Steph- any Skrba and Ashley Jones) attempted at least one shot from downtown. BACK TO OLD FORM: The Wolverines committed 21 turnovers against Michigan State, just one game after turning theball over 22 times against Penn State. Before those two games, the Wolverines had gone four straight games with 17 turn- overs or less. The miscues played a big role in Michigan's lackluster first half. "Certainly our turnovers made a difference," Burnett said. As a result, the Spartans took nine more shots than Michigan, helping them build a comfortable 29-15 lead before going into half- time. DOGS WILL BE DOGS: At halftime, a group of frisbee- catching dogs performed for the fans. The crowd seemed to enjoy the entertainment - especially when Ballistic Belle, a three-time world- finalist Frisbee-catcher, had to relieve herself. The pup didn't seem to mind using the Crisler Arena floor as a restroom. "The whole reason that happened was because she didn't like Michigan State," said Bill Camp, the dog's trainer.. Apparently, the dog didn't discourage the Spartans too much. Michigan State out- scored the Wolverines, 37-33, in the second half. M' ready for rematch By DANIEL LEVY Daily Sports Writer The last two Michigan-Purdue games played at Crisler Arena have been decided by a combined four points - with the Wolverines Purdue at winning both Michigan times. Matchup: If Michigan Michigan 15-4; hopes to beat Purdue13-6 the Boilermak- When: Saturday ersforthethird 12:17 P.M. straight time Where: Crisler in Ann Arbor, Arena it must find a TV/Radio: way to con- ESPN Plus tain Purdue's dynamic duo of Carl Landry and David Teague. The seniors torched the Wolver- ines for a combined 43 points in the Boilermakers' 67-53 win in West Lafayette last Saturday. Landry did his damage around the rim, and Teague hit 4-of-5 shots from downtown. The combination gave the Wolverines' defense headaches inside and out. With a week to prepare for the rematch, Michigan coach Tommy Amaker decided to focus on stop- ping the other Boilermakers instead. "Sometimes, when you have key players, you do a decent job in that category, but some of the other players have a tendency to jump up and hurt you," Amaker said. "That happened down at Purdue. Teague and Landry were awesome when we played them, but they had some other players who were able to mix it in, make us guard them and open things up for Landry and Teague." One of those other players Amaker was referring to is Purdue center Dan Vandervieren, who was the Boilermakers' third-highest scorer last Saturday (six points). A few others chipped in a baskei here or there, but Landry was the story of the game. Michigan had no answer for him then, and the Wolverines will have a hard time defeating the Boilermakers if they can't stop Landry tomorrow - a task that Michigan center Court- ney Sims will take on yet again. "I don't know (how to slow down Landry)," said Sims, who saw limited action at Purdue after picking up two quick fouls trying. to defend him. "I'm just going to have to play the same defense and hope the calls go my way this time, because I thought I played good defense." Without Sims in the lineup, Landry had his way in the paint against the smaller, lighter and less-experienced trio - of Brent Petway, Ekpe Udoh and DeShawn Sims. And it was Courtney Sims's back-to-back buckets in the lane that capped off an 8-0 second-half run that cut the deficit to six and temporarily got the Wolverines back in the game. Keeping Sims on the court is just one thing Michigan is looking to change in hopes of achieving a dif- ferent result. The Wolverines com- mitted 17 turnovers and recorded just seven assists last weekend. Purdue scored 14 points (the final margin of victory) off the sloppy Michigan play. Amaker freely acknowledged the Wolver- ines will commit their fair share of turnovers, given the fast-break style he wants from his players. But Amaker does want his team to eliminate what he calls "silly" turnovers. In a convincing win over Penn State Wednesday night, Michigan fixed some of its offensive woes; The Wolverines assisted 19 of their 24 field goals. Even though the Nit- tany Lions use a zone defense - a stark contrast to Purdue's aggres- sive man-to-man pressure - Mich- igan guard Dion Harris thinks the Wolverines can take what they did well against Penn State and apply it to tomorrow's game. "I think (we need to play) like we did (Wednesday) on the perimeter as far as penetrating and try to hit other guys," Harris said. "Instead of trying to penetrate and score ourselves we need to penetrate and pitch and try to find the open man." The final key to Saturday's game sounds like a broken record: Mich- igan must win at home. Purdue is 11-0 at home this sea- son. But away from Mackey Arena, the Boilermakers have lost to the likes of Indiana State and Big Ten doormat Minnesota. Meanwhile, just one of the Wolverines' four losses has come at Crisler Arena. Sophomore goaltender Billy Sauer struggled in Alaska last season; and will seek to make up for his performance this weekend. Jeers seek to avenge lst year's defeat in Alaska By JAMES V. DOWD Daily Sports Writer Alaska's on-ice results might not be consistent, but you can always count on the Nanooks to be the CCHA's most passionate squad. As No. 13 Michigan prepares Michigan at to face off with Alaska in Fair- Alaska banks tonight, memories of last Matchup: season's series opener are still Michigan 15-9; fresh in the Wolverines' minds. Alaska 7-11-4 Michigan entered the Carl- When: Tonight son Center on Oct. 28 with a 4- 11:05 P.M. 0-1 record and a No. 1 ranking. Where: Carlson But once the referee dropped Center the puck, it was hard to tell TV/Radio: which team was supposed to be ESPN Plus the nation's best. The Nanooks, fresh off an upset of the previous No. 1 (Minnesota), outskated and outhustled the Wolverines in front of one of the CCHA's loudest and rowdiest crowds en route to a 4-2 victory. Sophomore goaltender Billy Sauer remembers the game vividly. Before facing the Nanooks last year, Sauer had helped the Wolverines knock off Boston College and hold Michigan State to a tie. But after allowing Alaska to notch four goals in the first game, Saner was replaced by then-senior Noah Ruden between the pipes. This time around, Sauer hopes to erase those bad memories by putting up the same strong perfor- mance that helped Michigan notch wins over Bowl- ing Green and Northern Michigan last week. "(Last year's game) was my first loss ever in col- lege," Sauer said. "It would be kind of nice to get a little payback for that." One of the keys to whether Sauer can avenge last year's defeat will be how he plays on Alaska's Olym- pic-sized ice. Most college hockey rinks are 200- feet long by 85-feet wide. But a handful of schools, including Alaska, have rinks that are 200 feet by 100 feet. In last year's series opener in Fairbanks, Sauer struggled with the wider angles and gave up goals that he usually saves. Because a scheduling conflict forced the Wolverines to practice at a different rink until the day of last year's game, Sauer was even less prepared for the wider rink. This year, Michigan (10-6-0 CCHA, 15-9-0 over- all) arrived in Alaska on Wednesday night and was promised some extra ice time before the first game. "We (had) some extra practices (in the days we were there before the game)," Sauer said. "I'm going to spend some extra time on the ice and kind of make some markers so that when it comes game time, I will be used to it." In addition to adjusting to the larger rink, Michi- gan will try to be consistent between the two nights. Saturday's 2-1 loss to Northern Michigan marked the fifth time this season Michigan lost the second game of a series after winning the first. Last week, it seemed as if the Wolverines had taken a step in the right direction with Tuesday's convincing victory over Bowling Green and Friday's shutout win over Northern Michigan. But once Saturday rolled around, it appeared as if nothing had changed for the Maize and Blue. Alternate captain T.J. Hensick hopes things will be different this weekend. "I think it's an ongoing thing that we're trying to get two good games together," Hensick said. "I think we did that last week Tuesday and Friday, but we forgot we had a game Saturday. We need to put a good weekend togethner this week." The Nanooks (5-8-3, 7-11-4) seen like the perfect opponent for a Michigan squad looking for two solid victories. Alaska is in the midst of a seven-game los- ing streak, which includes a pair of losses at Michi- gan State last weekend. Despite the Nanooks' struggles, they have not relinquished their passion for the game. After Friday night's hard-fought overtime loss in East Lansing, a brawl started when Alaska coach Tavis MacMillan confronted Michigan State coach Rick Comley during the handshake line. And the Nanooks' fans are just as raucous as the, players. With an extra year of experience under his belt, Sauer is looking forward to the challenge of playing in hostile Carlson Center. "I think it's fun," Sauer said. "I don't like to play in front of a nice, steady crowd. The more crap I get, and the harder time the fans give me, the moreI like to play. It's a fun environment." * 0 YORGIVE US YU OPINION * 0 FOR ONE HOUR. * S We'll give you $25 cash. * v *0 COLLEGE STUDENT FOCUS GROUPS Thursday January 25th 10am to 11am OR 11:30am to 12:30pm * We're researching different aspects of student living and are looking for " University of Michigan students to attend a one hour focus group at the : Union. 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