6
8 - Friday, February 9, 2007
Blue
falls
on
road
By ANDY REID
Daily Sports Writer
IOWA CITY - For Iowa, play-
ing the Michigan women's bas-
ketball team was like a game of
dominoes.
Knock MICHIGAN 9
one down, IOWA 66
and the
rest will follow.
Inorder to disassemble the Wol-
verines, the Hawkeyes first had
to attack the lead domino: fresh-
man center Krista Phillips. When
she fell, Michigan had no answer,
and the Hawkeyes stormed their
way to an impressive 66-49 win
at Carver-Hawkeye Arena last
night.
Early in the contest, Iowa's
offense was unable to penetrate
a stout Michigan defense, led
by Phillips in the paint. With no
openings inside, the Hawkeyes
got flustered, rushing shots and
making bad decisions.
Michigan's offense also ben-
efited from Phillips's play. With a
viable threat in the post, the Wol-
verines enabled to run a balanced
attack. Iowa had trouble defend-
ing everything, and Michigan
took advantage of it.
"Krista is a very big target for
us," Michigan coach Burnett said.
"In the women's game, the '6-6
kid' is a big factor. ... (Phillips) has
done agreatjob forusgettingsome
of those rebounds and doing some
things that give us flexibility."
The Hawkeyes came up with
just one answer for Phillips's dom-
inating presence: attack the first-
year center head on.
Even though the Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, native has shown
bright spots both offensively and
defensively this season, she often
finds herself in foul trouble, early
in the game.
Yesterday was no exception.
After just six minutes on the
court, Phillips tallied her second
foul and headed to the bench.
Phillips had six points and one
rebound in that time.
When Phillips found a seat on
the bench, the intricate domino
maze that was Michigan began to
tumble.
"For me, I work hard and I do
a lot of things in the paint, but
then I just make mistakes that
pull me out of the game," Phillips
said. "I'm in the process of learn-
ing what (foul is) good to take and
what's not good to take."
The team's effort took seri-
ous blow after serious blow as
each player Michigan sent in to
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Carr mum
on future
0
By SCOTT BELL
Daily Sports Editor
On Wednesday, Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr stood in front of report-
ers and raved
about the 20 NOTEBOOK
newest mem-
bers of the
Michigan football team.
But as the press conference
moved along, the questions quickly
took a turn in another direction.
First came a question about how
he reacts when recruits ask him
how long he'll be coaching at the
University.
"Regardless of my situation, I
think part of the landscape is that
a lot of coaches are replaced," Carr
said following the initial ques-
tion regarding his future with the
program. "A lot of coaches change
jobs.
"I think by and large, when you
make a choice because of who the
coach is, whether it's a position
coach, whether it's a head coach,
you can't be sure that he's going to
be there."
Carr also said that nobody spe-
cifically asked him about his future
while he went on recruiting visits
this year.
He then tried deflecting the
attention back to his class on mul-
tiple occasions, but reporters'
questions continued to focus on his
future with the program.
The coach was asked about a
recent change in his contract that
would make it easier for him to
step down as the team's head coach
after the 2007 season.
Carr didn't budge much, though,
and just reiterated what he had
previously said about his plans.
"Look, you know, I've tried to
answer that as best I could, but it
seems as though everybody inter-
prets it differently," Carr said.
"Like I'm hinting; I've hinted. I've
said everything I have to say on
it."
Following a couple more ques-
tions, Carr made his final statement
regarding the situation toward the
end of the 45-minute long confer-
ence.
"At some point here, I'll have
something to say about that," he
said. "But I don't. You've got access
to what's in (the contract), and I
really don't have anything to say
other than that."
HAPPY TRAILS: Four members of
the program that most assumed
would return for next season have
cleaned out their lockers at Schem-
bechler Hall since the Rose Bowl.
Three players (fifth-year
seniors-to-be Ryan Mundy and
Will Paul along with junior-to-be
Marques Walton) and one coach
(cornerbacks coach Ron Lee) will
not be with the team next fall.
The characteristically tight-
lipped Carr didn't give specifics as
to why they were leaving the team.
"Normally, when somebody
leaves the program, whether it
be a player, whether it be a coach,
I leave that announcement up to
him," Carr said.
He did go on to verify that all
four were no longer with the pro-
gram, though.
Mundy and Paul will both grad-
uate this spring, but neither will
use his fourth year of eligibility
next fall.
Mundy was a two-time starter at
safety for the team (parts of 2004
and 2006), but battled both incon-
sistency and a nerve injury that
kept him out for most of the 2005
season.
Paul joined the team as a high-
ly touted tight end and defensive
tackle, but could never settle in at a
position. He later made the switch
to fullback, but lost the starting job
battle with senior Obi Oluigbo last
season.
Walton appeared in four games
during his two years of eligibility
at defensive tackle.
Lee joined the staff last season as
thenewcornerbackscoach.Though
the defense shined in Michigan's
first 11 games, major lapses in the
secondary in the Wolverines' final
two games against Ohio State and
Southern Cal may have put a dent
in Lee's job security.
Carr said no replacement for Lee
has been found.
TWELFTH-GAME BLUES: Michigan
has still not found a suitor for its
12th game next season. Carr hopes
that will change soon.
"We're working on it," Carr said.
"It's an issue because there just
aren't many schools out there. I
can just tell you that we're hoping
it will be resolved here in the not-
too-distant future."
Last season, Michigan added
Vanderbilt to its nonconference
slate to fill its schedule. Carr
expressed his displeasure with the
new 12-game schedule throughout
the year, saying the elimination of
the bye week made the season even
more of a grind than normal.
One thingholdingup scheduling
is the dilemma that the'Michigan-
Ohio State game presents. Tradi-
tionally, the two teams play in each
others' final game of the regular
season. Carr also doesn't want
the game pushed back one week,
because it runs into Thanksgiving
- a holiday the coaches have tried
to give their players in recent years
because the team already has to
miss Christmas because of bowl
practice.
With no easy fix in sight, Carr
hopes some compromise can be
made to maintain the traditions
and still keep things bearable for
the players.
"I think the Big Ten athletic
directors are trying to address
that issue," Carr said. "But I think
regardless of if they don't do some-
thing in the Big Ten conference,
then each school would be free to
make some changes that would
allow them to play the 12th game
after Thanksgiving."
a
*1
Michigan center Krista Phillips's early foul troubles stymied the Wolverines in their road game against Iowa. The Hawkeyes
held court in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, coming away with a 66-49 victory.
fill Phillips's void quickly iet the
same fate. Freshman LeQuisha
Whitfield and sophomore Steph-
any Skrba fell victim to Iowa's
aggressive driving into the post
and picked up two easy fouls each.
Sophomore Carly Benson tallied
three first-half fouls as well.
With most of its post players
in early foul trouble, Michigan
lost one of its biggest advantages
coming into the contest. Iowa was
playing without sophomore stand-
out Megan Skouby - its leading
scorer. The 6-foot-6 center was
nursing a hand injury last night.
The Wolverines also started
crumbling offensively, losing all
rhythm they had prior to Phillips's
early departure. Michigan (3-9
Big Ten, 10-15 overall) sat on top
of the key and settled for working
the ball around the perimeter.
With all of Michigan's post
players on the bench, the team
had a hard time finding any open
shots, often waiting until the shot
clock ticked down to drive to the
basket. The offensive struggles led
to a scoring drought that lasted
nearly five-and-a-half minutes.
Even though the Wolverines
struggled mightily in the last 10
minutes of the first frame, they
found themselves down just eight
points heading into halftime.
And the 15-minute break was
just enough time to reset the dom-
inoes.
Coming out of the gates, Michi-
gan surprised Iowa (4-7, 12-12)
with a tenacious start to the sec-
ond half, led by Phillips's return to
the game.
The Wolverines cut the deficit to
one before the Hawkeyes reverted
back to their earlier mentality of
attacking Phillips, who picked up
two more fouls. With four fouls,
the center stayed on the bench
until the game was out of reach.
"You know, she only plays elev-
en minutes and has eight points,"
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. "So,
it was a key situation to get her
out of the game. When she got her
fourth foul, I think that was really
key for our momentum."
Iowa used that momentum to
coast through the game's final
minutes en route to its firstvictory
in its last six tries.
With No. 13 Purdue - a team
which beat Michigan by 44 points
in West Lafayette - heading to
Ann Arbor this Sunday, the Wol-
verines don't have a lot of time to
pick up its scattered pieces and try
to fit back together.
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Stopped at first, Iowa's Smith
breaks press, 'M' in victory
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
IOWA CITY - Michigan
sophomore Jessica Minnfield
and freshman Kalyn McPher-
son made life
miserable NOTEBOOK
for Iowa point guard Kristi Smith
during last night's game's eighth
minute.
The duo caused Smith to waste
18 seconds to cross half court
(there is no limit for getting the
ball over the center stripe in wom-
en's college basketball), and when
she finally made it to the other
end, Minnfield and McPherson
forced her out of bounds on the
sideline.
After a basket by Michigan's
Krista Phillips, Minnfield and
McPherson were wreaking havoc
again.
This time Smith had a little eas-
ier time getting past mid-court.
But the Michigan guards forced
another Hawkeye turnover - this
time a backcourt violation.
"I thought (the press) gave our
team a lot of confidence going
into the second half," Michigan
coach Cheryl Burnett said.
But Smith had the last laugh.
After a Minnfield 3-pointer
cut Iowa's eight-point halftime
lead to one three minutes into
the second frame, Smith decided
enough was enough.
The Hawkeye point guard took
the inbound pass, raced upcourt
and drove right through the lane
for an open lay-up.
After a quick miss by freshman
forward LeQuisha Whitfield,
Smith grabbed the rebound and
raced upcourt again. This time
she dropped a pass off to Hawk-
eye forward Wendy Ausdemore,
who converted the easy deuce.
The Wolverines never serious-
ly threatened again.
"They had their little run,"
said Smith, who led Iowa with 16
points and five assists. "We came
back and put a stop to it, and
there was no looking back from
there."
SLOW START OFFENSIVELY: The
game began very methodically
for both offenses. Michigan and
Iowa combined for just 33 points
in the game's first 17 minutes.
Both teams worked in the half-
court, and neither team scored on
the fast break in the first half. The
moderate pace hurt the Wolver-
ines, who had another one of their
infamous slow starts.
A key component to the Mich-
igan's new offense they unveiled
last Sunday against Northwestern
is ball control. Although the Wol-
verines committed nine first-half
turnovers, it wasn't because they
were forcing their offense.
Michigan consistently passed
the ball around the perimeter,
forcing shots only when the shot
clock was low.
"We'd like to ... be able to break
some people down and get some
shots when we're not getting any,"
Burnett said.
The offense eventually picked
up, and 82 points were scored in
the game's final 23 minutes.
INJURY UPDATE:Phillips returned
to the lineup last night after miss-
ing Sunday's game against North-
western.
But she didn't start. It was just
the sixth time in her 24 career
games that she wasn't on the
court to begin the game.
The freshman center was wear-
ing a brace on her left knee last
night.
Junior forward Katie Dierdorf
once again didn't travel with the
team last night. She's suffering
from an undisclosed injury.
The St. Louis native has missed
substantial time in each of her
three seasons.
She returned Nov. 13 against
Ball State and worked up her play-
ing time before eventually start-
ing Dec. 9 at Nebraska.
But the loss to the Cornhuskers
was the last time Dierdorf played
this season.