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DAILY SPORTS BREAKS DOWN THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
2B - Monday, February 19, 2007
'M' SCHEDULE
MONDAY-239
W Golf at Central District Classic
WEDNESDAY -2.21
MBasketballvs.Illinois,9P.M.
THURSDAY-2.22
Water Polovs. Loyola Marymount, 6p.m.
WBasketball vs. Minnesota, 8p.m.
FRIDAY- 2.23
Softball vs. Aubum, 2:30 p.m.
WTENNIS VS. NORTHWESTERN,3P.M.
M Tennis vs.Notre Dame, 4 p.m.
Baseball vs. Bethune-Cookman, 7p.m.
IceHockeyvs. OhioState, 7:05 p.m.
Softball vs. Hotstra, 7:30 p.m.
W Gymnastics no. Utah, 9 p.m.
7
SAID AND HEARD
"I was really surprised. Usually Courtney
has frustration coming off the bench. ... I
think with the importance of this game, he
put that aside and just went hard."
- Michigan guard DION HARRIS on teammate Courtney
Sims's performance off the bench in Saturday's 58-55 win.
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
ALEX VANDERKAAY
MEN'S SWIMMING
The junior helped lead Michigan to an impres-
sive second-place showing at this weekend's
Big Ten Championships. He won the 400-yard
individual medley, the 200-butterfly and the
800-meter freestyle relay events.
4
12th game leaves sour taste for '07 season
A4
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ATURDAY -2.24 F orthose of you who complain
W Rowingvs. Central FloridaTBA about the Michigan football
Water Polo at Anteater Invitational, 11a.m. team's easy nonconference
W Track/Field at Big Ten Championships schedule, your cries have finally
been heard.
M Track/Field at Big Ten Championships This past
asebal vs. Bethune-Cookmanl p5m season, after
M Basektball vs. Minnesota, 2:32 p.m. thewolverines
oftball vs. Southern Illinois,3:30p.m. fell to Ohio
eoftball vs. North Carolina, 6p.m. State on Nov.,
ce Hockey vs.Ohio State,8:05 p.m. 18 and their °
BCS title game1
V Gymnastics hopes fell into
at Pacific Coast Classic,10 p.m. the hands of
UNDAY--2.11 random Har-
aseball vs. Bethune-Cookman,12 p.m. ris Poll voters
W BASKETBALL VS.OHIO STATE,2P.M. and a few com-
ttGolf at Puerto Rico Classic puters, one SCOTT
of the biggest BELL
arguments to
'home games in all caps keep Michigan
*all times EST out of Glendale was the Maize and
Blue's relatively easy early-season
READ OUR BLOG schedule.
O BBut notnextyear.
THE GAME. As announced on Friday, the
Wolverines will open their 2007
season by welcoming the defend-
ing national champs into the Big
House.
That's right, the Maize and Blue
are opening up its schedule in style,
by competing against Urban Meyer
and the Flori...
Wait, what's that?
Yeah, check the fine print on that
press release.
Oops.
You might want to hold off on
the "Lloyd-Urban I" posters.
Michigan will be clashing with
Division I-AA powerhouse Appala-
chian State. And though the Moun-
taineers can in fact claim they're
the defending national champions
(two-time champs, actually), the
addition of a non-Division-I oppo-
nent isn't exactly the schedule
strengthener the Wolverines need-
ed coming off of last year.
Winning a national title in Divi-
sion I-AA is kind of like beating
your not-so-ripped, not-so-athletic
younger brother in an arm wres-
tling match. Sure, it's cool, but it's
probably not something you'd use
as a line to pick up a girl.
And following a season where
Michigan came under fire for
scheduling teams like Ball State,
Central Michigan and Vanderbilt
in its nonconference schedule, I'm
pretty sure this isn't a step in the
right direction.
Now, before everyone begins
e-mailing Bill Martin, asking him
why we can't get a nice home-and-
home set up with Texas like Ohio
State recently did, it's not that
easy.
. First, it's hard enough even to
find a decent team with a date open
for the12th game. With the NCAA's
new mandate for 12 games (driven
solely by the almighty dollar, by
the way), it's very difficult for two
strong teams to find a similar open
date on which they can agree.
And while we're on the subject
of money, that certainly comes
into play, too. There were prob-
ably more qualified opponents that
offered to play Michigan, but they
either wanted us to come there and
play, or wanted a long-term home-
and-home deal. Both may be better
for fans, but when you rely on home
football games to fund the rest of
your athletic programs like Michi-
gan does, the popular thing isn't
always the right thing to do.
But still, Appalachian State? Did
we lose a bet?
It sucks, plain and simple. Even
though the three games follow-
ing the home-opener against the
Mountaineers will be matchups
against Oregon, Notre Dame and
Penn State - all quality opponents
- Michigan fans will still have to
live with the fact that for the next
six-and-a-half months, the "next
opponent" portion of most fan sites
will be graced with those dreaded
16 letters:
A-P-P-A-L-A-C-H-I-A-N-S-T-A-
T-E.
I gave the men's hoops team
enough crap for scheduling stink-
ers like Army and Wofford for its
nonconference schedule, but that's
a little different - our basketball
team sucks.
For a football team stacked with
senior power and poised to make
a run at the BCS Championship
Game, jumpstarting your Road to
New Orleans Tour against a school
the size of my poli sci lecture is a
joke.
Blame it on the NCAA, blame it
on Martin, blame it on not wanting
to lose early. No matter what excuse
you hear, there shouldn't be one.
And there shouldn't be excite-
ment for a season-opening52-3 win
against an undersized, outmanned
and awestruck team just happy to
be beaten in the Big House.
- Despite his whining, Bell is still
excited for the 2007 season. He's
just going to pretend it starts on
Sept. 8 and not Sept. 1. He can be
reached at scotteb@umich.edu.
4
Foolish play, miserable first
half doom'M' in Evanston
By DAN FELDMAN couldn't fully erase a 14-point shall's 3-pointer - was blocked goals in the first 20 minutes. The
DailySports Writer Northwestern lead, falling 63-54 and the Wildcats gathered the Wildcats, led by senior forwarc
to the Wildcats. loose ball. A.J Glasauer's 14 points on six-for
EVANSTON - This was their Michigan used its final timeout "We called an option that takes eight shooting, held a 32-18 advan
chance. trailing by six with one minute 20 seconds to run when we need tage at the break.
The Wolverines have been stuck left, but played foolishly after the to score quickly," Burnett said. But Michigan (3-11 Big Ten, 10
in the cellar of Big Ten's women's stoppage and couldn't complete "Forty seconds left and we're not 17 overall) started the second hal
basketball, finishing last in the the comeback. trying to do our quicker-hitters." strong. The Wolverines opener
confer- "We talked to the kids that at Northwestern passed the ball the frame with a 14-4 run over the
ence the NORTHWESTERN 63 some point, you just have to make around for eight seconds before first four and a half minutes an<
previ- MICHIGAN 54 decisions on your own and go out calling a timeout. Michigan didn't held Glasauer scoreless over th
ous two and play the end of the game," seem to make any effort to inten- span.
years. Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett tionally foul. "We knew Michigan was goin
Michigan won just three Big said. "So once we're out of time- "If you're down (and) there isn't to come out hard in the seconc
Ten games in that span. outs trying to stay in the game, the very much time left, you assume half," Northwestern coach BetI
But things seemed to be improv- kids just have to play the game the you have to pick up the ball. You Combs said. "They came out hard
ing. The Wolverines lost by just way we hoped we'd taught them. assume you have to double. And er on defense. Michigan fights anc
,iy five to No. 16 Purdue Thursday. But we didn't do a good job at the then you assume you have to foul," they fought down to the end."
And a win at lowly Northwest- end." Burnett said. But Glasauer resumed her scor
ern yesterday - the only team Resuming play, Northwestern And then there was the free- ing responsibilities and netted the
behind Michigan in the Big Ten had the ball; and after running throw shooting. The Wolverines next four points. A Carly Bensor
standings - would've been the 18 seconds off the clock, Wildcat made just three of their last seven 3-pointer with 10 minutes left
first time the Maize and Blue won Beth Marshall drained a wide attempts. put Michigan within two, but the
a Big Ten road game in more than open 3-pointer from the left cor- Michigan needed the potential- Wolverines were never able to ge
three years. ner to extend the lead to nine. comeback late because of how it over the hump, failing to take the
But the Wolverines weren't Then Michigan came down and was dominated in the first half. lead at any point.
ready to turn the corner. set up its offense, but freshman The Wolverines shot 35 percent Michigan was close, but in col
They made several crucial forward Lequisha Whitfield's shot worse from the field than North- lege basketball, close won't elevate
mistakes down the stretch and in the lane -18 seconds after Mar- western, netting just seven field a program to the next level.
Hot second half wasted in loss
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Sophomore guard Jessica Minnfield and her teammates came close to catching last-
place Northwestern, but couldn't complete the deed, eventually failing 63-54.
d i
Aete the grid so that every row, column
3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.
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618 4
l- .1- 4 ......-.....
By CHRIS HERRING
Daily Sports Writer
EVANSTON - Freshman LeQ-
uisha Whitfield scored the first
basket of each half yesterday, doing
her best toN
jumpstart NOTEBOOK
the Michigan
women's basketball team on the
right foot.
But that was about the only sim-
ilarity between Michigan's shoot-
ing in the first frame and second
half.
After shooting a frigid 23 per-
cent from the field before halftime,
the Wolverines turned things up a
notch in the last 20 minutes, cut-
ting into a 14-point Northwestern
lead.
Michigan shot 44.4 percent in
the second half and put pressure
on the Wildcats to keep up the pace
they had set in building their lead.
But once again, the Wolverines
couldn't quite dig their way out of
the deep hole they dug for them-
selves early in the game, falling to
last-place Northwestern, 63-54.
"We did a marvelous job of
being aggressive defensively and
offensively (in the second half),"
Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett
said. "But then at that point ... you
have to play a perfect game. We
couldn't get over the hump."
Northwestern coach Beth
Combs agreed with Burnett's
observations.
"We know that once you're
down double-digits how hard it
is to fight your way back into a
game," Combs said. "A lot of times,
you're expending your energy just
to get even."
GUARDING GLASAUER: After
shooting39percent (9-of-23) inthe
last meeting between the squads,
A.J. Glasauer, Northwestern's
leading scorer, played a much more
efficientballgame againstthe Wol-
verines in yesterday's rematch.
Although Glasauer managed 18
points in both contests, she did so
with 11 less shots in yesterday's
game, connecting on 7-of-12 from
the field.
Michigan coach Cheryl Bur-
nett knew her team would have its
hands full guarding the Freiburg,
Germany, native.
"I think she's a great player,"
Burnett said. "I've said that for
years. She can do many things
very, very well."
Ballscreens at the top of the key
hindered the Wolverines' defen-
sive schemes and allowed Glasauer
to get open looks.
"It was difficult," junior Janelle
Cooper said of defending Glasauer.
"She likes to move around a lot
without the ball. A lot of times I
don't play against girls who do
that."
Though Glasauer torched Mich-
igan for 14 first-half points, the
Wolverines held her to just one
field goal and four points after the
break.
"We wanted to take the ball out
of her hands in the second half,
and I feel we were pretty success-
ful doing that," Burnett said.
PROUD PARENTS: Sophomore
Melinda Queen played a solid
game yesterday, tallying 11 points,
four rebounds and two steals.
Burnett, impressed by Queen's
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Freshman LeQuisha Whitfield's opening basket of the second half awoke Michigan
from itsfirst-halflslumber yesterday. But the Wolverines still fell at Northwestern, 63-54.
play, rewarded the forward with "For us, it was great to be here.
the most playing time (17 minutes) But for Melinda, it was spectacu-
she's seen in 10 contests. lar," said Rodney Queen, Melinda's
Burnett's confidence in Queen father. "We don't get to make it out
may have grown with yesterday's to Ann Arbor very often, and all
performance, but there's no ques- their other games are kind of far
tion where the bulk of the Oak from us."
Forest, Ill., native's support comes Asked how his daughter played,
from. Rodney had no hesitation.
Queen's family took advantage "This was her best game," he
of the road game by making the said. "We know for a fact that this
short trek to Evanston. was her best game."
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