The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
December 3, 2007 - 3B
NOTRE DAME 77, MICHIGAN 46
LEARNING CURVE
New coach,
same blowouts
C CHANEL VON HABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN/I
Senior Janelle Cooper poured in 11 points for the Wolverines yesterday, but it wasn't enough as Michigan fell to No. 22 Notre Dame.
Phillips's early fouls stall'M' offense
By ANTHONY OLIVEIRA
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND - Facing two of
the nation's top-25 teams in just
four days, the Michigan women's
basketball team was as good as
shark bait.
"Well,Ikindoffeellikeawound-
ed fish in shark-infested waters,"
Michigan coach Kevin Borseth
said. "People are coming after us.
People are just saying, 'You know
what, (the Wolverines) are a piece
of cake. We're just going to come
after them and just bury them.' "
The latest grave was dug Sunday
as No. 22 Notre Dame drowned
the Wolverines, 77-46, in front of
10,825 at an electric Joyce Center.
But it wasn't a blowout from the
get-go. Michigan treaded along-
side the Irish for the opening
minutes thanks to senior Janelle
Cooper. She put up five of her 11
points in the Wolverines' first
three possessions of the game. But
Notre Dame's full-court press was
too much for Michigan, convert-
ing turnovers into easy transition
hucketa all afternoon long. The
Wolverines' 22 turnovers translat-
ed into 22 points for the Irish.
Even when Michigan got the
ball past the timeline, the offense
was often limited to the perimeter.
Notre Dame's constant switching
between zone and man-to-man
defense prevented the Wolverines
from getting the ball inside the
paint. Post players Ta'Shia Walker
and Krista Phillips combined for
just three field goals, including two
easy put-backs.
"It was something new they
threw at us," junior Jessica Min-
nfield said. "At first, we had a
couple problems with it. Then we
slowed down, started passing the
ball more, attacking them and tak-
ing it up the court."
But once the Wolverines figured
out how to play the Notre Dame
defense, it was too late. Just10 min-
utes into the contest, the Fighting
Irish had already extended their
lead to 14. The Wolverines finished
the first half with 15 turnovers and
just three assists.
The second half started with
some optimism for the Maize and
Blue. With a strong defensive stop
on Notre Dame's first possession,
Michigan seemed to break its habit
ofstartingslow. But turnovers and
poor shot selection again doomed
the Wolverines, and led to an Irish
16-0 run in the next four minutes.
' "We just need to start a little
faster," Borseth said. "We actually
started OK for the most part, but
we didn't get a whole lot of shots
in rhythm. We seem to be running
into each other."
Throughout the game, Notre
Dame appeared to be scoring at
will. Four Fighting Irish players
finished in double figures, includ-
ing guards Tulyah Gaines and
CharelAllen, who went a combined
14-for-18 from the field. The sec-
ond-half Irish run was highlight-
ed by junior Lindsay Schrader's
behind-the-back pass to Gaines for
a fast break layup.
As much as the Fighting Irish
outplayed them, the Wolverines
also bit their own tails. Not only
did Michigan shoot 27.3 percent
for the game, it had trouble just
being on the same page.
"We had people in the wrong
spot," Borseth said. "That's the
problem. I've got one kid who's
running a man offense and the oth-
ers in a zone offense, and there's a
disconnection there. That's why
you have to have five of them who
can figure it out and insert the
other ones slowly."
By the end of the contest, Michi-
gan showed its potential. Although
Notre Dame (6-1) put out its bench
players, the Wolverines controlled
the final 10 minutes by starting to
make shots and drawing trips to
the free-throw line, making 12-of-
14 foul shots in the second half.
After starting the season 4-
1, Michigan (4-3) has received a
harsh dose of reality.
"We're trying to find an iden-
tity right now," Borseth said. "It's
tough for these guys to have to play
for new coaches. These guys are
trying hard. We're in the process
of growing together, and we're
gonna. We're gonna stick with
these kids and figure it out. When
we do, good things will happen."
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND - Another road-
block.,
That is what NOTEBOOK
the Michigan
women's basketball team faced -
this time in the form of No. 22 Notre
Dame.
AlthoughtheWolverines'defense
was poor at besttheir offense didn't
pull any of the slack, either.
Michigan interior cog Krista
Phillips was mitigated by early
foul trouble, and the Fighting Irish
defense simply dominated a medio-
cre Wolverine offense.
"We've got people coming after
us," Michigan coach Kevin Bors-
eth said. "Seeing the amount of
free throws that we're shooing and
saying 'You know what? They're a
piece of cake. We're going to come
after them and just bury them."'
After losing Phillips, Michigan
was forced to move the bulk of its
offense to the perimeter. Though
the Wolverines had several open
shots from 3-point range, they con-
verted just five of their 22 opportu-
nities.
"They didn't shoot well from
the 3-point line, which helped us,"
Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw
said.
But the Wolverines made the
most of a bad situation, ending the
game with two quality 3-pointers
from junior Jessica Minnfield after
two strong offensive possessions by
the Wolverines.
Despite the Wolverines' success
in garbage time, they played poorly
on offense. Many of the Wolver-
ines' 22 turnovers came because of
careless passes and Notre Dame's
pressure defense.
"Part of the problem is not being
in the right spot," Borseth said.
"They're mixing their zone, and we
had some troubles getting into what
we wanted to get into."
Michigan was clearly frustrated
by Notre Dame's full-court pres-
sure and mixture of man-to-man
and zone defense. The Wolverines
couldn't adapt to the Irish's defen-
sive changes, which put them into a
33-18 deficit at halftime.
ROAD WARRIORS: Michigan
has played its last six games on the
road and has had woefully little
practice time at home. The Wol-
verines played at Texas A&M on
Thursday, giving them just two
days to prepare for the Irish.
Crisler Arena hosted the NCAA
Volleyball Tournament, relegat-
ing Michigan's practice to the IM
building Friday and at Eastern
Michigan Saturday.
"With time constraints and being
shuffled around makes it really dif-
ficult (to prepare)," Borseth said.
"But it is what it is."
Although the team's preparation
was limited for three games against
top-25 teams, Borseth's ultimate
goal is to be prepared by the end of
the year.
"I'm not going to desert the kids
that play on that court. I guarantee
you, I promise you, at the end of this
year you're going to see a different
team," Borseth said. "If you think
we're done playing basketball,
you're crazy."
QUITE A CROWD: Not only did
the Irish enjoy the advantage on
court, but they were also serenaded
by the fourth-largest home crowd
(10,825) in program history. The
large showing was a stark differ-
ence from Crisler Arena's normally
sparse crowds, and the Fighting
Irish faithful also stayed the entire
game despite the lopsided score.
"It gives you an adrenaline rush
when you play in front of a lot of
fans," Michigan senior Janelle Coo-
per said. "It gets you into the game
and it kind of makes you want to
quiet the crowd a bit."
VOLLEYBALL
From page 1B
night's, turned up the volume
right behind the Rams end of the
floor, aiding Michigan to a 30-27
"The crowd wasn't as big a fac-
tor compared tolastnightbecause
we were used to it," Rosen said.
"Tonight, because of the weather,
we didn't have as many fans show
up, but it's still better to have the
fans cheering for you than the
other team."
Game three featured five ties
early on before Michigan seized
control in a 5-0 run to take a 19-
13 advantage. After this point,
Michigan never led by fewer than
four for the rest of the game, scor-
ing points at will to finish off the
sweep of the Rams with a 30-23
win. Michigan will play Penn
State, who beat the Wolverines
twice already in the regular sea-
son.
"I think it's great (making the
Sweet 16)," Bruzdzinski said. "I
don't think about losing to (Penn
State) twice. I think we're just
going to go out there and play
hard."
Unranked Russell takes down
competition, tallies huge victory
By RUTH LINCOLN
Daily Sports Writer
The odds were stacked against
him.
Appearing in his first ever Cliff
Keen Invitational, unranked true
freshman Kellen Russell played
his cards just right and gave
everyone at the Las Vegas Con-
vention Center quite a pleasant
surprise.
Through the course of the two-
day invitational,.Russell knocked
off the third, fifth and ninth-
ranked wrestlers in his weight
class, claiming the 141-pound title
in the process.
"He really made a name for
himself this weekend," Michigan
coach Joe McFarland said. "The
way he came in as a true fresh-
man and beat some of the top-
ranked guys in his weight class
was pretty impressive."
Russell's outstanding perfor-
mance was one of many in No. 5
Michigan's first-place finish.
Sitting in third place heading
into the final round, the Wol-
verines shot to the top of the
scoreboard in the champion-
ship round, finishing with 127.5
points and edging second-place
No. 7 Missouri by 2.5 points.
"We were battling back all
weekend," McFarland said. "We
talked all week that we wanted
to come out here and win the
tournament."
The Wolverines got their
ammunition from three first-
place performances from their
four finalists.
. Senior Eric Tannenbaum
grabbed his second 165-pound
title of the year at the tourna-
ment. Tannenbaum escaped a
takedown in the third period and
also added 1:08 in riding time.
"We did a good job of staying
aggressive and kept attacking,"
senior Eric Tannenbaum said.
"(We were) setting the pace (and)
staying on top of our opponents.
We did a really good job of that
throughout the entire tourna-
ment."
Michigan secured its first-
place trophy with Tyrell Todd's
184-pound championship vic-
tory in overtime over top-seeded
Mike Puccillo of Ohio State. The
Buckeye sophomore reversed
Todd in the final minutes of the
third period, but Todd earned an
escape and tied the score to force
overtime. In the extra period,
Todd was the aggressor, winning
with a single-leg takedown.
One Wolverine who missed the
championship round was Josh
Churella. The fifth-year senior
finished fifth overall after two
tough second-day losses.
Despite Churella's mediocre
performance, the early-season
victory showcased the Wolver-
ines' strength and depth compet-
ing against some of the top teams
in the country and many Big Ten
programs including Illinois, Ohio
State, Purdue and Wisconsin.
"As a team, we know that we
have the ability to be the top
team (in the Big Ten), if not the
top team in the country," Todd
said. "We put together a pretty
good tournament overall. We're
excited and just looking forward
to keep on improving."
Michigan will kick off its home
season with a dual meet against
Kent State Dec. 7 at Cliff Keen
Arena.
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