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. Courses Start: Ianw6tm 80 O-2Review:LPrinceton Review. cm A.x .a.iimrc nIri~" taaY. f* w leasr oaw.;i * " z 6 The Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Archibald MacLeish Directed by Philip Kerr -Dept.ofTheatre& Drama UM Football players Chad HenneJamarAdams, Jake Long, and Will Johnson with scenic designer Vincent Mountain. Henne,Adams,Long,and " Johnson are in the acting ensemble of JB. as part of an independent study course atUM Dec.6 at 7:30 PM - Dec.7 & 8 at 8 PM - Dec.9 at 2 PM - PowertCenter Tickets $24 and $18 - Students $9 with ID - League Ticket Office " 734-764-2538