The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, February 8, 2008- 9 MICHIGAN 68, PENN STATE 53 TURNAROUND TIME Late push in first half keeps Blue in game By JASON KOHLER Daily Sports Writer With 3:47 left in the first half, Michigan coach Kevin Borseth glared at the the Crisler Arena scoreboard. His team had just 19 points, and was trailing Penn State by eight. "I thought, wow, we got to get out of this funk somehow," Borseth said. In the first half, Michigan struggled offensively, driving to the basket only to miss one easy shot after another. "It was horrific," Borseth said. "We didn't seem to have any rhythm." The Wolverines shot a mediocre 9-of-27 from the floor in the first half, but kept it close with four 3-pointers. To add to Michigan's shooting woes, Penn State made eight of its first ten 10 shots. But Penn State managed just three baskets in the rest of the half. While Borseth stewed about the score, junior Carly Benson broke the Wolverines scoring funk with a 3- pointer from the top of the key. Feeding off that momentum, junior Jessica Minnfield drove to the paint on the next two possessions, drawing fouls and making all four free throws. "The first half was awful," Benson said. "When we finally started to pull things together a bit, it gave us a little confidence, that we could actually make a shot tonight and pull this out." The Wolverines went into halftime trailing27-26. "To go into halftime down by one, after that first half performance, when everyone thought this game is over, we were pretty lucky," Borseth said Preparation is everything: After losing to the Lady Lions in State Col- lege Jan. 20, Borseth learned his les- son. He wouldn't let Penn State's strong backcourt control the pace. The Wolverine defense disrupted Penn State's flow by deflecting passes and playing physical down low, pre- venting the Lady Lions from easily slashing to the paint. "We made some things more diffi- See NOTEBOOK, Page 10 Wolverines outplay Lady Lions for victory By ANTHONY OLIVEIRA Daily Sports Writer From lights-out 3-point shooting to a little bit of "luck," the Michigan women's basketball team has had to depend on a little bit of everything in its first 12 wins. But the 13th was different. "For the first time all year, I thought we outplayed somebody," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. "I thought we deserved to win that game." Last night, the Wolverines notched a convincing 68-53 victory over the Lady Lions at Crisler Arena. Michigan's aggressive second-half defense led it to victory. Trailing by one at halftime, the Wolverines forced five early turnovers and turned them into 12 points. The run set the pace for the remainder of the stanza as Michi- gan wouldn't relinquish the lead. But at the start, it didn't seem like the Wolverines deserved anything. Penn State ran all over Michigan, and the Wolverines failed to convert open looks. "We couldn't get anything going at all," Borseth said. But Penn State couldn't pull away. After going 8-for-10 for the first eight minutes of the game, the Lady Lion offense cooled, allowing the Wolver- ines to keep pace. Michigan (6-6 Big Ten, 13-9 overall) didn't make its first serious run until there- were three minutes remaining in the first half. "It gave us a confidence boost, like, 'We're in this game,' " sophomore Krista Phillips said. "At halftime, we're only down one and we're not even playing our greatest." But coming out of the locker room, the Wolverines seemed to find their greatest. The Michigan defense prevented Penn State (4-7, 13-10) from getting more than two players in double-dig- its for the first time since they played Michigan State on Jan. 13. The Lady Lions' top-scorer, Kamela Gissendan- ner, was held to just four points after the break. ENN IF ER KRON/Daily The Wolverines complemented their strong defense by tying their See PENN STATE, Page 10 Junior Jessica Minnfield's eight assists keyed Michigan's win over Penn State last night. Big hype for big weekend By NATE SANDALS ing into the series with a four-game Managing SportsEditor winless streak, Michigan coach Red Berenson isn't convinced the teams When $12 tickets are going on are as close as the numbers indicate. eBay for more than $100, you've got "They're obviously a top team, so a big event on your hands. it's a big test for us," Berenson said. And when the tickets are for a col- "We'rejusttryingtogetbetter. We're lege hockey game in Oxford, Ohio, trying to get back up to where we something gigantic must be happen- need to be to even compete against a ing. team like that." That's certainly the case for this Competing against No. 1 teams is weekend's showvdown between No. something Michigan has struggled 1 Miami (Ohio) with in recent seasons. In the last and No. 2 Michi- Michigan 10 years, Michigan has played eight gan, which begins games against top-ranked teams. tonight at Steve at Miami They've won just once (2001 against Cady Arena. (Ohio) Michigan State). Even for a top- But Michigan might actually have tier showdown Matchup: a psycholo vantage lain etMichigan 22- pyhlgical adatg plyin between Michi- 2-3 Miami against Miami. For the first time this gan and a school in 25-3-0 season, the Wolverines are the clear southern Ohio, this underdogs. After struggling against one may be just a bit 8:05 PMonight a lesser Northern Michigan team too hyped. last weekend, the new role is a wel- "I'm trying to Where: Steve come change for the Wolverines. sell my tickets right Tady Arena "Before, we were expected to now," senior alter- CSTV win," Kolarik said. "Right now, nate captain Chad we're expected to lose. We've got to Kolarik joked. "I play with a little desperation down wouldn't pay that there." much to see a college hockey game Michigan plans to come out with - especially when it's on TV." a more physical style of play than it Still, it's hard not to get excited has shown in recent weekends. The for the weekend, considering it will hope is that the hard hitting will lead be the only time the Wolverines and to an early goal, which will take the RedHawks meet in the regular sea- RedHawk fans out of the game. son. Either Michigan or Miami has Most importantly, the Wolverines held the No. 1 ranking in national can't let their opponents or the hype polls for most of the season. surrounding the weekend dictate The stats suggest this matchup the game they play. "This weekend's will be as big as the hype. Miami and definitely going to be a big weekend, Michigan are the top teams in the but we've got to stay focused in the country in both goals for and goals dressing room," freshman Louie against. Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff Caporusso said. 4 and Michigan goalie Billy Sauer are Michigan made it to No. 1 by play- first and second in both goals against ing its own game on its own terms. It average and save percentage. will have to do the same to get back But because Michigan is com- to the top. After losing his starting job, Grady finds his voice to get it back By IAN ROBINSON Daily Sports Editor Off the court, Kelvin Grady has a problem. He won't shut up. On the court, he has another problem. He won't speak up. After Grady started the first Penn State 13 games of the season, redshirt at Michigan junior C.J. Lee Matchup: replaced him Penn State in the starting 11-11; Michi- lineup for seven tan 5-17 games. When: Satur- Michigan day 4 P.M. coach John Where: Beilein brought Crisler Arena in Lee hoping to TV/Radio: gain a floor gen- Big Ten Net- eral who com- work municated with his teammates. If Grady had wanted to stay in the starting lineup, all he had to do was speak up. "I didn't really do much of that in high school," said Grady, who initially felt uncomfortable directing veteran teammates on the court. For nearly a month, Grady caine off the bench and struggled to find an offensive rhythm. After recognizing why Beilein put him on the bench, Grady worked on developing his leadership skills. "You can't control your speed or your strength, but you can control how much you talk," Beilein said. "And I know it's something we've gotten better Freshman Kelvin Grady looks to keep up his improved play and leadership against Penn State tomorrow. and better at through the year." Off the court, it's another story. Grady's problem is keeping quiet. His roommate, freshman Manny Harris, described him as someone who talks all the time. "They can't get me to stop talking," Grady said. He's been working on bringing that outspokenness to the court. Last week, a much-louder Grady returned to the starting lineup. Tuesday night at Ohio State, he reached double digits for the first time in more than a month. More importantly, he grasped a lesson Beilein has been impart- ing on his young team - forget the past and live in the present. Grady opened Tuesday's game with a missed 3-pointer. But Grady hit his next shot from the floor and four field goals in the game - his most in six weeks. He will have his resiliency tested again tomorrow when Michigan (1-9 Big Ten, 5-17 over- all) plays Penn State (3-7, 11-11) at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines have lost six in a row and 11 of their last 12. Coming off a close loss to Ohio State, Michigan will be chal- lenged to bounce back from a missed opportunity. Depending on how the Wol- verines respond, another oppor- tunity might present itself tomorrow. Check The Game at www. michigandaily.com/thegame for news from Beilein's Friday press conference.