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8 - Friday, March 28, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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MICHIGAN 59, SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI 45
STILL GOING
Plenty of shots propel Blue to quarterfinals Wolverines take Lady
Rams out of rhythm
ByANTHONY OLIVEIRA
Daily Sports Writer
On most nights, even when the
Wolverines win, the opposition
attempts more shots than the Mich-
igan women's
basketball team. NOTEBOOK
But for just
the seventh time this season,
the Wolverines outshot South-
ern Mississippi by two last night
in a 59-45 win at Crisler Arena:
And Michigan coach Kevin Borseth
couldn't have been more relieved.
"That's a mile-
stone," Borseth joked.
But while the Wolverines lifted
more shots, they didn't perform as
well asthey intended in the firsthalf
of their third round WNIT contest.
Michigan took 13 of its 26 first-half
shots from behind the arc and con-
nected on just tliree. And with 12
minutes remaining in the period,
Michigan was in a midst of a seven-
minute scoring drought.
Building a 13-point eight minutes
after the first whistle, Michigan lost
that initial rhythm and settled for
one-and-done opportunities for the
remainder of the half. And even if
those opportunities were open, the
Wolverines couldn't connect. Junior
Carly Benson, who went 1-for-10 for
the night, hesitated on an open triple
and clanked it off the rim.
"Honestly, at halftime, we spent
forevertryingtofigureoutsomething
we can do because there was just
nothing that we hit," Borseth said.
And while Borseth isn't sure if they
figured something out, Michigan's
patience and resolve to go inside
allowed Michigan to cruise to vic-
tory.
After junior Ashley Jones drove
to the basket for to retain the lead
just over five minutes into the sec-
ond half, the Wolverines looked
more on the interior, going.7-for-14
in the paint. It was those looks that
opened up three-point shooting,
goinga more efficient 3-for-6.
"We were just telling everybody
to keep shooting the ball and try
and get the ball more and more on
the blocks because lay-ups end up
giving us more confidence," senior
Janelle Cooper said. "And we can
end up making our shots from the
outside."
EARNING THE FREEBIES: In the
Michigan's 30-2 run
seals win, sets up
rematch with State
By JASON KOHLER
Daily Sports Writer
The Southern Mississippi
women's basketball team aver-
ages more than 72 points per
game.
But that was before it came to
Crisler Arena to face Michigan
in the third round of the Wom-
en's National Invitation.
Last night, Michigan held the
Lady Eagles to
their lowest Michnt
point total this 1iga
season in its Michigan St,
59-45 victory. Matchup:
"If they're Michigan 19-
not scoring 13; Michigan
points and St. 21-13
you're scoring When:
them, it feels Sunday, 2 P.M.
pretty good," Where:
Michigan Breslin Center
coach Kevin
Borseth said.
With the win, the Wolverines
advance to the quarterfinals
of the WNIT for the first time
in school history and will face
Michigan State on Sunday.
The Wolverines (9-9 Big Ten,
19-13 overall) jumped out to an
early 17-4 lead butquickly cooled
off, scoring just four points in
the remaining 12 minutes of the
half.
The Wolverines shot an abys-
mal 30.8 percent from the field,
in the first half,.
After Michigan's initial run,
Southern Mississippi (8-8 Con-
ference USA,21-14) reestablishe d
the tempo and slowly pulled
back into the game, trailing by
just three points at the half.
"We're used to a faster pace,"
Borseth said. "They play such
a slow pace. They come up and
dribble, dribble and wait for that
ball screen,- forever and ever,
amen."
Despite the poor offensive
performance in the first half, the
Michigan defense kept the team
in the lead.
"It wasn't just one person
trying to deny the ball," senior
Janelle Cooper said. "Every-
body was trying to do it collec-
tively."
Michigan forced 22 turnovers
and snatched 11 steals, includ-
ing four swipes by junior Jessica
Minnfield.
Minnfield hindered the Lady
Eagles' offensive rhythm by sti-
fling the ball screen at the top of
the key.
But the Wolverines' offense
continued to struggle at the
start of the second half, and for
a few fleeting seconds, the Lady
Eagles took their only lead of
the game when Andrea Barber
grabbed an offensive rebound,
laid it in, and converted a three
point play.
Down by one point, the Wol-
verines didn't lose their compo-
sure.
"We didn't want to lose," Coo-
per said. "When they went out,
we didn't fall back and hang our
heads. Everybody was like 'we
need to get going right now."'
The Wolverines "got going"
15 seconds later when junior
Ashley Jones hit just her second
3-pointer of the season to ignite
a 30-2 run that lasted over 12
minutes.
"We were a little hesitant on
our shots,"' Jones said. "I just
wanted tocome in there and pro-
vide a little spark. And we ended
up starting to score."
By the time the Lady Eagles
finally regained their compo-
sure, Michigan led 55-32 with
just over two minutes left in the
contest.
Southern Mississippi scored
16 points in the remaining
time - more than a third of its
points.
In that stretch, the Lady
Eagles showed flashes of the
team it had been all season; the
team with the highest field goal
percentage (46) Michigan has
faced all season.
But, Southern Mississippi
didn't play like that yesterday,
held by Michigan to 39-percent
shooting from the field.
RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
Juniors Jessica Minnfield (second from right) and Ashley Jones (center) provided the spark in last night's 59-45 win over
Southern Mississippi.
first half, the Wolverines recorded
just two free throws.
Opting for jump shots and transi-
tion lay-ins for the first half of the
game, Michigan changed course
five minutes into the second stanza
when Jones drove hard to the bas-
ket forthe three-point play. The
strong move set the Wolverine tone
for the rest of the game.
"We needed to take that ball
aggressively to the hole," Bors-
eth said. "And after watching
25 minutes of nobody taking at
the ball aggressively, AJ took
it and knew exactly what I was
talking about. She just took it,
turned, scored, and got fouled."
Michigan went 11-for-18 on free
throws in the second half, the most
free throw attempts it has recorded
in a half in more'than two months.
And while the Wolverines
continually made trips to the
line, they prevented Southern
Mississippi from getting there.
With disciplined defense from
sophomore Krista Phillips and
junior Stephany Skrba forcing inside
turnovers and bad takes, Michigan
allowed just one free throw for the
entire contest.
"We just kept them in check,"
Borseth said. "Just try to keep them
away from that basket and did a
pretty good job, especially down in
the low post to keeping them out of
there."
IN-STATE RIVALRY PART III: With
the win, Michigan advances to the
fourth round of the WNIT to face
Michigan State. The third meeting
of the season will take place Sunday
at 2 p.m. in East Lansing.
After splitting the season series,
the Wolverines will need to find
a way to hold off 6-foot-9 Spartan
center Alyssa DeHaan, who has
hurt them in the past.
The last time Michigan appeared
at the Breslin Center, it suffered a
late-game collapse as a 10-0 run led
the Spartans to a 61-S8 win.
But after advancing this far,
the Wolverines will look to make
up for the game they let away.
"It feels good every time we get
another shot," Cooper said. "We'll
see what happens on Sunday."
The winner will be the last Big
Ten team remaining in postseason
play.
'M' prepares for regionals.
Top-seeded
Wolverines play
Niagara tonight in
NCAA Tournament
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Spurts Editor
Last year, the Michigan hockey
team lost 8-5 to North Dakota in
the first round of the NCAA Tour-
nament in
Denver. That Niagara vs.
year's seniors
were the
first group Matchup:
of Michigan Niagara 22-10-4;
hockey play- Michigan 31-5-4
ers since When: Tonight
1991 to finish 7:30 P.M.
their college Where: Times
careers with- Union Center
out making a TV/Radio:
Frozen Four. ESPNU
Having
just seen
some of his best friends fall short
of their ultimate goal in their last
chance, Kevin Porter tried to put
on a brave face.
"I feel so bad for them," Por-
ter said after the loss. "It's a bad
thing, and hopefully we can make
it there next year. We've got a
bunch of good guys coming in,
we've got to get them to buy in
right away and I think we have a
great chance of making it."
Despite the words, Porter
wasn't speaking with much con-
victionthen. Butoneyear and four
days later, the captain's words are
starting to sound prophetic.
The Michigan hockey team
starts its road back to the Mile
High City, the site of this year's
FrozenFour,tonightagainstNiag-,
ara in the NCAA East Regional
semifinals in Albany, N.Y.
Tlis year, Michigan's path
to the championship weekend
is clear of North Dakota for the
first time since 2005. Niagara
a
Senior Kevin Porter hopes to end the program's recent tournament struggles,
starting with tonight's first-round game in Albany.
is the College Hockey America
auto-bid entry, and while a good
team, the Purple Eagles probably
won't keep up with the Wolver-
ines' speed. The same can be said
for Michigan's potential regional
final opponents, St. Cloud State
and Clarkson.
If Michigan lives up to expec-
tations and wins both games, Por-
ter's words could finally become
more than hopeful speculation.
But a trip to the Frozen Four
wasn't always a question mark for
the Michigan hockey program.
When Porter and his classmate
Chad Kolarik were recruited to
Michigan, making the Frozen
Four wasn't so much a questionof
"if" as it was "how often."
Between 1992 and 2003, the
Wolverines made the final week-
end nine times, winning two
National Championships. Since
2003, Michigan has fallen short
of those incredibly high expec-
tations. But that hasn't stopped
Porter and Kolarik from striving
for those heights.
"When you're wearing the
Block 'M' on your chest, there's a
lot of pressure," Kolarik said. "But
you're recruited here for a reason
and you're given a full.scholar-
ship for a reason."
The Wolverines have already
surprised many this season,
capturing accolades and cham-
pionships that had often eluded
them in recent years. After win-
ning the- CCHA playoff title last
weekend, freshman Louie Capo-
russo seemed more relieved than
excited.
"It feels like we've lifted some-
thing off the shoulders of Michi-
gan hockey," Caporusso said. "To
get some of the trophies that we
haven't had for a couple years
feels unbelievable."
Caporusso and-his teammates
know the biggest weight still
remains: a National Champion-
ship.
But before the Wolverines can
shed that last burden, they have
to take care of business this week-
end.
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