I The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
January 20; 2009 - 3B
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom January 20,2009 - 3B.
Free throw woes doom Blue
Senior Chisako Sugiyama beat Duke's and Vanderbilt's top singles players in this
weekend's home opener, the Michigan Invitational.
Sugiyama rattles
ranked opponents
By MARK BURNS and
CHARLES CLINTON
Daily Sports Writers
Those who have played tennis
against senior Chisako Sugiyama
know how frustrating she is to
compete against. The way she
makes her opponents run, uses her
skillful backhand and withstands
long matches make her a tough
foe.
And Duke's Ellah Nze, the
nation's 43rd-ranked singles play-
er, found that out the hard way.
After losing in straight sets (7-6,
6-4) to Sugiyama Sunday, Nze took
a tennis ball, whipped it at the back
wall of the Varsity Tennis Center
and slowly walked to shake hands
with Sugiyama.
"I knew (Nze) was going to be
a good player," Sugiyama said. "I
knew I still had work to do on my
shots and still be better in the sec-
ond set to beat her."
Sugiyama's showing was one of
the bright spots for the Michigan
women's tennis teamthis weekend
during the three-day Michigan
Invitational, a non-scoring tour-
nament. The Wolverines faced off
against No. 12 Vanderbilt, No. 24
Tennessee and No. 9 Duke.
She also able to upset 21st-
ranked Jackie Wu of Vanderbilt
in straight sets (7-5, 7-6) on Satur-
day.
On Sunday, the second day of
the tournament, sophomore Rika
Tatsuno and Sugiyama were the
only singles players to beat the
Blue Devils. Yesterday Tatsuno
and sophomore doubles partner
Whitney Taney took on Nze and
Reka Zsilinszka in a hard-fought,
back-and-forth match. The Duke
duo took a 7-6 lead and needed
to win one more game to take the
match. Tatsuno and Taney won
three of the remaining four games
to take the match 9-8 and give the
Wolverines their sixth win in the
nine doubles matches.
"We've been doing really well at
breaking serve and returning (so)
I told our players we have to get
better at holding serve," Michi-
gan coach Ronni Bernstein said.
"We've had some excellent com-
petition this tournament and we
feel that we're ready for the dual
match season."
Tatsuno was the top singles
player of the invitational with 20
points. The Ranchos Palos Verdes,
Calif., native placed ahead of Sugi-
yama, Wu and Caitlin Whoriskey
of Tennessee.
Taney lost badly in the first set
of her singles match against Maria
Sorbello, but dominated the sec-
ond and third set to take the match
from Tennessee (1-6, 6-3, 6-2).
"After the first set, I decided to
refresh and start over and came
into the second with a new strat-
egy," Taney said. "When you lose
the first set 6-1, you have to have a
sense of urgency. Coach Bernstein
helped me get through it."
As a result of the top-notch
competition in the invitational,
Bernstein believes the Wolverines
are poised to make a run to the
NCAA Tournament in May.
"We are going to take every-
thing match by match," Bernstein
said. "The preseason rankings are
nice, but they don't mean anything
now. Where we rank in May is
what is goingto matter."
By TIM ROHAN
Daily Sports Writer
They are called free throws,
right?
The Michigan women's bas-
ketball team tried to win the hard
way: by not taking a single free
throw against Minnesota.
Michigan (2-5 Big Ten, 9-9 over-
all)fell52-46 tothe GoldenGophers
(5-2, 13-5) at Williams Arena Sun-
day, a loss that was atcleast partially
due to the team's inability to get to
the charity stripe.
After falling to Michigan State
on Jan. 15, Michigan coach Kevin
Borseth said the team's poor free-
throw shooting (41 percent) was
the"whole
game." MICHIGAN 46
He said MINNESOTA 52
the same
thing Sunday.
Sunday marked the first time
in the Borseth era that Michigan
failed to shoot a single freebie.
Minnesota was a solid 12-of-15
from the line. Even though the
Gophers didn't exactly shoot
lights-out from the field, their 12
points from the line were the dif-
ference.
The Wolverines sprinted to a
10-2 lead out of the gates and held
Minnesota without a basket until
nearly five minutes into the game.
Michigan's defense forced turn-
overs and missed shots early in the
game to help build its quick lead,
and the Wolverines' 3-point shoot-
ing also contributed to the run.
Michigan shot 54 percent (6-of-
11) from behind the arc in the first
half and 50 percent from the field.
The deep ball helped build an
eight-point lead at the break.
But the accuracy didn'tlast.
In the second half, Michigan
watched its lead disappear as it
shot a dismal 14 percent (2-of-14)
from 3-point range and 35 per-
cent overall. The Gophers grabbed
their first lead with 6:48 left in the
game in front of the home crowd.
Thanks to the Wolverines' ice-
cold shooting, Michigan couldn't
finish down the stretch and was
outscored 11-4 in the final five min-
utes and 30 seconds, once again
failing to win its first conference
road game. Minnesota kept going
inside, something Borseth wishes
his team would have done.
"We're not scoring," Borseth
said. "We're not putting the ball
where we need to be able to put it.
We're not aggressive enough in the
scoring zone ... Right now, the only
way we are going to win games is
to shut teams right out. That's our
only hope."
The Wolverines didn't get the
ball inside in the paint, some-
thing Borseth said would have led
to more points. Getting the ball
inside also helps to draw fouls and
more free-throw attempts.
Michigan's defense has been
solid as of late, but Borseth said
the Wolverines won't win games
unless they start scoring.
The Wolverines continued their
recent trend of starting games
with hot shooting but falling short
as the game wore on.
Sophomore guard Veroni-
ca Hicks led Michigan with 15
points. Minnesota center Ashley
Ellis-Milan scored a game-high 19
points and converted nine of ten
free throw attempts.
Now riding a three-game los-
ing streak, the Wolverines host
the Indiana Hoosiers (5-1, 12-3) at
Crisler Arena Thursday. The Hoo-
siers come in tied with Ohio State
for the conference lead.
"We are doing a good job of
keeping the other teams in check,"
Borseth said. "Teams get a little
more determined late in the game.
You have to get stops, we haven't.
... It would help if we (score) more
points."
SAID ALSALAH/Daily
(TOP) Sophomore Veronica Hicks poured in a team-high 15 points in Michigan's
loss to Minnesota. (ABOVE) Michigan coach Kevin Borseth still cannot explain the
Wolverines' road woes. Michigan has yet to wina conference road game this season.
ICE HOCKEY
Gan Blue pull it together?
FALCONS:
Sauer finally
gets '0' support
With a disappointing
weekend split against
Bowling Green, Michi-
gan sits in sixth place in the CCHA
standings. And 24 games into the
season, the Wolverines remain
their own worst enemy.
During the
first period Fri- GJON
day, Michigan JUNCAJ
looked nothing
like a team that On Ice Hockey
had outscored
opponents 30-6
in its six previous games. The
Wolverines were uncharacteristi-
cally sluggish, struggling to get to
the net and pressure Falcon goalie
Jimmy Spratt.
By the end of the first frame, the
Wolverines had just four shots on
goal and matched their second-low-
est output in a period this season.
Michigan woke up after the
intermission. In the final five peri-
ods of the weekend, Michigan out-
shot Bowling Green 64-33, but just
one of those shots found the back
of the net.
"We had good scoring chances,"
sophomore defenseman Chad Lan-
glais, who scored the Wolverines'
only goal of the weekend, said after
Saturday's 1-0 victory. "I wouldn't
call them quality. I think we only
had a few quality ones. We did
enough to win, I guess."
That was against a Falcon team
that is next-to-last in the confer-
ence in scoring defense.
Bowling Green is ninth in pen-
alty-kill percentage, but Michigan
went scoreless in 13 power play
opportunities. Spratt entered the
weekend with a.882 save-percent-
age. Against the Wolverines, he
stopped 67 of 68 shots.
be on the team to tell there was
something wrong," Summers said.
"Whether it was guys being too
loose or talking about the wrong
things, it's a combination of a lot of
different things.
"It's kind of a personal thing.
Some guys still have to be loose
before the game. No matter what
you do, you have to do it. Not every-
one was ready."
Summers said he hoped Fri-
day's loss wasn't due to simply
overlooking an inferior opponent.
He acknowledged the possibility
that the team was still riding high
from its sweep of Miami (Ohio) last
weekend and that "maybe we were
a little loose in practice."
Whatever the reason for the Wol-
verines' performance Friday night,
it's clear they haven't completely
solved their problems regarding
mental preparation. And there's not
much time left for introspection.
Michigan has 12 games left in
the regular season, six against
teams above them in the confer-
ence standings.
Just five points separate the
Wolverines from second-place
Miami. Despite their puzzling sea-
son, Michigan is still in excellent
position to nab a first-round bye in
the CCHA Tournament in March.
But with two-thirds of the sea-
son behind them, the Wolverines
still have plenty of questions to
answer. Have they finally learned
their lesson?
"I hope so," senior goaltender
Billy Sauer said Saturday. "I think
everybody gets the picture. And
whether we do what we say, we'll
find out next weekend. I think we
will. I think it really opened our
eyes this weekend."
From page 1B
Though Sauer faced just 19
shots and didn't make the jaw-
dropping saves that Spratt
made on the other end, Sauer's
workman-like performance was
enough to keep Bowling Green off.
the scoreboard.
And when Bowling Green
(5-10-1-0, 8-13-3) had a power play
in the final minutes, Sauer made
the stops to secure the win. In
the waning seconds of the game,
Sauer stopped a shot right off the
faceoff, displaying his awareness
for the situation and helped him
earn his first shutout of the sea-
son.
"I felt very into the game,"
Sauer said. "I felt nervous, but
an excited nervous. I didn't ever
feel like I was out of the game
just because I wasn't seeing a lot
of shots. I hadn't played in two
months so it was tough getting
out there, but I ended up feeling
pretty comfortable."
While Hogan showed some
flaws Friday, Berenson says that
Hogan is still his top man.
"Bryan Hogan has done a great
job," Berenson said. "I would tell
you that he's still our No. 1 goalie.
But I think it was a time where
you needed to put the other goal-
ie in and challenge your team and
challenge him.
"Billy has looked good in prac-
tice. He's worked hard. He's not
played poorly, he just hasn't been
able to win. Finally, the team
scored a goal for him."
The Wolverines weren't at their
best for either game, partly due to
the phenomenal play by Spratt.
Michigan also missed some key
opportunities.
Sophomore Louie Caporusso
missed on a rebound chance with
Spratt out of position Saturday,
and Tim Miller had a goal taken
off the scoreboard by the referees
Saturday.
In Hogan's shutout loss Friday,
the team looked out of rhythm
and failed to generate opportuni-
ties against Spratt.
"We just couldn't get the puck
in the net and ... it is about men-
tal preparation," sophomore for-
ward Carl Hagelin said. "If we
were ready to go, we would have
popped a couple (goals) in dur-
ing the first period. This was the
worst first period we have had all
season."
The series was similar to
Michigan's series against West-
ern Michigan earlier this season.
After losing to a team much fur-
ther down in the CCHA stand-
ings.
Michigan had to come back on
Saturday to salvage a split. The
Wolverines particularly strug-
gled on the power play and went
0-for-13 in a weekend where 46
total penalties were assessed.
But this weekend's difference
was that instead of Sauer coming
up on the short end of the stick,
he received enough goal support
to get the win.
While Michigan didn't have any
puck luck around the net last week-
end, there was a noticeable differ-
ence in intensity levels between
games. The Wolverines statistically
dominated Saturday and forced the
Falcons to scramble in their own
zone all night.
All the energy the Falcons spent
diving in front of shots and fighting
for loose pucks along the boards
seemed to drain them. Bowling
Green had a 6-on-4 man advantage
for a 70-second stretch the final
moments but only mustered two
shots.
Berenson and Langlais said
physical one-goal victories on the
road can only help the team, and
that's absolutely true, no matter the
opponent.
But Saturday's hard-fought win
remains overshadowed by Friday's
shutout loss.
From the players' standpoint,
the better team did not show up for
Friday's opening faceoff.
"I don't think you even have to
i
1