8A - Thursday, January 22, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com '!..,..MIDSEASON AWARDS, I By RYAN KARTJE Daily Sports Writer This season has been a tale of two roads for the Michigan women's basketball team. In coach Kevin Borseth's second season at the helm, the Wolver- ines have managed a 6-2 record at Crisler arena, downing perennial powerhouses Vanderbilt and Notre Dame along the way. We'll call this the "Yellow Brick Road." But on the road, away from com- fortable Ann Arbor - well, that's a different story. Michigan is a dismal . 1-7. The team has lost easy matchups it needed to win to build a worthy NCAA Tournament resume. This is more like "The Road To Perdition." So, where does the team stand at midseason? At a crossroads, that's for sure. Here's how the Wolverines did in the first half: THE "FOLLOWTHE YELLOW ' BRICK ROAD"AWARD (best team performance) This is an easy one - Michigan's 63-59 overtime win over then-No. 8 Notre Dame. Last season, the Lady Irish embarrassed the Wolverines by 30 in South Bend. In this redemp- tion game, Michigan played its most well-rounded game of the year, shut- ting down the Irish offense and hit- ting clutch shots on the other end. A marquee win like this could get the attention of the NCAA Tournament selection committee. "THE ROAD TO PERDITION" AWARD (worst team performance) A 58-49 loss to Akron - ouch, that one hurts. The Wolverines' loss to the Zips sent the squad on a road- game tailspin that hasn't ended yet. Michigan shot a season-low 29 per- cent and had 22 turnovers. What's with the Mid-American Conference owning Michigan this year, any- way? THE HOUDINI AWARD (most noticeable disappearance) Junior Krista Phillips runs away with this award. With opposing defenses paying extra attention to the six-foot-six-inch center, her pro- duction has vanished this season. After a sophomore campaign that saw her average 10 points and six rebounds, Phillips been replaced on the court by senior Stephany Skrba. Four points a game isn't going to cut it from someone who was All-Big Ten Honorable Mention last year. OVERACHIEVER AWARD Congrats, sophomore Veronica Hicks. Since the beginning of the season, the guard has inched her way into the lineup and solidified the open spot left by Janelle Cooper after she graduated lastyear. Hicks's offensive game - she's reached double-figure points in four of the last five games - is finally startingto catch up with her stellar defense. MVP Yes, senior Jessica Minnfield has shot just 23 percent from 3-point range, but she's not necessarily the Most Valuable Player for her statis- tical contributions. But she is, hands down, the Wolverines' floorgeneral. And when she's on the bench, the team lacks the poise and aggressive- ness that are vital to a team's suc- cess. Michigan's fate rests squarely on Minnfield's back. 4 .4 Senior Melinda Queen has averaged seven points a game sofar this year. Senior Jessica Minnfield has earned the Daily's midseason MVP award. 'M' to fight shooting woes and Hoosiers tonight By JOE STAPLETON Daily Sports Writer A basketball rim is one of the great shape-shifters in sports. Some nights, the rim looks like the Pacific Ocean. On others, it looks like a thimble. In the Michigan women's bas- ketball team's last three games, it has taken the shape of the latter. The Wolverines are in a major shooting slump, especially from the 3-point line. They are shooting a combined 24 percent from beyond the arc during their three-game losing streak. "Well, it sure would help to put the ball in the basket," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said of his team's offensive woes. "That should make a difference." Michigan's shooting struggles are nothingnew, but they're getting worse. For the season, the Wolver- ines are shooting just 37 percent from the field and 28 percent from behind the arc. The numbers aren't great, but they were enough for Michigan to pull out some tough victories Indiana at over good oppo- nents, includ- Michigan ing two top-25 Matchup: teams, Vanderbilt Indiana 13-3; and Notre Dame. Michigan 9-9 The Wolverines When: Tonight usually make up 7 p.m. for poor shoot- Where: ing with stellar Crisler Arena defense, but even that hasn't helped WTRadio: as of late. KA Recently, Mich- Live Blog: igan shot 6-of- http://thegame. 35 on 3-pointers blogsmichigan against Michigan State. The Wol- verines shot 55 percent from three- point range in the first half against Minnesota, and then made just two 3-pointers the rest of the game. "Basketball is a game of runs," senior forward Carly Benson said. "And right now, we're not on one." But she also said no matter what happens, this is not a team that will get down on itself. "Our team does a very good job of picking each other up," she said. "We're very complimentary of each other. That will help us get out of this slump." At 9-9, Michigan is on the brink of mediocrity after the season's promising start to the season (8-5). And it doesn't get any easier as Big Ten giant Indiana comes to Crisler Arena tonight. The Hoo- siers boast a potent and well-bal- anced offense, with all five starters averaging double figures. "I think they're the best offensive team in the conference," Borseth said. "They have the two best post players offensively and they have a WNBA point guard." Senior forwards Amber Jackson and Whitney Thomas both average 14 points per game. As for the "WNBA point guard" Borseth talked about, that would be Jamie Braun. The praise is well-warranted - Braun aver- ages 12 points, five assists and five rebounds per game. She dropped 19 against Iowa on Jan. 4. Michigan always wants to get the ball in the paint and it's not going to get any easier against the Hoosiers. "People ask,'What's more impor- tant, offense or defense?"' Borseth said. "You need to be equally good at both. Same thing goes for 3-pointers and shots around the scoring zone. If you can't do both, you're not going to be good at either one." Accordingto Borseth, the way to win is to get open shots in the paint. And the only way to get open shots in the paint is to hit 3-pointers, which the Wolverines haven't been able to do recently. They had better hope they can tonight. HOCKEY From page 5A dumped it out," Berenson said. "We had no retrieval. We had no real outworking or outnumbering the other team.... We work on this in practice, but I can tell you, it's been a real challenge for our play- ers and our coaches." After lastFriday's shutout loss to Bowling Green, Berenson thought the Wolverines got "too cute" with the puck at times. Desperate for great scoring chances, Michigan tried zipping passesthrough heavy traffic, which caused loose pucks and turnovers. The coaching staff is also- searching for a consistent physical presence who cansit in front of the opposingteam'snet, blockcthe goal- tender's vision and score goals off deflections and rebounds. Senior Travis Turnbull,junior Brian Leb- ler and freshman David Wohlberg have all tried wreaking havoc around the crease, but Berenson said Michigan's net-screening has found "limited success." Because power play success is streaky by nature, there's no exact science to bringing a struggling unit out of a funk. Itnthe past,the coaching staff has shown the players highlight films of their power-play goals up to that point in a season. Showing the tapes is intended to have the players learn from recent success and maintain confidence. The players don't believe the cold streak has 'rattled them, but they sometimes joke about escap- ing reality any way they can. "For power plays, I don't know if it takes your confidence down throughout the game," sopho- more forward Aaron Palushaj said. "When .we get on a power play, some ofthe guys are like, 'Shit, let's playfive-on-five.'" As quick as he is to illustrate Michigan's shortcomings on the man advantage, Berenson has also put it in perspective. "It's not a success rate," Beren- son said. "It's a failure rate. 75 per- cent of the time, the best power play in the world fails. So you've got to stay patient. You've got to stay positive and you've got to stay focused." NIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN WHAT DO RHODES/MARSHALL/MITCHELL SCHOLARS DO AFTER THEIR STUDIES Well, this guy became president. What will you do? Anything you want. You've written your own game plan so far in life. Why not take it one step further and become a Rhodes, Marshall, or Mitchell Scholar? A TAsty 3325 Washlenaw Ave New McDonald's Now Open Celebrate the opening of our newest restaurant. Therell be fun, games, and prizes for everyone. Come in and see our new look. WasiteiawAv 3325 mnms as E enem '$liAJ~L M~~c~onads o Oe Valid at abase location only. Not valid o r ce srctin with asp ether ofter' ga'scat, coupondo r como maero reme sa iems . e Limitao me er pno persos persit, Plus tax itoapplicablo. Price st required purmhase posted 9snP - L------------------------------------------1 4 4 I 0 '000 Come to a Rhodes/Marshall/Mitchell Orientation Session: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 . 5:00-6:00pm Koessler Room, Michigan League Thursday, January 29, 2009 . 5:00-6:00pm Pierpont Commons Center Room Thursday, February 5, 2009 . 5:00-6:00pm Kuenzel Room, Michigan Union 40 To learn more, please contact the Provost's Council on Student Honors at 734-763-8123 or visit the website at www.provost.umich.edu/scholars/ I