I

2B - February 16, 2009

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wolverines need to look to the
future to salvage this season

ROB MIGRIN/Da iy
The Michigan baseball team's games in Florida should be on your vacation itinerary
The ultimate
Michigaan sports
S ing Bea

Spring Break is coming in a
few short days, and if you're
anything like my house-
mates and me, you still have no
plans.
Luckily, the Michigan Athletic
Department
has your back.
It turns out that
a week of driv-
ing around the
country follow-
ing Michigan
sports teams
could turn into NATE
a pretty good SANDALS
trip.
DAY 1: While you're stuck in
town Thursday night waiting for
your one friend who has a Friday
class, check out the Big Ten Wom-
en's Swimming and Diving Cham-
pionships at Canham Natatorium
(next to the IM Building).
Canham is heated to feel like a
tropical island, so it's practically
the same thing as the Caribbean.
Also, watching the 10-meter plat-
form diving isn't all that different
from cliff jumping in Jamaica.
DAY 2: Friday afternoon, head
south to Columbus to take in a
Michigan hockey game against
Ohio State. Walking up and down
High Street always feels like
Spring Break - if you normally
end up fearing for your life in a
cold-weather climate for vacation.
DAY 3: Now, we head into the
best stretch of your Michigan
sports road trip. From Columbus,
start driving south. You need to
make it to Tallahassee, Fla., by 10
a.m. on Saturday. Google Maps
says it should only take about 13
hours, so leave straight from the
hockey game and don't stop driv-
ing, not even for bathroom breaks.
If you follow these instructions,
you should reach the Florida State
campus in time for the Michigan
softball team's game against East
Carolina.
DAY 4: It's a shorter trip today,
driving south to St. Petersburg to
watch the Michigan baseball team
play St. John's at 1 p.m. Nothing
says Spring Break like baseball.
What's the difference between
Spring Break and spring training?

Just one word.
The game should be over by the
late afternoon, so take the rest of
the day to check out some of the
great sights in the St. Petersburg/
Tampa area. I won't pretend to
know what any of those are, but
I'm sure you can find them.
DAY 5: Congratulations, Michi-
gan Athletic Department, you've
ruined this trip by not having any
teams scheduled to play on Mon-
day, Feb. 23. Well, you're already
in Florida, so there's just one thing
to do: Disney World.
The "most magical place on
Earth" is less than two hours
away. There will probably be tons
of Wolverine fans and alums at
Disney World. Of course, most of
them will be there with their small
children.
DAY 6: Now, you have to make
a choice. You could head back to
Tallahassee for another Michigan
softball game, or you could get
a head start on the trip south for
the women's tennis match against
Miami on Thursday.
If you really like softball, go for
it. But two days on South Beach,
plus a tennis match - you can't go
wrong.
The rest of the trip will probably
be a haze once you get to Miami.
Crazy stuff happens there. Be safe,
and don't forget to make it to the
tennis match. Remember that you
have to be back in class on Monday
and it takes about 21 hours to get
back to Ann Arbor from Miami.
And if you're still looking for
some Michigan sports teams to
watch on your way home, you
might want to swing by Blooming-
ton for the women's track and field
Big Ten Indoor Championships.
By the time you get back to Ann
Arbor, you will have driven for
about two days total.
And you'll probably have seen
more non-revenue Michigan
sports in one week than most stu-
dents will in four years.
It should be fun.
- If anyone actually attempts
this trip, Sandals would like to
hear about it. He can be reached
at nsandals( umich.edu.

Reynolds has
notched 34 points in
the last two games
for Blue
T here's a changing of
the guard coming for
the Michigan women's
basketball
team. RYAN
Michigan KARTJE
coach Eevin won'
Borseth's On women s
team had basketball
an excess of
experience with four seniors in
the starting lineup, and there's
never a shortage of leadership on
the floor.
But with a once-comanding
lead beginning to dwindle last
night against Minnesota, Borseth
decided to go with fresh legs. Not
because his senior leaders were
tired, but because they had lost
their rhythm.
And after losses in nine of
their last 10 games, the Wolver-
ines have ridden the rhythm from
a 7-4 non-conference start into
the Big Ten basement.
So in desperate need of a play-
maker last night, Borseth didn't
turn to one of his veteran start-
ers. He turned to a freshman who
had played just nine minutes in
the team's first five games.
With the way forward Carmen
Reynolds has been playing lately,
leading Michigan (3-11,10-15) in
scoring with 34 points in the last
two games, she deserves a spot in
the starting lineup. With Reyn-
olds on the court, the Wolverines
don't have to wait for rhythm to
find them. She creates rhythm for
them.
"She's good in traffic,"
Borseth said last week. "She can
shoot well. She passes well. She
sees the floor. She's got really
good hands ... She's just able to
make some real quick decisions
that most players aren't able to
make."
Borseth has made it clear sev-
eral times in his two seasons at
Michigan that without rhythm
and quick playmaking, this team
won't succeed.
"Shooting is all about rhythm,"
Borseth said after losing to Mich-
igan State in the WNIT quarter-
finals last season. "If you can't
get rhythm shots, they're hard to
make."
At Big Ten Media Day in Octo-

4

4

WLL
Freshman Carmen Reynolds has scored 34 points in the last two games to lead the Michigan offensive attack.

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rseth said senior point season with victories against.
Jess Minnfield would be ranked Notre Dame and Van-
the keys to making that derbilt, in which she carried the
ve rhythm thrive. She was team on her shoulders.
or general". But with the offense faltering
and no threat of dribble penetra-
tion into the paint, Minnfield
and fellow senior Carly Benson
his team isn't have been forced to throw up
ill-advised shots from behind
ut the seniors the arc. In a 45-40 loss to rival
n Michigan State, Benson and Min-
nymore. IS ofield combined to shoot 6-of-23
ut the future. from 3-point range. Even Spar-
tan coach Suzy Merchant said
that was the cause of Michigan's
downfall.
It's becoming increasingly
Minnfield is not the pure clear that this team isn't about
that Borseth wanted her to the seniors anymore. It's about
he beginning of the season. the future.
eld excelled in a distribu- With eight minutes remaining
le last season, running the in the game and the momen-
ke any pure point guard tum finally shifting back in
. That mentality carried Michigan's favor, the Wolverines
to the beginning of this looked like their offense was

coming together.
Sophomore Veronica Hicks
stole a floating pass and charged
down towards the basket. Hicks
tossed the ball into Reynolds'
hands for an alley-oop layup.
On the following play, Reyn-
olds returned the favor with a
steal and a long pass to Hicks at
the other end for an easy lay-in.
Now that's what you call
rhythm.
On the Michigan sideline,
Borseth looked up after the four-
point swing and smiled like he
rarely does during a game. Sure,
he didn't know the Wolverines
would lose the game in the last
minute like they have so many
times this season, and that smile
would disappear soon enough.
But for a second, Borseth saw
the future in Reynolds and the
rest of the young supporting staff.
And it sure looked like something
to smile about.

4

I

'M' drops another heartbreaker at home

4

By CHANTEL JENNINGS
DailySports Writer
Apparently, in Minnesota, the
bank is open on Sundays.
Golden Gopher junior guard
Brittney McCoy banked a 3-point-
er off the backboard with just
1.9 seconds left in the Michigan
women's basketball team's game
last night at Crisler Arena.
The
basket MINNESOTA 60
clinched MICHIGAN 59
a 60-59
win for the Gophers (10-4 Big
Ten, 18-7 overall), and caused the
Wolverines' record in their last 12
games to fall to 2-10.
Only momentsearlier, it seemed
as though Michigan (3-11, 10-15)
had secured the victory when
Minnesota senior guard Emily
Fox, the team's leading scorer,
fouled out, after jostling senior
Jessica Minnfield.
"Minnfield was the last person
we wanted to foul, because she's
shooting a ridiculous percentage
at the free throw line," Minnesota
coach Pam Borton said.
With 15 seconds left and a
chance to extend the Wolverines'
one-point lead, Minnfield calmly
walked to the line and knocked
down the first shot from the char-
Receive up to
S i u en rING , Seiv
Students receive en ad

defense that led the charge.
"It's almost like a man
(defense)," Michigan coach Kevin
Borseth said. "Like a chasing man
(defense)."
In the zone, Minnesota's top
two defenders wreaked havoc
on the Wolverine guards, forc-
ing them to make bad passes and
quick, ill-advised decisions.
The Gophers were coming off a
bye week which they used to work
on their stifling zone defense, hop-
ing to create more offense from
their defense. It worked. They
forced 22 Michigan turnovers that
resulted in 27 of their 60 points.
The game had all the makings
of a blowout when the Wolver-
ines took a 13-point lead, but the
Gophers went on a 17-2 run in the
final six minutes of the first half.
And in a game that was depen-
dent on runs, that one was crucial,
giving Minnesota a two-point
lead heading into halftime. Even
though the Michigan outscored
the Gophers 35-34 in the second
half, Minnesota's feeble 2-point
cushion at halftime gave them the
necessary padding needed.
As the team sinks lower in the
Big Ten standings, Borseth can
take comfort in the fact that his
underclassmen are stepping up.
Against Minnesota, freshman
Carmen Reynolds led the under-
classmen with 14 points.
"They've lost a lot of close
games and I don't think their
record indicates what type of
basketball team they are," Bor-
ton said. "They are very balanced.
They got shooters. They got great
post players. They got kids that
can get in the lane.
"I think it's just a matter of
time (before they) put things
together."
NOTE: Michigan donned pink-
and-white uniforms as a part of
the WBCA's Pink Zone initiative
to raise money and awareness for
breast cancer. The team auctioned
off these uniforms, and did other
fundraisers to raise money for the
University of Michigan Women's
Health Program.

WILL MOELLER/Daily
Senior Jessica Minnfield missed two crucial free throws in the final 15 seconds.
ity stripe. But the 83-percent free hit the heel of the basket and
throw shooter uncharacteristi- clanked off towards the left side
cally missed the second. The ball of the court.
Racing down her own
rebound, Minnfield secured the
ball before being fouled by junior
( E.Katie Ohm. And Minnfield once
e 9 vE ,.again stood at the line hoping
be::,-,:fl wie_ L y and os to extend the lead out of the
Gophers' reach.
But this time, she missed to the
right. Minnesota junior forward
Ashley Ellis-Milan grabbed the
board and quickly outletted the
3 ball to McCoy, who raced down the
court for the game-winningshot.
"It seemed like we were doing
everything we could to lose that
35% off! basketball game today." Borton
CHE[L En[ *jU P said. "And we got a break at the
K G +I t-W end. That's all it was."
I PLLAIM Although Minnesota may have
ditionel 10% r won the game on McCoy's last-
second shot, it was the Gophers'
suffocating 2-3 trapping zone