8A - Wednesday, February 10, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Size matters in the post for Michigan's future 0 With Phillips leaving, Borseth will be forced to retool Blue's post attack It's a team with all the pieces for the future. Well, at least it's pretty close. Understandably, the long-term future a hot topic of discussion for the Michigan women's basketball team, considering their biggest game of the year ALEX is against Michigan State HERMANN on Thursday. The Wol- On Women's verines are attempting to Basketball break out of the middle B of the Big Ten pack in hopes of obtaining an NCAA Tournament berth. But rest assured, discussion of the future is entirely relevant for this team. Michigan senior center Krista Phillips and Spartan senior center Allyssa DeHaan, both graduating after this year, will face off for the last time. At 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-9, respectively, that's a whole lot of size in the middle for both teams. And for the Wolverines especially, that brings up questions regarding the future out- look for the team down low. With two starting freshman guards, Day- eesha Hollins and Jenny Ryan, Michigan is certainly set on the perimeter. But there's an entirely different story being written in the post. Outside of redshirt senior forward Ashley Jones, who is also graduating after this year, the Wolverines have only a pair of freshmen to back up Phillips in the post. But Sam Arnold and Rachel Sheffer aver- age just 10 minutes per game combined on the season and even fewer in Big Ten games, leavingthe team with few seasoned post play- ers for next year. The two freshmen will be joined by 2010 signee Val Driscoll. The 6-foot-4 center's adjustment to the college game, along with Arnold and Sheffer's continued growth, will be crucial on the interior. "Solidifying your game around the rim is obviously very important," Borseth said tues- day. "In this league, you got to be able to stop somebody around the hole. That's what you got to be able to do, and if you can't do that then life becomes more difficult." And filling Phillips's shoes in the post is cru- cial to Michigan's success beyond this season. But the Wolverine post players may have a luxury not afforded to players in the past. The up-tempo style that Michigan has adopted emphasizes outside shooting and perimeter play. But this adjustment may simply be a result of the personnel. Despite Phillips's obvious size, she and sophomore forward Carmen.Reynolds are both more comfortable on the perimeter than in the paint. In the team's 74-40 win against Minnesota on Sunday, Phillips scored all 13 of her points on jumpshots. Reynolds is Michigan's leading 3-point shooter, hitting 44 percent on her team- leading 52 triples. But for Phillips, the biggest adjustment to playing the post in a physical Big Ten has been defense. "It's a mentality that you don't ever, ever want to get beat," Phillips said. "That's my biggest thing. I don't ever want to have some post player come in and just score a post move on me." But that mentality isn't easily achieved, and only after the team's young post players fully understand that can the Wolverines turn a bright-looking future into a potentially dominant reality. "If you can stop people and you can rebound, then you canrun," Borseth said. "Your best teams are your teams that can just stuff people, and then just break out and create something fast on the other end of the court. We're not in a position to impose our will on anybody." The Wolverines have at least one half of that equation - those guards sure can get out and run. The other half? That's the question that will define Michi- gan's future. 0 AARON AUSBURERe/Daily Senior Krista Phillips looks to pass in the post earlier this season. At 6-foot-6, Phillips is the tallest player on the team. Lem Irish Dance presents (9 srom 1refan6 wit6Love Saturday, February 13 Michigan Teater, 8:00 Wolverines take 12th place in early spring tourney Bauer sisters tie for first place on team, Meagan tallies a 72 in first round By KEVIN RAFTERY Daily Sports Writer There was abundant sunshine, temperatures in the 80s and three rounds of golf at one of Puerto Rico's finest resorts. A paradise for most. But for the Michigan women's golf team, it was just the start of a new spring season. The Wolverines traveled to Rio Grande, Puerto Rico this past Sunday through Tuesday for the three-round Lady Puerto Rico Classic at the par-72 Trump International Golf Club. Unfortunately for Michigan, the results of the tournament were not quite as pretty as the weather. Competing in a field loaded with 10 of the nation's top-50 pro- grams, the Wolverines finished in 12th place out of 16 teams, with a final team score of 925. "Overall, I am a little disap- pointed in the way we finished today," Michigan coach Cheryl Stacy said yesterday. It was Michigan's first com- petitive outing since Nov. 2 and 3, when it posted a team score of 877 at the Challenge at Onion Creek in Austin, Texas. Clearly, there is some rust that needs to be shaken off for this spring season. "We were alittle rusty, not hav- ing played outside," Stacy said, "but it was a good experience for us early in the spring." But it wasn't all gloom for the Wolverines. Sophomore Meagan Bauer posted rounds of 72-73-78 for a tournament total of 223, the best 54-hole total of her young career. Bauer's first round of 72 was just her second career round. of par or better - and most certainly the second of many to come. She has improved her score in each of her last five tournaments. Bauer tied her sister, senior .captain Ashley Bauer, for first on the team and 17th overall. A first-place team finish is nothing new for Ashley. She has finished as the top Wolverine in 25 of her 42 career events, and she has the lowest career scoring average in the his- tory of Michigan women's golf with an average of 75.98. There's no doubt, she will be expected to carry much of the load for the Wolverines the rest of the way this season. Michigan also got an oppor- tunity to see how it would fare against fellow Big Ten teams. Purdue, Northwestern, Wis- consin, Indiana and Penn State all competed in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. The Wolverines finished fourth out of the six teams, edging out Indiana and Penn State. "It would have been nice to play a little better in the final round and catch some teams and get a couple more wins over some Big Ten teams," Stacy said. Fourth-ranked Purdue finished as the top Big Ten team, earning second place with a final tally of 883. Alabama won the tourna- ment with a score of 872. As the spring season begins in full force, Michigan will look to continue to move up the ranks in the Big Ten as it prepares for the Big Ten Championships in April. "We just have to work hard- er and improve upon what we learned this tournament," Stacy said. "I know that we are looking forward to getting back down to Florida in a few weeks." 0 WANT TO WRITE FOR DAILY SPORTS? GET READ. E-mail rkartje@umich.edu for information on applying.