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Friday, February 11, 2011- 5

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, February 11, 2011 - 5

Wolverines look to snap
Spartans' hold on rivalry

Michigan has lost
eight-straight
games at the hands
of Michigan State
By CAITLIN SMITH
Daily Sports Writer
Thirty-five days ago, the
Michigan women's basketball
team was happy just to be hold-
ing its own during a 63-56 loss to
Michigan State
- a team that's Michigan
notorious for Mc n
running over at MiChgan
the Wolver- State
ines. Matchup:
But on Fri- Michigan 14-9;
day, Michigan Michigan
won't be con- State 20-3
tent with any, When: Sun-
thing less than day 2 P.M.
a win.
While eight Where: Bre-
Wieegtslit Center
consecu-
tive losses to TV/Radio:
the Spartans ESPN2
should be moti-
vation enough, No. 11 Michigan
State (8-2 Big Ten, 20-3 overall)
is going to be a tough team to
beat. In fact, the Spartans' only
three blemishes on their record
have come from playing ranked
opponents, including NCAA
front-runner Baylor.
"There are people here who
haven't experienced a win
against (Michigan State)," senior
guard Veronica Hicks said after
the loss in early January.
"I have only experienced one
over the past four years, so it is
reallv frustrating We came out

trying to change that."
If the Wolverines (7-4, 14-9)
have proven one thing this sea-
son, it's that records and streaks
can be broken. In January,
Michigan entered Big Ten play
at 2-0 for the first time since
the 1999-2000 season. This was
upon the Wolverines beating
their third consecutive ranked
opponent, a feat that had never
been accomplished in program
history.
And now, with Michigan in
fourth place in the Big Ten, the
Wolverines have an opportunity
to finish as one of the top five
teams in the conference for the
first time in10 years.
But Michigan is going to
have to rely on more than just
a successful season to upset yet
another ranked opponent. The
Wolverines need all five starters
to be hot at the basket and their
post players to win some defen-
sive matchups.
Too often, Michigan has
been riding the back of one or
two players to win a game. In
the Wolverines' win over Illi-
nois last Sunday, Hicks tied her
career-high of 24 points, while
starting guards Carmen Reyn-
olds and Jenny Ryan each tal-
lied only five points. And junior
guard Courtney Boylan carried
a goose egg in both shots and
rebounds.
Similarly, in Michigan's loss
against Minnesota, sopho-
more center Rachel Sheffer and
Boylan contributed 23 of the
Wolverines' So points on the
night.
Michigan is at its best when
it spreads its offensive effort
across the lineup, but the greater

challenge for Friday might come
at the defensive end.
Redshirt junior forward
Lykendra Johnson and senior
forward Kalisha Keane lead
Michigan State on the attack,
both standing at 6-foot-1. Keane
averages 16 points and five
rebounds a game, while Johnson
tallies 11 points and 9 boards.
Johnson dominated Michigan in
its last contest against the Spar-
tans, notching 17 points and 17
rebounds.
She also grabbed 11 offensive
rebounds - more than all of the
Wolverines combined.
"I just want to pursue the
ball," Johnson said after the
win against Michigan. "I try to
get my hand on every ball I can
because I know if I can do that, I
can grab the rebound."
The Wolverines may have had
trouble against Johnson early
in the season, but Sheffer and
sophomore guard Kate Thomp-
son have since developed into
strong defenders at the post,
shutting down some of the Big
Ten's best players.
The duo held Ohio State's
three-time Big Ten Player of
the Year Jantel Lavender to a
career-low 10 points in a 69-66
victory two weeks ago.
Michigan has the athleticism
to beat the Spartans, as long
as its starters can create some
offense and defend the post area
like they have done in a handful
of games this season.
"We gotta get ourselves ener-
gized because Michigan State
is obviously an in-state rivalry,"
Michigan coach Kevin Borseth
said. "It's a big game we want to
be ready for."

TODD NEEDLE/Daily
Sophomore forward A.J. Treats scored two goals in Michigan's 4-2 loss to Miami (Ohio) last Friday.
M ri rebound
after three-game ski~d

By CASANDRA PAGNI
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 13 Michigan hockey
team always prepares for and
respects its opponent - even
when the opposing mascot is the
Buckeye.
But after ^Ljo State
losing, three O
straight games, at Michigan
this weekend Matchup:
carries added Ohio State
weight for the 14-13-2; Michi-
struggling Wol- gan 17-9-4
verines, who When: Friday
are hoping the 7:35 P.M.
slide has been
more of a speed Where Yost
more Ice Arena
bump than the
beginning of a TV/Radio:
free-fall. BTN
"We try and
put last weekend behind us,"
senior forward Matt Rust said
Wednesday. "The reason we're
losing is not because of the other
team, but because of our own
lapses. We're trying to focus on
the things that we need to do
better. When the time comes to
watch video, we'll watch video.
But I think we're addressing our
own issues more so right now."
Michigan currently boasts an
eight-game win streak at home
and will face two games against
the Buckeyes (9-11-2-2 CCHA,
14-13-2 overall) in the friendly
confines of Yost Ice Arena on Fri-
day and Saturday.
The Wolverines (14-7-1-0,
17-9-4) know how critical home
ice can be to their success. After
dropping both decisions against
Miami (Ohio) last weekend - the
first time the team has been on
the losing end of a series sweep
this season - a home series
couldn't come at a better time for
Michigan.

"Most teams have a better
record at home," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "We have
a good record at home, but you
have to play well. That's huge.
If we play well, our fans get into
it, you can build momentum in
this building. It can be a terrific
home-ice advantage, but it all
startswith if you play well."
The Wolverine offense is cur-
rently ranked 20th in the nation,
but while Michigan is averaging
3.27 goals per game, it has scored
just three goals in its past three
games.
The only Wolverines to find
the net during Michigan's cur-
rent three-game losing streak are
senior forward Louie Caporusso
and sophomore forward A.J.
Treais, whose two goals against
Miami last Friday marked the
first two-goal game of his career.
After being shut out for just
the second time this season - a
3-0 series finale loss at the hands
of the RedHawks last Saturday
- Berenson gave each line a new
look at Monday's practice. Beren-
son made changes to all four of
the Wolverines' lines, hopingthat
the shake-up will help ignite the
Michigan offense.
"It isn't really a message,
(Berenson is) just trying some-
thing new," Rust said. "Everyone
on this team has talent. Changing
up the lines just gives everyone a
fresh start, gives everyone a new
jump start in their game and kind
of makes everyone more excited
to play."
Michigan hopes the two games
against Ohio State will be just the
"jump start" this team needs, as
each weekend moves them closer
and closer to the end of the regu-
lar season.
The Wolverines split their
first series of the season with the

Buckeyes back in early Decem-
ber, but both squads know they
will be facing different teams
this weekend. Ohio State split last
weekend's series with Michigan
State and comes into Yost tied for
seventh placein the CCHA, while
the RedHawks' weekend sweep
of Michigan puts the Wolverines
two points behind Miami and in
third place in the conference.
After giving up three power
play goals in Oxford last weekend
and going 0-for-12 on their own
power play chances, Berenson
addressed both sides of the spe-
cial teams issues in practice this
week.
Miami's power play currently
ranks second in the nation and
has scored 12 more goals on the
man-advantage than Ohio State,
but the Wolverines are con-
cerned with improving their own
penalty killing and defense head-
ing into this weekend.
"We were not surprised (by
Miami). We went in and played
well, we played hard," Beren-
son said. "Everybody knew they
were vying for first place before
the season started. We're not
surprised by that, but we're dis-
appointed in the way that we
handled it, whether it was defen-
sively, offensively or special
teams."
With just three series remain-
ing in the regular season for
Michigan and a traffic jam among
the top of the CCHA, the Wolver-
ines know now more than ever
how precious each point really is.
"I think that the adversity is
going to help us," sophomore for-
ward Chris Brown said. "We're
going to come out strong this
weekend and really show that
those last three games were a
fluke and that we should have
played a lot better."

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