4B - December 12, 2011

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

James drops 38 points on
Blue in Eastern victory

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By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Writer
YPSILANTI, Mich. - When
an eagle seeks out its prey, it's
stealthy and quick to attack, leav-
ing its victim defenseless.
And that's exactly how Eastern
Michigan's
star senior MICHIGAN 64
guard took E. MICHIGAN 77
down the
Michigan women's basketball
team on Sunday afternoon.
"It was the Tavelyn James
show," said Michigan coach Kevin
Borseth. "(She)single-handedly
heat us, that's the bottom line.
She's an absolute nightmare to
guard. Our kids didn't realize how
good she was."
The third-best scoring defense
in the Big Ten had no answer for
James, who tallied 38 points for
the Eagles to become the all-time
leading scorer in Eastern Michi-
gan history. Nineteen of those 38
came in the first 10 minutes of the
first half to give the Eagles (6-3) a
commanding 27-13 lead. She also
was a threat from behind the arc,
making 5-of-13 three-point shots.
And the Wolverines (9-2) just
couldn't respond, falling 77-64.
None of Michigan's players
ever got into a rhythm. Senior for-
ward Carmen Reynolds, who is 23
points away from breaking 1,000
for her career, went 0-for-2 from
the floor.Juniorguard Jenny Ryan
struggled as well, shooting 4-for-
10, and fouled outof the game with
less than a minute to go.
Though shooting was rough,
Michigan somehow found ways
to score. Four of its players broke
into double figures, with junior
forward Rachel Sheffer leading
the team with 16 points and six
rebounds.
Besides failing to stop James
offensively, Michigan couldn't
break the Eagles' tough defense.
They played a high 2-3 zone
that kept senior guard Court-
ney Boylan contained above the
3-point line, which EasternMichi-
gan coach AnneMarie Gilbert
noted was their primary goal,,
Feeding the ball in the paint

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Sophomore forward Evan Smotrycz added 20 points against Oakland, but took a few poor fouls on the defensive end
M' wins the wrong way

Junior forward Rachel Sheffer scored 16 points against Eastern Michigan

was also difficult at the beginning
for the Wolverines, but eventually
they found a way to get inside and
score 44 points in the paint.
"Their pressure was unbeliev-
able at the top, but once we broke
it, we got layup after layup," Shef-
fer said. "It was just getting the
ball down, finding people, and fin-
ishing."
Rebounds were a huge factor in
the game. The Eagles outrebound-
ed the Wolverines, 37-26, despite
a significant height advantage
for Michigan. Borseth noted that
when his team focused its defense
on James, the rest of Eastern
Michigan's players were left open
for rebounds and second-chance
points.
"Offensive rebounds and turn-
overs, that's how they won the
game," Sheffer said. "All year,
emphasis has been on offensive
rebounding, and it's just coming

together as ateam and being con-
sistent with (rebounding)."
The Eagles were also a quick
team, and Michigan had trouble
stopping them in transition. The
Wolverines committed 18 turn-
overs, which resulted in 30 points
for Eastern Michigan, and 15 were
off fast breaks.
"It's not typical of our team (to
commit lots of turnovers)," Boylan
said. "If we don't take care of the
ball, we're not a good team. When
(we) take care of the ball, (we) get
more possessions, and (we're) able
to get more shots at the basket.
And we definitely needed to do a
better job of that today."
This is the Wolverines' second-
straight loss to Eastern Michigan,
as the Eagles knocked off heav-
ily-favored Michigan in the first
round of the Women's National
Invitational Tournament last year
to end its season.

By LUKE PASCH And Oakland capitalized by tal-
Daily Sports Editor lying 20 points from the free-
throw line - Grizzly point guard
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Reggie Hamilton was an impres-
Midway through the second sive 12-for-12 from the charity
half of the Michigan basketball stripe.
team's matchup with Oakland on "(Hamilton) has almost made
Saturday afternoon, freshman as many foul shots as our whole
point guard Trey Burke reached team has made," said Michigan
in on an Oakland ballhandler coach John Beilein. "So he's very
and picked up his third foul of good at getting to the foul line.
the contest. Our foul trouble in the first half
Following the whistle, sopho- let them sneak in."
more forward Evan Smotrycz The Wolverines also strug-
ran over to have a small talk with gled to hold onto the ball, turn-
the frustrated youngster. ing itover a season-high17 times.
"I was just telling him that With eight minutes to play in
I have a bad habit of reaching, the first half, Michigan held a
too," Smotrycz said after the commanding 14-point lead and
game. "I'll play great 'D,' and all of the momentum. But sloppy
then start reaching toward the play led to seven turnovers in
end of the game, and that's what those final eight minutes, allow-
he did on that possession." ing Oakland to tie the game,
And Smotrycz proved that he's 32-32, by halftime.,
still not past committing unnec- "It wasn't Michigan basket-
essary fouls. Though he fouled ball," said senior guard Stu Dou-
Oakland just twice in the 90-80 glass. "We had that bad stretch
win, one of them came just 30 there in the first half. It was just
seconds after consoling Burke, not a complete game like we
when he wound up awkwardly wanted. ... A win is better than a
bear-hugging an opponent going loss, but at the same time, we're
for a rebound. going to learn a lot from this
"Personally, I've had some game."
trouble with fouls, and I've been Added Beilein: "I'm going to
trying to make a point of that on look at the film on that ... but I
defense," Smotrycz said. was really disappointed with a
By the end of the game, Michi- couple of shots and some turn-
gan (7-2) had committed a sea- overs in the first half.
son-high 24 fouls, with Burke "We felt in transition offense,
and senior guard Zack Novak we would look for one thing, but
leadingthe way with four apiece. if it wasn't there, we were going

to bring the ball back and make
them guard us a little bit. Whe'n
we didn't do that, that's a thing
we've got to shore up."
Not all of the season highs
from Saturday's game were dis-
appointments. Michigan scored
a season-high 15 3-pointers,,en
route to a season-high 90 points.
The 58 points in the second half
were a season high as well.
Smotrycz and Burke notched
their career-high scoring marks,
each registering 20 points.
But the Wolverines would"pre-
fer not having to score 90 points
to beat opponents. Indeed, the
outcome of the contest could
have been entirely different had
Michigan not shot a blistering
63 percent from 3-point range in
the second half.
"If we weren't so careless, we
probably would have been up 8
or 9 (at the half), and maybe it
was good," Beilein said. "It really
woke us up to what it's like to
play in a game like this where
it's up and down, up and down, if
you don't value your possession;"
Michigan returns to Crisler
Arena to open up a five-game
homestand on Tuesday. The
first three of those games will
be the final tune-ups before the
Wolverines open Big Ten play
against visiting Penn State.
For those three games, Beilein
will look for his team to practice
the fundamentals and return to
"Michigan basketball."


WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Turnovers key in
Wolverines' loss

Secondary must improve before bowl

By MICHAEL LAURILA
Daily Sports Writer
YPSILANTI, Mich - Turn-
overs were the difference.
The Michigan women's bas-
ketball team fell to Eastern
Michigan, 77-64, tallying 18
turnovers in the process. The
Eagles had 19 turnovers, one
more than the Wolverines.
But it's what Eastern Michi-
gan did with their turnovers that
was the difference. The Eagles
were able to convert 30 points off
the Wolverines' miscues.
"(Turnovers) were where we
went wrong in the game," said
junior forward Rachel Scheffer.
"We had 10, 11 turnovers in the
first 10 minutes of the game."
Michigan converted just 17
points off Eastern's turnovers
and had just six fast-break points.
Part of the problem for the
Wolverines was the speed of the
Eagles. Eastern Michigan's abil-
ity to run the floor and score in
transition was the direct result
of its proficiency at forcing
turnovers, scoring 15 fast-break
points.
"(Eastern Michigan) is a very
athletic team," said Michigan
coach Kevin Borseth. "We knew
that, coming in, transition was a
key part."
Later in the first half, Eastern
Michigan went on a 13-2 run, and
the Wolverines turned over the
ball on consecutive possessions
during that stretch.
Michigan looked flustered on
offense with the Eagles' zone
defense swarming the ball, espe-
cially in the paint. The result was
difficulty in holding onto the ball.
"(Turnovers) are not typical
of our team," said senior guard
Courtney Boylan. "When we
don't take care of the ball we're
not a good team. When we take
care of the ball, we're a very good
team."

When the Wolverines went
into the locker room at halftime,
they trailed by just seven points,
but their 11 turnovers were glar-
ing.
In the second half, any chang-
es they made didn't seem to work.
After a Wolverines basket to open
up the half, Eastern Michigan
went on a 10-0 run, giving it a
15-point lead - the biggest of the
game for the Eagles.
"I think it came down to which
team was going to come out with
energy and they came out with
tons of energy," Scheffer said.
Michigan's struggles on
offense to keep the ball and not
turn it over have to be attributed
to the tenacious Eastern Michi-
gan defense.
"(The defense) was very
swarming," Boylan said. "Their
hands are on you, they're pres-
suring the ball, but that's on us.
We've handled teams that have
pressured us before. Eastern is
no different than teams we have
played, The onus is on us. We got
to take care of the ball."
Added Borseth: "We knew
exactly what we wanted to do,
but they had us pressed around
that perimeter moving the ball
instead of attacking the rim."
The impact of the quick perim-
eter defense was seen in the
Wolverines' inability to score
from behind the arc. This sea-
son, Michigan has averaged six
3-pointers per game, and has shot
32 percent. On Sunday, it only
had two makes and shot a mere
17 percent.
When the Wolverines lost to
Maryland on Nov. 30 - their
only other loss on the season -
they faced similar problems. As
the season progresses, it will
be important for Michigan to
address these issues and figure
out a way to solve the problem
that a pressing zone defense has
posed for it.

Backfield's missed
assigments in The
Game nearly cost
M' the victory
By KEVIN RAFTERY
Daily Sports Editor
The secondary.
Last season, Michigan foot-
ball fans cringed at the mention
of it. It was the worst in the Big
Ten and No. 112 in the nation,
giving up an average of 262 pass-
ing yards per game.
This season, it's been a differ-
ent story.
Under new defensive coordi-
nator Greg Mattison, the sec-
ondary improved to sixth in the
conference, giving up an aver-
age of 188.5 yards in the air per
game - a 143-yard improvement
from last year.
But in No. 11 Michigan's
40-34 victory over Ohio State on
Nov. 26, the secondary seemed
to jump in a time capsule back
to 2010.
The Wolverines gave up 235
yards in the air to the Big Ten's
worst passing offense. Ohio State
freshman quarterback Brax-
ton Miller, known more for his
legs than his arm, carved up the
Michigan secondary with ease.
"We weren't necessar-
ily expecting them to come out
throwing like they did," said
redshirt junior safety Jordan
Kovacs. "Obviously they saw
something that they liked, stuck
with it, and I think they had a
good game plan. You gotta give
them a lot of credit."
The game plan played a key
role in the Buckeyes' 34 points,
the second highest point total
recorded all season. The only
other game in which they scored
more was in a 37-17 blowout win
over lowly Colorado.
Another big part of Ohio
State's success came from its
ability to make big plays -
something the Wolverines have

stressed all season that they
need to stop.
"I don't think you can play
any opponent like we did Ohio
State," Kovacs said. "We didn't
do a good enough job keeping
the ball in front of us. We gotta
do that, and we just can't give up
big plays."
The first big play of the game
came on Ohio State's opening
drive, when Miller found a wide-
open Corey Brown 54 yards
down the field for the score.
Brown was so open that he
could've caught the ball, done
15 back flips and given a lecture
on the importance of The Game
before any Michigan players
even touched him.
And on Ohio State's final drive
of the game, the Wolverines just
barely escaped giving up a dag-
ger.
With less than two minutes
to play and Michigan up by six,
Miller saw receiver DeVier Posey
streaking down the left sideline.
Posey had beaten redshirt junior
cornerback J.T. Floyd by at least

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but Miller just barely secondaryto stop big plays.
ew him and the ball fell "We didn't get enough pres-
ssly to the turf sure (up front)," he said. "We've
Wolverines dodged abul- got to play better throughout a
to Kovacs, the remedy for whole play.
g the big play is simple. "You have to hold your cover-
age a little longer, you have to
be a little more disciplined with
your eyes, and we didn't do that
ie weren't ... as well as we needed."
Regardless of who's to blame,
)ecting them the Wolverines have just over
three weeks to fix their prob-
) come out lems in the secondary before
they take on No. 11 Virginia Tech
hrowing." in the Sugar Bowl.
The Hokies feature a solid
pass game led by 6-foot-6 quar-
terback Logan Thomas, who
ig play starts with com- threw for 19 touchdowns and
ltion," Kovacs said. "If you just nine interceptions this year.
communicating and one "They've got a big quarterback
nks you're in a cover four who can throw the ball around,"
other guy cover two, it's Kovacs said. "They have big
be a big play. If you com- receivers. They're fast, they're
te and everybody's on the athletic, everything that you
age and you play proper want in a receiver.
ue, you can't get beat." "We've got our hands full, and
rding to Michigan coach we've got a lot of adjustments to
toke, it's not justup to the make."

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MARiSSA MCCLAIN/Daily
Redshirt junior safety Jordan Kovacs and the Michigan secondary allowed 235 passing yards to Ohio State.

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