The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, February 24, 2012 - 7
WOMEN'S BA SKETBALL
Michigan bench
struggles, Rayburn
rolls in Purdue win
AUSTEN HUFFOR/Daily
Senior guard Carmen Reynolds and her family look up to the video screens in Crisler Center on Thursday during a senior-night presentation afterth e game y
Purdue steamrolls senior night
By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Writer
It was senior night at Crisler
Center, but it wasn't Courtney
Boylan, Carmen Reynolds or
Jamillya
Hardley PURDUE 60
that shined. MICHIGAN 49
Rather, it
was Purdue senior Brittany Ray-
burn who controlled the game
on Thursday night.
Rayburn had a game-high
15 points and got help from
teammates Chantel Poston
and Courtney Moses down the
stretch to beat the Wolverines,
60-49.
The game was close until the
final few minutes, when Ray-
burn scored five straight points
to extend the Boilermaker lead
to seven. Moses hit a 3-pointer to
stretch the lead to 10, and Michi-
gan was forced to send Purdue
to the free-throw line to try for
a comeback.
The Boilermakers went 9-for-
10 from the charity stripe in the
second half and went 4-for-4 in
the last minute to seal the game.
But besides Purdue's final
push, neither team could really
find a rhythm. In the first half,
Purdue struggled to make a bas-
ket in a stretch of just over four
minutes, while the Wolverines
had nine turnovers.
Neither team shot the ball
You're not winning many games
shooting 37 percent."
Despite poor numbers from
the floor, junior center Rachel
Sheffer overcame her shooting
struggles and ended the night
with 15 points on 5-for-9 shoot-
ing. Reynolds, in her final home
particularly
well in that
stanza, but
it wasn't any
better for
Michigan
in the sec-
ond half. The
Wolverines
went 9-for-
26, which
ultimately
cost them the
game.
Michigan coa
eth made it qu
wasn't turnover
that hurt the tea
"Field-goal
what this game
eth said. "(It's)
that you look f
consistent thin
teams. And for
game, posted
11 points, and
junior guard
"You're not Jenny Ryan
continued her
winning many all-aroundpro-
games shooting rehounds, eight
points and four
37 percent." steals.
The Boiler-
makers held
Michigan to its
lowest point total all season with
ich Kevin Bors- their tough defense. Rayburn
ite clear that it put pressure on the Wolverine
rs or rebounds guards all night and had three
m. steals, all while commanding
percentage is Purdue's offense. Purdue coach
is about," Bors- Sharon Versyp said that down
the No. 1 thing the stretch she told Rayburn
or - that's the to take control of the game like
ig of winning she's done all season. It worked.
us, it wasn't. ... Reynolds noted that a player
like Rayburn isn't going to be
completely shut down. Rather,
she said, you have to contain her,
something the Wolverines just
couldn't seem to do.
They struggled to guard her in
the final few minutes, and Bors-
eth didn't have an answer.
"She's a hard player to guard,"
Boylan said. "She's extremely
talented, and she hit some really
tough shots off the dribble. ... At
the end, we missed a couple of
switches, and she got a couple
of open looks, and she's going to
knock those down - she's a good
player."
NOTE: After thegame, Boylan,
Reynolds and Hardley were
honored for their four years of
work for the program. The three
guards make up Borseth's first
recruiting class at Michigan.
"Those kids have meant a lot
to the program," Borseth said.
"I thought they've changed the
culture in a very positive way, in
terms of their effort on the floor,
in the classroom, in the commu-
nity. I thought they've been out-
standing representatives of our
program and our University."
'M' registers just half, the bench finished 4-for-19
for the game. Borseth said that
five points off a team can't win shooting 37
percent - what the Wolverines
bench, 18 points shot on Thursday. They cer-
tainly can't win games when the
short of average bench shoots 21 percent.
Thompson, who usually revi-
By MICHAEL LAURILA talizes Michigan, had one of her
Daily Sports Writer worst games of the season. The
Minnesota native has averaged
Michigan coach Kevin Bors- 8.1 points per game but didn't
eth has called on the bench to tally a single point against Pur-
energize and refuel the Michi- due, going 0-for-6 from the floor
gan women's basketball team in and 0-for-2 from the free-throw
times of need this season. line. She logged 31 minutes, 11
The bench averages 23.3 more than her season average.
points per game, which is one But at 6-foot-4, her defensive
of the best marks in the confer- presence was necessary, as Pur-
ence. But the bench scored just due boasts one of the biggest
five points during the Wolver- lineups in the Big Ten. Specifi-
ne's 60-49 loss to No. 22 Pu- cally, Borseth said Thompson
due on Thursday. With 19 points played more minutes in order
coming from their bench, the to guard 6-foot senior Brittany
Boilermakers were right at their Rayburn. But even with Thomp-
season average. son's extra height, Rayburn still
"All year, our bench has real- scored 15 points.
ly given us a boost," said Pur- "Some people have those
due coach Sharon Versyp. "Our nights," said senior guard
last couple of games, it hasn't Courtney Boylan. "I'm sure a lot
been that way. Your bench has of her efforts were focused on
to play well, Rayburn, and
whether it's when you're
the first half really focused
or second half. "W e've always "on defense
There's got J like that,
to be some- thought (the sometimes
thing, and our it's harder to
bench, defen- bench) has been hit shots. You
sively and can't fault
offensively, a strength." her. (Thomp-
did a good job son) gives a
for us." 100-percent
Michigan's effort all the
18-point fall off from its season time, and she's been coming off
average would've been enough the bench and producing for us
to secure a victory. The poor all year."
showing by the bench also con- As the bench goes, so Michi-
tributed to a season-low scoring gan goes. The Wolverines are
total for Michigan. And along currently on the NCAA Tourna-
with being near absent in the ment bubble, and with only one
scoring column, the bench also regular-season game remain-
tallied six turnovers. ing, the bench will continue to
During the first half, Michi- play a critical role in the team's
gan's bench wasn't just quiet postseason aspirations. Borseth
- it was nonexistent. It didn't understands the significance of
score a point and only tallied finally making the postseason,
two rebounds: one apiece from along with how important the
junior guard Kate Thompson bench has been to the Wolver-
and junior forward Sam Arnold. ines and will continue to be.
Looking for an answer in "We've always thought (the
the second half to cut Purdue's bench) has been a strength for
four-point lead, Borseth contin- us, and it still is, ut we've got
ued to go with the ench to no to e ahle to reound from this
avail. game and get those kids ready to
Following an 0-for-7 shoot- play," he said. "Every game we
ing performance in the first play now is important."
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With conference title within reach,
* Wolverines not sleeping on BGSU
By MATT SLOVIN
Daily Sports Editor
Though Bowling Green is just
over an hour south of Ann Arbor,
the Michigan hockey team isn't
making a day
trip this week- Michigan
end. Instead, atBGSU
it will leave on
Thursday for Matchup:
the weekend Michigan
series, hoping to 20-10-4;
return as league BGSU9-20-5
champions. When: Friday,
But don't Saturday
expect the 7:05 p.m.
Wolverines to Where: BGSU
throw pillows Ice Arena
and blankets Liveblog:
into their bags michigandaily.
along with corn
their sticks and
gloves. Michigan coach Red
Berenson has pounded the mes-
sage into their heads all week:
Don't sleep on Bowling Green.
As far as Berenson is concerned,
the Falcons' last-place standing
in the CCHA is far less impor-
tant than the gigantic target that
will replace the standard block
'M' on the Wolverines' jerseys.
With Bowling Green already hav-
ing locked up the bottom seed
for the conference tournament,
this weekend's series gives the
Falcons a chance to play spoiler.
With nothing to play for, Bowling
Green would love to dash Michi-
gan's title hopes, however slim
they may be.
"You know (Bowling Green's)
going to give you your best
because they're looking up at
you," Berenson said. "These are
the games you have to win. It'll be
a good test for us."
A lot would have to go right for
Michigan to claim a share of its
12th CCHA regular-season title.
The Wolverines must take all six
points from upset-minded Bowl-
ALOE FRISS/Daily
Fifth-year senior goalie Shawn Hunwick and the senior class close out their firal regular season wth a short triy to 5GSU.
ing Green and hope that West-
ern Michigan sweeps first-place
Ferris State. The Bulldogs have
already clinched at least a split
conference championship and
need just one point to win it all for
themselves. But the Broncos did
sweep Ferris State in a home-and-
home series earlier in the season.
There won't be much score-
board watching going on this
weekend under Berenson's
watchful eye. During Wednes-
day's practice, Berenson empha-
sized that if his team wants to be
viewed as one of the best teams in
the country, then it's time it starts
doing what those teams do - take
care of business late in the season.
"For example, we talked to
them (on Wednesday) about how,
if you're going to be a good team
- a winning team - you've got to
win the games you should win,"
Berenson said. "Those are the
toughest games to play."
And though Michigan finds
itself in the season's last weekend,
the Wolverines aren't looking to
stumble into the playoffs. Beren-
son still seeks improvement,
knowing that stagnant teams
rarely fare well as the calendar
turns to March.
"We've got to play better than
we played last week," Berenson
said. "We've got to keep moving
forward. We can't stay the same...
we've got to playbetter."
Both special teams units
enjoyed a perfect evening last Fri-
day against Northern Michigan.
The power play capitalized on
both of its opportunities, and the
penalty killers held the Wildcats
to a fruitless man advantage six
times. Saturday, the special-teams
units made another statement,
capitalizing on 50 percent of
power-play tries and keeping the
Northern Michigan power play
off the board once again.
Sophomore forward Derek
DeBlois, whose presence on the
penalty-kill unit has been impres-
sive, knows that Bowling Green
is no slouch despite the Falcons'
four measly conference victories.
"It's like any other weekend,"
DeBlois said. "They've been doing
pretty well in the second half.
... You can't look past any team.
You've got to prepare like any
other weekend (and) control our
own destiny, also."
The Wolverines seemed partic-
ularly focused in practice. Though
each player seemed to know of the
weekend's playoff implications,
nobody seemed too preoccupied
about what goes on at Western
Michigan's Lawson Ice Arena
and Ferris State's Ewigleben Ice
Arena. If their heads are in the
right place - not somewhere
northwest of Bowling Green -
everything will take care of itself.
"If the team talk is right, we'll
be right," Berenson said.
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