The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
46
Friday, January 13, 2012 - 7
i; i ,s Blue readying for tune-up
prior to OSU outdoor game
Michigan coach Kevin Borseth s prepar ig his team to take on Big Ten opponent Minnesota
Sho ts fall Penn State's way
By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's bas-
ketball team seems to be allergic
to the top 25.
The week of Dec. 5, the Wol-
verines
(2-2 Big MICHIGAN 63
Ten, 13-4 PENN STATE 78
overall)
were ranked 26th. Later in the
week, Michigan dropped the
Washtenaw County rivalry
game to Eastern Michigan,
77-64.
This week, the Wolver-
ines garnered four votes, put-
ting them in 31st. And just like
before, Michigan couldn't pull
through.
This time, they fell to No. 25
Penn State.
The Lady Lions (2-2, 12-4)
outhustled, outshot, and out-
played the Wolverines, while
poor shooting and defense
plagued Michigan. Penn State
won, 78-63.
After shooting 54 percent to
beat No. 8 Ohio State on Satur-
day, the Wolverines struggled
Thursdaynight, shooting just 34
percent from the field, including
'an abysmal 8-for-25 from long
range. Senior guard Courtney
Boylan, the team's leading scor-
er with 14 points per game, was
cold in the first half and finished
with just 10 points. And senior
forward Carmen Reynolds shot
just 2-for-10 from the field.
Even though shots weren't
falling, junior guard Jenny'Ryan
believes the team was getting all
the right looks on offense.
"We're just trying to make
things happen," Ryan said.
"When you go down early, you
want to get it all back in a hurry.
I think we got the shots, but
they just weren't falling for us
tonight. We had a lot of layups,
got what we wanted, but it didn't
go in. I can't say our offense
wasn't on, but it just wasn't our
night."
Michigan's bench tried to end
the shooting struggles, but their
efforts weren't enough. Junior
forward Kate Thompson was
the Wolverines' leading scorer
with 18 points, and freshman
guard Nicole Elmblad added
seven.
On the other hand, shots
were falling for Penn State. The.
Lady Lions shot 55 percent from
the field and hit 5-of-12 from
beyond the arc. The hot shoot-
ing was led by reigning Big Ten
Freshman of the Year Maggie
Lucas. -Lucas, who set the Big
Ten record for most 3-point-
ers in a season last year, lit up
the floor. She finished with 22
points, nine of which came from
beyond the arc.
"She's a shooter, she can pen-
etrate, she can hit the pull-up,"
Ryan said. "That's her job on
the floor. It helps her when her
teammates are hitting shots,
because it opens it up for her
and that's what was happening
(Thursday night). She got on a
roll early, and that's not a good
time for us."
Lucas' ability to get open was
aided by her teammates' strong
performances. Guards Zhaque.
Gray and Alex Bentley were
closely guarded by the Wol-
verines, which left Lucas wide
open. Though Lucas finished
as Penn State's leading scorer,
Gray and Bentley scored 15 and
12 points, respectively.
The Lady Lions also dominat-
ed in transition. They scored 24
points off of 13 Michigan turn-
overs.
Ryan, the Wolverines' defen-
sive spark, sat out much of the
first half with two fouls. With
Ryan on the bench, Michi-
gan struggled to contain Penn
State's transition game.
"Every time we missed a
layup, they made a layup," said
Michigan coach Kevin. Bors-
eth. "We missed a lot of layups.
They're very good in transition,
that's what they do. They have a
point guard (Gray) who can run
fast and outrun anybody down
the court. (We wanted) to get
two people back and double-
team her, and midway through
we did a good job."
With Minnesota up next, the
Wolverines will try to put this
loss behind them.
"Minnesota is really tough,"
Borseth said. "They're physical,
strong, very aggressive. A lot of
bumping and shoving in that
game, and we have to be ready
for that."
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
This weekend, the Michigan
hockey team heads to Progressive
Field in Cleveland to take on Ohio
State in the Frozen Diamond
Faceoff, the team's third outdoor
game in three
years. This will Mian at
be the third
game between Ohio State
the two teams, Matchup:
after the Buck- Michigan
eyes swept the 12-8-4; Ohio
last series in State 14-4-3
Ann Arbor. When: Friday
Wait - 7:35 P.M.
there's a game Where: Schot-
before that? tenstein Center
Whoops.
Before the TV/Radio:
BTN
teams play on
Sunday in the
well-publicized outdoor event,
they will first play in Columbus.
While it may be easy for Michi-
gan fans to overlook the game
on Friday, the Wolverines (6-6-4
CCHA,' 12-8-4 overall) under-
stand how important that game
is, regardless of whatever is hap-
pening on Sunday.
"We are behind in the stand-
ings," said junior forward Chris
Brown. "We have to look at Friday
first, and that's our main priority.
Whatever happens, happens, then
we will look forward to Sunday.
But up until now, we are preparing
for Friday's game first."
Don't count on the Wolverines
overlooking Ohio State (10-3-3,
14-4-3), regardless of what day
it is. The Buckeyes are the No.
1 team in the CCHA, 11 points
ahead of No. 7 Michigan, and
have been on a tear all season.
They have won all but one game
since Thanksgiving, including
that sweep of Michigan at Yost
Ice Arena in November.
In November, the Wolverines
might have overlooked a team that
isn't atraditional powerhouse.
In Friday's game of the Novem-
ber series, Ohio State won with
a ricocheted goal that Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson called
"fluky," which made the differ-
ence in Michigan's 6-5 loss.
On Saturday, the Wolverine
penalty kill held out for the first
four minutes of the five-minute
major, then let in two goals 16
seconds apart in the last minute.
"They came in here and didn't
CHRIS DZOMBAK/Daily
Junior forward Chris Brown said Michigan isn't overlooking upstart Ohio State.
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arily deserve to win the which includes the second-best
- that winning goal (on power play in the conference.
from the corner was a bad By comparison, Michigan is
Berenson said. "That was ninth in the conference at minus-
ference in the game. We three, but has the seventh-best
ood game, and had enough power play in the conference.
s to win, but we didn't fin- Last weekend against Lake
Superior State, the Wolverines
averaged half a shot on the power
play. That's not a typo - half a
shot per power play.
"You have "It takes time, but I think we
have the right guys to do it," said
think of it senior forward DavidWohlberg
said. "We just need to figure it
s a normal out."
The Frozen Diamond Faceoff
weekend." will be a spectacle, as are most
outdoor hockey games.
If this game was played a cou-
ple months ago, Michigan could
as in the CCHA have wait- have fallen prey to focusing on
Ohio State to cool off, but the wrong game. But since this is
e coach Mark Osiecki has January, and every point is start-
great job in coaching his ing to matter more and more,
lented team in years. Ohio Michigan seems to be focusing
first in the CCHA in scor- on Friday before heading over to
fense, allowing just over Cleveland.
als a game. The offense "It might be easy to overlook.
o far behind, punching in Friday, but at the same time, you
als a game, good for second have to think of it as a normal
CHA. weekend," Moffatt said. "There
the most concerning part are still six points on the line, and
Buckeyes game for Michi- we have to do what we came for.
11 be the power play. The We are looking for Friday right
es are second in the CCHA now, then we have a day and a half
ial teams net at plus-seven, to prepare ourselves for Sunday."
Iowa represents potential trap game for Michigan
By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
When the Michigan basket-
ball team slugged out a 60-52
road win at Iowa in 2008, Michi-
gan coach John Beilein probably
never would've guessed that four
years later, it'd still be his most
decisive win in Carver-Hawkeye
Arena.
After all,
it was hardly Michigan
decisive. That at Iowa
team - led by
then-freshmen Matchup:
Michigan 14-3;
Manny Har- Iowa 10-8
ris and Kelvin
Grady - had to When: Sat-
fight back from urday t P.M.
a 16-point defi- Where: Carv-
cit. The Wol- er-Hawkeye
verines finished Arena
the year 10-22, TV/Radio:
a dismal 10th in BTN
the Big Ten.
To this day, that win from
Beilein's first - and worst - sea-
son in Ann Arbor may have been
the easiest he's been able to come
by at Iowa, and the only one that
ended in regulation. ,
In the following season, the
Wolverines blew a four-point
lead in the game's final minute
and were outscored 14-4 in over-
time.
Last season, it was Michigan
that came through with late-
game heroics, erasinga five-point
deficit in the final 22 seconds of
regulation before escaping Iowa
City with a two-point overtime
win.
And last year, thanks to 30
points from sophomore guard
Tim Hardaway Jr., the Wolver-
ines pulled out a 75-72 win in
overtime after the Hawkeyes
failed to connect on multiple
We have a really good team com-
ing in here."
The Hawkeyes are led by
steady senior guard Matt Gat-
ens, who leads the team with 13
points per game. But the recent
play of freshman forward Aaron
White - who is averaging nearly
11 points and five rebounds in
conference play - has garnered
attention by many around the
conference, including Michigan
State coach Tom Izzo.
"That No. 30 for them, White,
is going to be one hell (of a) play-
er," Izzo said after his team's win
over Iowa.
Saturday's game could get
particularly dangerous for the
Wolverines if they're not care-
ful. In what may be a trap game
for Michigan, the Hawkeyes
could jump on the Wolverines if
they show any signs of looking
forward to next Tuesday, when
Michigan will welcome the Spar-
tans to Ann Arbor in what could
be the program's most hyped
home game in well over a decade.
But Beilein - well aware of his
historic struggles in Iowa City
- is only focused on Saturday,
especially given the limited time
his team has to prepare for Iowa.
After Michigan played three
games in sevendays, culminating
in an overtime win over North-
western on Wednesday that saw
Hardaway and freshman guard
Trey Burke play all 45 minutes,
Beilein's team had Thursday off,
giving it just one day to get ready
for Saturday.
"We've- had to play really
hard," Beilein said. "It turns
right around at 12 o'clock on Sat-
urday afternoon. ... It's a difficult
challenge. I'd rather just think
about that than what's around
the corner."
Michigan coaih John Beilein has led the Wolverines to a quick 14-3 start in the 2011-12 season. Michigan goes toe-to-toe with Iowa in Iowa City on Saturday.
last-second 3-point attempts.
Beilein is well aware of the
challenges that come with going
on the road, especially in confer-
ence play. His team has yet to
win a true road test - Michigan's
only road win came at the Palace
of Auburn Hills, a neutral-site
game against Oakland, which
was technically the home team
despite its fans being outnum-
bered.
"Unless you have a team that
is so talented and such an incred-
ible rebounding team, it is just
difficult to win on the road,"
Beilein said. "Usually it takes a
few games, but this will be our
third true road game - four road
games overall. It takes a while,
but at the same time, all you need
is one to make it happen."
Hardawaywill look to improve
on his 30-point effort last year
- still a career high - and may
have added motivation to do so.
Beilein sparked interest in
the matchup between Hardaway
and Iowa sophomore guard Roy
Devyn Marble, when he offered
a look into his recruiting strate-
gies from two years ago.
"We were in a choice of
Devyn Marble or Tim Hard-
away," Beilein said. "We made a
choice with Tim. Obviously, we
wouldn't have gone wrong with
Devyn. Devyn's a tremendous
player."
Both Marble and Hardaway
were Rivals.com three-star pros-
pects. While in hindsight, it's
easy to look back now and say
that Beilein made the correct
decision, it wasn't always that
straightforward.
Coming out of high school,
Marble - a local talent out of
Southfield - was already 6-foot-
5, while Hardaway was just
6-foot-3. Hardaway, however,
has grown three inches and is
leading the 13th-ranked Wolver-
ines (4-1 Big Ten, 14-3 overall)
with 16 points per game. Marble,
though, averages just 10 points
for the middling Hawkeyes, who
lost their most recent game in
embarrassing fashion at Michi-
gan State on Tuesday, 95-61.
"It really doesn't matter to
me," Hardaway said about going
up against Marble. "I'm here,
he's there, and we've just got to
play ball."
Iowa (2-3, 10-8), who trailed
by as many as 45 points in East
Lansing, will be hungry to right
the ship.
"We've got another chance
to play against a team that is
ranked, and play better and focus
harder," said Iowa coach Fran
McCaffery. "I expect us to play
better in a number of different
facets of the game. We have to.
.
Ii