The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
February 25, 2013 - 3B
Yet aaor DAILY DOMINANCE
Yet again, long run doomsM TEM
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Penn State coach Coquese
Washington wanted her five
seniors to remember their last
home game at the Bryce Jordan
Center, so she started seldom-
used senior forward Marisa
Wolfe Sunday in place of her
usual starter, junior guard Mag-
gie Lucas.
Unlike the ceremonious start
of Wolfe, which only lasted 31 sec-
onds, Lucas played for 38 minutes
and made her presence known
as No. 9 Penn State (13-1 Big Ten,
23-3 overall) beat the Michigan
women's basketball team, 68-57,
to clinch a share of the Big Ten
title.
Playing in front of more than
14,000 fans dressed in pink for
the Lady Lions' annual game for
breast cancer
awareness, MICHIGAN 57
the Wolver- PENN STATE 68
ines (8-6,
19-8) took
the floor hoping to avenge a 59-49
loss in January that snapped its
program-best 10-game winning
streak.
After getting off to a 2-1 lead,
it was all downhill from there for
Michigan as Penn State went on a
20-2 run to take a 21-4 lead.
"I think anytime you start a
game the way we started, it's
hard to come back against a top
team in the country," said Michi-
gan coach Kim Barnes Arico. "I
believe they are a top team. They
have incredible balance (and)
incredible depth. It's hard to stop
one kid because another one will
make a play."
The scoring burst from the
Lady Lions was highlighted by a
steal and pull-up 3-pointer from
Lucas at the 12:14 mark in the first
half to push the lead to double
digits. Lucas' 15 first-half points
led Penn State to shoot 45.4 per-
STILL STANDING
From Page 1B
room with a two-goal lead -
and an empty netter from Di
Giuseppe minutes later was just
a bonus.
For a team that's suffered its
fair share of end-of-game col-
lapses, keeping a lead and shut-
ting out the Buckeyes during
the final frame constituted one
of the best periods of hockey
Michigan has played all sea-
son. Much of that success was
due, in part, to the defensive
mindset all of the Wolverines
adopted.
"I think our forwards played
better, not only offensively,
but defensively," Guptill said.
"That's something we're going
to continue working on, the
defensive side of it, and hope-
fully the offense will keep com-
ing."
With this first road sweep
(over their rivals on their senior
night, no less) it was little won-
der the team skated off the ice
as quickly as possible at the end
of the game to rush to sing 'The
Victors'in the locker room.
"That's probably the best
weekend of Michigan hockey
we've had all year," Beren-
son said. "(It was) a lot of little
things. Our overall team, it felt
like everybody was having a
better weekend. Had to be a
good feeling to be a player on
that team."
RACINE
From Page1 B
ble of making these plays, there's
no reason for Michigan not to
keep going back to him.
Clearly, the Wolverines need
to have one goalie to stick with
entering the CCHA playoffs, and
it needs to be Racine. Especially
when dealing with freshmen net-
minders, confidence is extremely
important and, with the rocky
start Racine and fellow freshman
Jared Rutledge got off to, they're
fragile. But the time for experi-
mentation has long since passed
- it's decision time.
I'll admit I've argued for his
benching earlier this season, but
he became the clear choice this
weekend to close out the season.
Last Wednesday, after the
team's end-of-practice shootout
dragged into extra rounds, Racine
came up with the big save and his
Senior guard Kate Thompson scored a career-high 25 points in a loss Sunday.
cent from the field and 5-for-12
from downtown, including three
from Lucas.
While Lucas' spark off the
bench contributed to Penn State's
dominance, it was the putrid
shooting from beyond the arc
and from the field in general that
doomed the Wolverines. They
shot 28.6 percent from the field in
the first half, in addition to shoot-
ing just 2-for-11 from behind the
arc.
"Golly, if you could figure it
out, help me," Barnes Arico said
regarding Michigan's slow start.
"What do you do as a coach? You
just sit there and go 'holy cow'
because there was pressure to get
the ball up the floor but I thought
our lookswere pretty good looks."
Michigan scored its fourth
point at the 15:28 mark, and its
next basket didn't come until
with 8:25 left in the first stanza on
a 3-pointer from senior forward
Kate Thompson - the team's first
made 3-pointer in nine attempts.
It was also Thompson's first made
shot in seven tries.
"Once you start missing like
that, your kids get tighter and
tighter and tighter and tighter,"
Barnes Arico said. "And tonight,
unlike the other night, we were
SOPHOMORES
From Page 1B
Di Giuseppe finished fourt
with 11 goals.
At this time last year, Guptil
had 15 goals and Di Giusepp
had nine. Presently, Guptill ha:
tallied 11 goals and Di Giusepp
has tallied eight.
Instead of posting up near th
net and deflecting shots, Guptil
has adjusted his game to tak
matters into his own hands.
"Good things happen whe
you put it at the net,"Guptill said
Di Giuseppe, while closer ta
his freshman campaign that
his teammate, has shifted hi
offensive game from scoring ta
passing. The Maple, Ont. nativ
has benefitted from being on th
same line with freshman for
ward Boo Nieves and senior for
ward Kevin Lynch this season
as he matched last season's tota
of 15 assists on Friday.
But more importantly than
their individual performance:
was the team's offensive produc
tion that benefited from the cata
lysts over the weekend.
Guptill's first goal Frida
night didn't lead to a barrage o
goals, but was key in shifting the
team's momentumwhen no team
stood above the other. On Satur
day night, Guptill used his beau
tiful dangle to spark a three-goa
third period and secure a sweep.
"Tonight we were working
hard and we got rewarded," said
teammates skated over to con-
gratulate him.
A similar scene, the Wolverines
embracing Racine, played out on
Friday and Saturday in Columbus.
Could this - what is it again?
- right, winning become a habit?
Can Racine continue to give the
team the chance to win, and can
the team respond by making sure
he gets the goals he needs?
Michigan's played eight road
games in the season's second
half, and that's precisely when
Berenson began turning the goal
over to junior Adam Janecyk and
Rutledge. Racine never had the
chance to prove he could put up a
fight on the road. He lost one and
tied one at Northern Michigan
way back in early November, and
he was in between the pipes for
another tie at Ferris State.
But after all of the terrible road
performances this team has had,
its best weekend of the season
somehow came away from home.
able to play through it and get
out of it, but I could not figure
out why we weren't makingthose
baskets early."
Despite two early fouls for
Thompson and senior guard
Jenny Ryan, Barnes Arico stayed
with the two seniors because they
were the Wolverines' only chance
to chip away at the lead. Thomp-
son delivered, leading Michigan
with 13 points at halftime, includ-
ing a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to
make the score 40-26 as the teams
headed to their locker rooms.
"(Coach) just told us to calm
down and relax," Thompson said.
"They came out of the gate really
strong so we had to come back
with our own run to finish off the
half and we cut it to 14. So we put
ourselves not in a great position
at halftime but not a horrible one
either."
Though the risky move to keep
her two foul-ridden seniors in the
game paid off - the duo didn't
pick up another first-half foul -
Penn State's lead never fell below
12 in the half.
In the second half, Thompson
finally did pick up her third foul
less thantwo minutes in, but as in
the first half, Barnes Arico stuck
with her. Once again, it paid off.
Michigan coach Red Berenson.
"They weren't necessarily good
scoring chances, but we got
lucky."
h Di Giuseppe's hard work was
on display frequently, carrying
1 the puck up the ice and unself-
e ishly dishing itto a linemate. His
s unselfishness, combined with
e Guptill's persistence at the net
will be important if the Wolver-
e ines plan to sweep Ferris State
Il this weekend.
e
Guptill and Di Giuseppe also
n represented a small portion of
. the forwards' strong forecheck,
o which limited the time in their
n own zone. Their presence in the
s Ohio State zone created more
o scoring opportunities, forcing
e their rival to make a clearance to
e eliminate the pressure.
"Our forwards are still going
- hard at it," Guptill said. "And
, once the puck gets running
1 around, that's kind of what our
forecheck was built for."
In a matter of two games, the
s Wolverines' confidence shifted
- dramatically when it saw Guptill
- and Di Giuseppe make plays on
offense, or work to keep a puck
y from crossing the blue line. On
f the Buckeyes' senior night, it was
importantto have catalysts.
"We knew that it was going
- to be (Ohio State's) senior night,"
- Di Giuseppe said. "Last year was
1 very emotional for our seniors,
so we knew how much it meant
to them, and we didn't want
I them to have their way with it."
And if the Wolverines are goingto
make noise in the CCHA Tourna-
ment, they'll have to play at least
some of it, and likely all of it, away
from Yost Ice Arena.
There's momentum here, final-
ly, with Racine in net. Stick with
him, and if the offense doesn't
sputter out, there are still wins
out there for this team. There
are more post-game celebrations
around Racine left. If I'm Beren-
son, I call Racine into my office
Monday afternoon. I sit him down
and tell him the job is his and that
I believe he gives the team the
best chance to win.
I tell him to think of the team's
offensive explosion this weekend
as its way of showing him it has
his back. Then I tell him to get to
work. As Berenson said Saturday
night, you won't win many games
giving up three goals.
-Slovin can be reached at
mjslovin@umich.edu.
Thompson nailed her first two
3-pointers to cut the lead to nine,
while senior forward Nya Jordan
converted an and-1 to trim the
lead to six - the closest the Wol-
verines had been since the score
was 10-4. Michigan would make
it even closer after a 3-pointer by
senior forward Rachel Sheffer cut
the once 19-point lead to just four.
She would finish with 10 points
and six rebounds.
It was Jordan and Thompson
who led the way for the Wol-
verines, scoring 16 of their first
19-second half points. Thompson
would finish with a career-high
25 points and six rebounds while
Jordan posted a double-double
with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"What really helped us in the
second half was that we started
making shots," Thompson said.
"Rachel made some big shots for
us (and) Nya got to the basket."
But after more than four min-
utes of silence from the Lady
Lions on the offensive end, they
recovered, scoring the next five
points to push the lead back to
nine.
From that point on, Penn
State's forwards took over, attack-
ing the rim and getting short-dis-
tance shots at their leisure as the
Lady Lions pulled away.
While Lucas got the atten-
tion for 21 points off the bench,
forward Ariel Edwards also had
11 points off the pine to help the
Lady Lions pull away late. Senior
forwards Alex Bentley and Mia
Nickson each had 11 as well.
"I thought we were able to cut
it but never get over the bump
partially due to their pressure and
playing here," Barnes Arico said.
"You can't come out of the gates
like that and expect to beat a top-
10 team.
"They got a couple good defen-
sive stops and made some plays
and we just didn't make the
plays."
1. FLORIDA (22-4)
2. INDIANA (24-3)
3. LOUISVILLE (22-5)
4. GONZAGA (27-2)
5. DUKE (24-3)
t 6. PITTSBURGH (21-7)
7. KANSAS (23-4)
8. MICHIGAN (234)
9. MIAMI (FL) (22-4)
S OSYRACUSE(22 5)
11. ARIZONA (23-4)
o 12.VCU (22-6)
13. BELMONT (22-6)
14. CREIGHTON (22-7)
15. MIDDLE TENNESSEE (25-4)
6 . MEMPHIS (243)
17. OHIO STATE (20-7)
18. WISCONSIN (19-8
G19. GEORGETOWN (21-4)
20. SAINT IOUIS (21-
21. OKLAHOMA STATE (20-6)
22. COLORADOSTATE 21-6)
23. MINNESOTA (18-9)
- 24. SAN DIEGOSTATE( 7)
S 25. SAINT MARY'S (24-5)
INDEX
DOMINANCE
2.611
2.299t
1.966
1.82
1.26
1.685
1.665
1.663
1.61i4
1.525
44
1.406
1.364
1.317
1.298
1.284
1.263
1.240
119
1.195
1.1
1.161
1.149
1.148
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