The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, March 28, 2013 - 7A
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
New coach, old players propeled
Wolverines to historic season
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Jon Merrill dazzled in his freshman year, but a suspension and an injury short-
ened his next two seasons. Michigan announced his departure Wednesday.
M errl forgoes
senior season
Junior defenseman
signs contract with
Devils; Trouba
decision to come
BY MATT SLOVIN
ManagingEditor
After three seasons with the
Michigan hockey team, including
two shortened ones, defenseman
Jon Merrill has left the Univer-
sity and signed an amateur tryout
contract with the Albany Devils
of the American Hockey League,
according to TSN's Bob McK-
enzie on Twitter. The Michigan
hockey team later reported the
news on Twitter.
Merrill also signed an entry-
level agreement with the New
Jersey Devils, the parent club
of Albany, set to begin with the
2013-14 season.
In his final year as a Wolverine,
which came to an end Sunday in
a 3-1 loss to Notre Dame in the
CCHA championship game, Mer-
rill tallied two goals and nine
assists in 21 games. He missed
the first half of the season with
a fractured vertebrae suffered in
an exhibition game against the
University of Windsor on Oct. 9.
Merrill also missed the first
half of his sophomore season
because of a suspension for an
undisclosed violation of team
rules.
At his end-of-season press con-
ference Tuesday, Michigan coach
Red Berenson said he expected
Merrill to depart.
"I'm leaning towards it's going
to be time for Jonny to move,"
Berenson said. "I think (the Dev-
ils) have been really patient. They
could have signed him after his
first year."
It has been a hell of a season
for the Michigan women's bas-
ketball team.
The Wolverines exceeded all
expectations under first-year
coach Kim Barnes Arico. Michi-
gan (9-7 Big Ten, 22-11 overall)
got off
to a 16-2
start - ALEXA
best in DETTELBACH
program On Women's
history Basketball
- during
which
time the Wolverines went on a
10-game winning streak, setting
another program record.
Once Big Ten play started,
Michigan set yet another pro-
gram record by winning its
first four games. Adding to the
accolades, Barnes Arico led the
Wolverines to a win over No. 13
Purdue in early February, and
later ended a six-year drought
against Michigan State in a close
70-69 win that ended in dramatic
fashion at Crisler Center on Feb.
16.
And if that weren't enough,
Michigan earned its first Associ-
ated Press ranking since 2002 on
Jan. 14 and won its first NCAA
Tournament game since 2001.
Thisteamreached newheights
fans would never have guessed,
especially after an offseason that
cost the Wolverines five players
to ACL injuries.
"When you get a coaching
change, you don't know what to
expect," said senior guard Jenny
Ryan. "I can't explain enough
how much coach (Barnes) Arico
did behind the scenes in April
before this thing even got going,
how much she did for the pro-
gram, especially the seniors.
"She didn't just come in and
A SEASON OF SUPERLATIVES
16-2: Best start in program history
10-GAME WIN STREAK: Program's first double-digit winning streak
4-0: Best Big Ten start in program history
AP RANKI NG: Ranked for first time since 2002
NCAA TOURNAMENT WIN: First tournament win since 2001
throw her style at us, she worked
with us, got to know us as people,
as players and once you realize
the amount of effort that was put
in, I'm not surprised by our suc-
cess."
Barnes Arico has pointed to
her seniors all season as the rea-
son for the team's success, and
rightfully so. The five seniors,
four of whom started, account
for 84 percent of the offense. The
80 wins make this class the win-
ningest in school history.
Led by Ryan, Michigan never
lacked leadership. Ryan earned
third-team All-Big Ten honors,
the first time she's been named
to an all-conference team, and
was her 3-point shooting that
carried her. She set the program
record for most career 3-pointers
as well as 3-pointers in a season.
She ended the season with 110,
becoming only the fifth player in
Big Ten history to hit at least 100
threes in a season.
Thompson garnered second-
team All-Big Ten honors and
also finished the regular season
ranked second in the nation in
3-pointers per game with 3.4. In
Michigan's second-round NCAA
Tournament loss to Stanford,
Thompson scored just seven
points, but it still brought her
past the 1,000-point mark for her
career.
ended up averaging 8.5 points
per game, while leading the team
it rebounds with 7.5 per game.
The Detroit native also earned
an honorable mention from the
Big Ten.
As the only senior who didn't
start, forward Sam Arnold made
sure her presence was known
when she entered off the bench.
Arnold averaged 5.2 points per
game and led the team in field-
goal percentage, hitting 53.2 per-
cent of her shots. She was by far
the most productive bench player
for the Wolverines, who spent
most of their time in a six-player
rotation.
With a Michigan team so
dependent on its seniors, Barnes
Arico's squad will be starting
over next year, allowing her
to put her stamp on the team.
Retaining only one starter, soph-
omore forward Nicole Elmblad,
Barnes Arico will need help from
her incoming freshmert class as
well as huge contributions from
freshman guard Madison Ris-
tovski. Ristovski was expected to
play a major role this season, but
the success of the seniors put her
on the bench.
"Any time you don't win a
national championship, you're
going to end your season on a.
sour note," Barnes Arico said.
"They're a special group, and we
talked about it all week. I feel
honored to be their coach, and*
the transition has been so great."
Despite an early exit from the
NCAA Tournament, the Wol-
verines' accomplishments went
eyond expectations. It was clear
from the opener against Detroit
- back on Nov. 9 - this had the
potential to be a season worth
remembering.
And it was.
averaged 10.2 points per game
with 5.2 assists. A leader on and
off the court as the point guard
and captain, Ryan embraced her
vocal role and became the heart
and soul of the team from the
beginning.
"I've coached a lot of really
good point guards in my career
as a coach, and she leads the pack
just because of everything she
does," Barnes Arico said. "She's
the total package. She's a coach's
dream really."
The surprise 'x'-factor for this
Wolverine squad was forward
Kate Thompson - who had never
started a game until this season.
Thompson led the team in points,
averaging 14.5 per game, but it
Center Rachel Sheffer, who
led the team in points last sea-
son, averaged 12.8 points and 6.6
rebounds per game this season.
Sheffer proved to be a critical
player for a team that typically
ran three- or four-guard sets,
earning an honorable mention
from the Big Ten. Her experience
and poise set her apart from the
start in the locker room. On Jan.
21, Sheffer scored her 1,000th
career point.
Another pleasant surprise
from the seniors was forward
Nya Jordan, who worked her
way into the starting lineup once
conference play began. Jordan,
whose specialty had always been
defense, worked on her shot and
T