7 - Friday, January 10, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Winsconsin: Michigan survives late scare
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Goree stays out
of foul trouble
By LEV FACHER "She has a special knack for
Daily Sports Writer offensive rebounds," Barnes
Arico said.
When junior forward Cyesha Thanks to her improved fit-
Goree is on the court, the Michi- ness level and better defensive
gan women's basketball team can discipline that has helped her to
go head to head with almost any stay out of foul trouble, Goree has
team in the country. been able to avoid the bench and
Fortunately for the Wolver- energize the Wolverines for lon-
ines, Goree does just that quite ger in each game. Thursday, she
often. In Michigan's victory didn't pick up her first personal
Thursday night over Wisconsin, foul until midway through the
she wound up on the floor after first half and made it through the
taking charges or diving for loose rest of the contest without com-
balls more than the rest of her mitting another.
teammates combined. Goree got involved in the ball
But the trouble for the Wol- distribution as well, connecting
verines, at least in the nonconfer- with senior forward Val Driscoll
ence season, has been that Goree on an over-the-top lob with 16
doesn't see nearly as many min- minutes remaining in the game.
utes as her fellow starters. Thurs- "I just always try to make sure
day, junior guard Shannon Smith I'm active," Goree said. "It's nice
played 18 first-half minutes, while to have that connection."
Goree was on the floor for just 13. The three-forward look featur-
That disparity is still an ing Goree, Elmblad and Driscoll
improvement from what Michi- is one Barnes Arico has gone
gan experienced in the season's with increasingly often as the
early going. On Nov. 20 against season has progressed. Though
Pittsburgh, for instance, Goree it started when Smith sustained
played 22 minutes in a game that a back injury and didn't play in a
remained competitive through- late-November tournament, the
out the 40 minutes of play, as formation has stuck since her
compared to junior forward return.
Nicole Elmblad, who clocked 38. The bigger lineup usually costs
"Cyesha is an energizer for us," sophomore guard Madison Ris-
said Michigan coach Kim Barnes tovski, one of Michigan's leading
Arico. "We need to keep her on scorers, a starting spot. But it also
the court." puts Goree in a position to excel,
The increased playing time for giving the Wolverines a distinct
Goree was somewhat inevitable advantage in terms of rebound-
- she knew she'd have ample on- ing and helping to mitigate the
court opportunities on a roster effect of their undersized back-
with a dearth of experience at court. And Ristovski still is on the
the forward position. But instead floor when it counts - Thursday,
of becoming complacent, she she keyed a late-first half run to
used the offseason to drop over put Michigan ahead for good and
20 pounds. While her off-season recorded eight points on just five
training-has paid dividends all field goal attempts.
seaso*;s eshe seems closer than "That (look) is something
ever to being able to put together we've emphasized the last cou-
a full game. ple practices," Barnes Arico
That showed Thursday. said. "They were coming in with
Though her time was still (Michala) Johnson, who was
somewhat limited, Goree was averaging 16 points per game.
involved in every phase of the We spent a lot of time working on
game, recording 10 points and 15 what she wanted to do and trying
rebounds. to take that away."
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Freshman guard Madison Ristovski's eight points and three assists may not stand out in the box score, but her contributions late in the first half sparked Michigan.
Behind Ristovski, first-half
surge, Wolverines get past
By MAX COHEN
Daily Sports Editor
There was a pendulum-like
flow to the opening nine min-
utes of the Michigan women's
basketball team's Big Ten home
opener
against WISCONSIN 62
Wisconsin. MICHIGAN 70
One
team attacked and the other
responded, and neither took
more than a three-point lead
until midway through the back-
and-forth first half.
Then, the pendulum broke.
Sophomore guard Madison
Ristovski sparked the Wolver-
ines, leading a 19-5 run to give
Michigan a lead that it never
relinquished. The Wolverines
survived a late Wisconsin rally
to hold on for a 70-62 victory.
After starting the run with
a dish inside to junior forward
Cyesha Goree, Ristovski con-
tinued her personal streak,
contributing to Michigan's next
seven points. Following a Wis-
consin free throw that tied the
game at 16, she gave the Wolver-
ines the lead for good by hitting
a 3-pointer, the team's first of
the night.
Michigan (2-0 Big Ten, 11-4
overall) didn't score its next
basket for two minutes, but by
then it could afford the brief
lapse. The Wolverines created
two turnovers and held the Bad-
gers (1-1, 8-6) scoreless for three
minutes, leading to a 7-0 run.
From then on, the pendulum
rarely swung back in Wiscon-
sin's favor.
"They're going to get punch-
es, we're going to get punches,"
Goree said. "It's all about who
can take the hit and hit the next
punch harder. We kept fighting
and we got our lead, and we kept
building up our lead."
Ristovski continued to use
her hot hand when the Wolver-
ines' scoring resumed, finding
junior guard Nicole Elmblad for
a layup. Then, on Michigan's
next possession, the sophomore
scored another of her own after
an Elmblad offensive rebound.
The Wolverines led 23-16 and
didn't slow down.
Before Wisconsin forward
Jackie Gulczynski made a
3-pointer with 38 seconds left
in the first half, Michigan held
a 33-20 advantage. By the time
the run was complete, Michi-
gan had forced seven turnovers
in 10 minutes and had given the
ball away just three times in the
entire first half.
Michigan displayed even
more offensive firepower near
the end of the first half. Fresh-
man guard Siera Thompson
drained a deep 3-pointer to
extend the Wolverines's lead to
26-18. Ristovski made the team's
second consecutive 3-pointer by
hitting one in transition with
3:19 left in the half, finishing
her seven-minute spurt of eight
points and two assists.
"When she's on the court,
we're usually doing pretty
well," said Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico.
The Wolverines closed out
the half with a 35-23 lead, the
product of the 19-5 run and
the 11 turnovers they forced on
Badgers
defense. They hung on in the
second half to improve to 11-0
this season when leading at the
break.
The Wolverines continued
a balanced scoring effort to
extend their lead to 25 on two
separate occasions in the sec-
ond half. Four players scored in
double figures for Michigan, led
by Goree with 15.
"We have such a balanced
attack," Barnes Arico said. "On
any given night, we can have
five or six or sometimes even
seven kids be our leading scorer.
I think that puts a lot of pressure
on other team's defenses."
It looked as if Michigan
would cruise to victory, but the
game abruptly, swung back in
the Badgers' favor once the Wol-
verines took a 60-35lead.
Wisconsin strung together a
late 23-4 run, cutting the lead
to single digits for the first time
since the first half. But Michi-
gan halted the near-comeback
with solid free-throw shooting
in the final minutes to escape at
home.
'M' spoils Big Ten debut of Pinnacle Bank Arena
ByNEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily Sports Editor
chance. We have been on the
other end of that last year for a Big
Ten Championship on the line.
Road games in Big Ten play Fortunately, itwent our way."
have proven to be heart-stoppers. Thursday night, Jordan Mor-
And for the second straight gan proved himself capable of
time, the Michigan men's basket- handling the starting role as
ball team Michigan's big man, and he has
could take MICHIGAN 71 Nik Stauskas to thank for it. The
heart at the NEBRASKA 70 fifth-year senior, who has strug-
end. After gled to find consistency with
a narrow increased minutes since Mitch
escape against Minnesota a week McGary was ruled out indefinite-
ago, the Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten, ly, had a teammate to help him
11-4 overall) slipped by Nebraska, find it.
71-70, in Lincoln on Thursday Stauskas, the sophomore
night. guard, has been the Wolverines's
Down one point with 25 see- best distributor this season and
onds remaining, freshman point found Morgan under the basket
guard Derrick Walton drove the three times Thursday night for
ball around the right side of the easy baskets.
perimeter, turned left up the Morgan finished with 15 points
baseline and converted the layup on 7-for-9 shooting. Throughout
while drawing a foul. He missed the night, Morgan set screens and
the free throw, giving the Corn- rolled to the basket, only to find
huskers (0-3, 8-6) an opportunity himself alone without a Corn-
to win it. husker to contest his shot.
In a series that was reminis- "He can get things done,"
cent of the Wolverines's devas- Beilein said. "He just needs to
tating loss to have confi-
Indiana last dence. We
season, consec- will take it if
utive Nebraska "Wie have been it is him one
layups rolled night and (red-
off the rim. On the other end shirt junior
Mercifully for forward) Jon
Michigan, the of that last year (Horford) the
red lights of . other night.
the backboard for a Big Ten Who knows
lit up to let the ,, *~ * who is going to
Wolverines c hampionship get this down,
know that they but Jordan was
could finally really good."
smile. He wasn't
"The ball was up and it looked the only Wolverine to shoot at
like it had a chance," Michigan a high clip. Sophomore forward
coach John Beilein told report- Glenn Robinson III had a game-
ers. "The next one had a better high 19 points on 75-percent
shooting, including a breakaway
dunk in the final two minutes to
give Michigan a two-point lead.
Stauskas added 12 points on
nine shots, drilling two 3-point-
ers and tallying four assists.
Walton's game-winning play
at the end might not have been
possible if not for an even more
impressive shot to end the first
half. He capped a sluggish
period from Michigan with a
halfcourt prayer that found the
bottom of the net as the clock
hit all zeros.
"We were a little bit down
because they had just came
back and hit a couple of threes,"
Robinson said. "After Derrick
hit that shot, it amped us up. I
thought we had great energy
going into halftime."
Though Michigan shot 57
percent in the half, pace of play
was slow and a slew of 3-point-
ers by Husker guard Ray Gal-
legos helped to keep the score
close. Gallegos, a thorn in the
Wolverines' side the last two
years, added another triple in
the second half to tie the game
with 4:38 left to play.
Nebraska had plenty to play
for in the first Big Ten game
at the newly opened Pinnacle
Bank Arena. Already 0-2 in con-
ference play, a headlining win
over the Wolverines would have
done wonders for the program.
Terran Petteway, playing in
his first season since transfer-
ring from Texas Tech, is fifth
in the Big Ten in scoring and
poured in 16 points Thursday,
though he came two short of
completing the upset.
"We knew (Petteway) was
going to get the ball," Morgan
Freshman guard Derrick Walton Jr. scored 10 points, including a halfcourt buzzer beater at halftime, in Michigan's win.
said. "He just had a downhill
mindset, so it was on us to try
and stay in front of him without
fouling him and putting him on
the free throw line and then try
and get the rebound. Our guys
did a really good job of that."
With Stauskas guarding him,
Petteway caught the ball on the
left wing in the game's final pos-
session. He drove to his right
toward the rim, and his attempt
at a game winner missed. Leslee
Smith's follow-up also rimmed
out, and the Wolverines's hearts
could start beating again.
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