Page 6- The Michigan Daily-Sports Monday- February 18,1991

*F ULL COURT.
PRESS-
Push finally comes

Women earn weekend split
VanDeWege pleased as Michigan beats Illinois, fall to Purdue

to shove for

M'

by Matthew Dodge
Daily Basketball Writer
LaTara Jones has been knockin' boots all season. Nike boots, that is.
She loves to crash her body around the lane and lay some hurt on
opposing Big Ten forwards.
She should know better.
As a rookie roundballer in a high-profile league, Jones is expected to
bide her time. In this high-octane conference, every newcomer is sup-
posed to to sit silently on the sidelines.
Eyes and ears open. Mouth shut.
But Jones has as much affinity for this age-old hierarchy as fellow
Chicagoan Oprah Winfrey has for Ultra Slim Fast. They can't swallow
either one.
The Michigan women's basketball team is the Roseanne Barr of the
Pig Ten. It is big in the middle, and soft all over. The squad needs
someone to to firm up its figurative thighs and put a hard edge on it.
Enter LaTara Jones.
The 6-foot frosh forward - make that power forward - started the
first game of her career Friday in Michigan's 67-61 win over Illinois. Her
style of play -- reminiscent of a bald-headed wide-body from Philly -
puts a chip back on the shoulders of the Wolverines.
"Tara's a banger. She loves to throw her body around," Michigan
coach Bud VanDeWege said. "She can get wide and post up and ask for
the ball inside. When I recruited her, I saw her as a true power forward.
That's what we need right now, no question."
Jones' 12 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes not only provided a
spark of its own, but opened up the baseline for Trish Andrew to put in
21 points on 10-14 shooting.
In Jones, VanDeWege has finally found a partner-in-crime for Diaper
Dandy Andy under the basket.
Andrew's stature among Big Ten centers is growing by leaps and
bounds. Night after night, opposing teams focus on tearing her down.
Time for a bodyguard.
"Tara really hustles," Andrew said. "She is willing to put up with
abuse inside."
Jones has displayed a new way of thinking to her teammates She
takes the ball strong to the glass. And she doesn't care who is in the
way. She would rather knock someone over than relinquish the lane to
her.
The Michigan frontcourt is young: Andrew is a sophomore, Michelle
Hall, Rhonda Jokisch, and Jones are rookies. But young does not have to
mean timid, even in the Big Ten.
LaTara Jones has displayed wisdom beyond her years by bringing
some thunder to the ever-quiet Crisler Arena. And VanDeWege made a
solid move by finally letting her have that chance.

by Albert Lin
Daily Basketball Writer
Michigan women's basketball
coach Bud VanDeWege said be-
fore this weekend that his team
would have to "overachieve" in
order to beat Purdue.
While t , 1 id not win
yesterday, VanDeWege was very
happy with its performance. The
Wolverines rallied to within eight
points of the Boilermakers before
senior Joy Holmes, as she did Jan-
uary 18 in West Lafayette, put
Michigan away, 69-54.
"I think we played real well,"
VanDeWege said. "Purdue forced
us defensively to maybe hurry or
change our shots, but I thought our
shot selection was good."
Boilermaker coach Lin Dunn
also was impressed with the
Wolverines.
"Michigan did an excellent job.
They played a good 3-2 zone,
which created problems for us,"
Dunn said. "They did a good job of
not giving up. We were up by 18,
and they fought back. That's a
credit to Bud and his team."
Down 48-30 with 10:19 remain-
ing in the game, the Wolverines
went on an 11-2 run, culminating
with Char Durand's baseline drive
and lay-in, to cut the lead to eight.
Following a Purdue timeout,
the teams traded scores. Then,
with the Boilermakers leading 53-
43, Holmes went to work. She
stole a pass and streaked in for a
layup. She eluded defenders, got
wide open underneath, and was
fouled and hit two free throws. She
stole an entry pass and fed the ball
to MaChelle Joseph, who made
one from the line. Finally, she
raced ahead on the break, was
fouled and converted both charity
tosses.
When all was said and done,
Purdue held a 17-point lead, 60-43,
with 2:45 to go, and Michigan
could get no closer than 15.
"(Holmes) is the MVP on that
team, and quite possibly the best
in the league," VanDeWege said.
"She does it to everybody -
steals, rebounds, points - she just

over the smaller Mandy Cunning.
ham, and dropped home the layup
*while getting fouled. She add4
the free throw for the final margi..,
"The bottom line is, it just feels
great to win," VanDeWege saidt
"Good people are rewarded for
hanging in there and still working
hard, and I told them if they keep!
working, they'll be rewarded again
before the year's out."
Michigan dominated from the,
opening tip, maintaining a corn
fortable lead through the first 16
minutes, before the Illini closed
out the first half with a 19-6 run...,,
The Wolverines slowly clawed,
back in the second half, taking the,
lead for good with 11 minutes left
in the game. ,..x
"We were really disappointed
with our performance tonight,"*
Illinois coach Kathy Lindsey saidL
"I expected a good effort (froml.
Michigan), and we got it. Not, lv
take anything away from Michi,-.,
gan's effort, but I do think this wMa
our most disappointing Big Teti
game. s

Wolverine guard Char Durand puts a shot over an Illinois player.
Michigan defeated the Illini 67-61 Friday before losing to Purdue Sunday.

does so much. She's one of those
big-play making people."
Dunn concurred with Van-
DeWege's assessment.
"She has the potential to
change the outcome of every
game. She has the ability to take
our team to another level. I don't
know that there are many players
in in college basketball that can
do that," Dunn said. "I don't know
what she shot, but it seems like
she should have had 30 points."
Holmes finished with 17 points,
ten rebounds and four steals.
Michigan began the game with
several players bitten by the flu
bug. Carol Szczechowski, Stacie
McCall and LaTara Jones all had
weak stomachs. Szczechowski did
not start the second half due to her
condition, and had to leave the
bench briefly in the middle of the

second half.
"They were really struggling
(with the illness)," VanDeWege
said. "They were hampered by
that, but I think they played well
in spite of that."
The teams shot a combined 35
percent in the contest, prompting
Dunn to call it an "ugly" game.
Both teams got good shots, but
were unable to convert. Char Du-
rand had a particularly tough time,
missing all seven of her first half
shots, en route to a 4 of 16 perfor-
mance.
Friday night, the Wolverines
had their biggest victory of the
year. They broke a three-game los-
ing streak with a solid 67-61 defeat
of Illinois.
The Wolverines sealed the vic-
tory when Carol Szczechowski
caught a sideline inbounds lob

MICHIGAN (54)FF
plam r TRG FT R A PF. TP.
Durand 4-16 0-0 6 3 2 # 8
Jones 4-8 0-0 2 0 3 8
Andrew 6-17 45 12 1 4
Szczechowski 2-8 4-4 2 3 4 $~
wooldridge 0-5 0-0 4 1 0 0
Hall 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 0
McCall 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 .2.«
Beaudry 0-0 4-4 3 0 1 4
Nuanes 2-4 3-5 1 0 1 T,
Totals 19-62 15-18 37 8 17 54~
3-pt. goals: 1-6 (Nuanes 1-2, wooldridge 0-3,
Durand 0-1). FG%-.306, 3-pt. FG%- .167,Fr%-,,
.833. Blocks: 6 (Andrew). Turnovers: 16
(Wooldridge 6, McCall 2, Szczechowski 2, Jones t
Andrew2DurandlHalll).Steals:12
(Szczechowski5, Andrew 3, wooldridge 2,
Durand 1, Hall 1).
PURDUE (69)
Player TG FT R A PFTP
Holmes 6-17 5-6 10 0 3 17
Gill 3-7 3-4 7 0 1 9-
Mateen 2-3 2-2 5 0 0 407
Joseph 7-13 5-6 2 1 3 20
Moren 0-2 0-0 3 5 2 '0
Carney 400 0-0 o0 o0 0 -0
Tucker 1-2 0-0 0 0 2 2
Brooks 3-7 2-2 4 0 2 10
Kraiza 0-4 0-0 4 0 0 0~
Cullop 0-1 1-2 3 0 2 1'
Calhoun 2-6 0-0 6 1 3 4.
Totals 24-62 18-22 467 18 fO
3-pt. goals: 3-8 (Brooks 2-5, Joseph 1-3). FG%-.
.387, 3-pt. FG%- .375, FT%- .8 18. Blocks: 5 14'
(Mateen 2, Tucker 1, Gill 1, Holmes 1). Turnovers:
15 (Moren4, Kraiza 3. Cullop 2, Carney 1, Gill 1,
Joseph 1, Mateen 1, Holmes 1, Calhoun 1). Steals: 9,
(Holmes 4, Moren 2, Joseph 2, Brooks 1).R

I

6 \ 61 ,f\ G\ hl ,fl 1 h1 ,Fa !nl .hl i G \ a - - - - - a }f

B aS KETL NEBOO
BASKETBALL NOTE BOOK

Michigan talent
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I u*~ulI,

by Matthew Dodge
;Daily Basketball Writer
Like the proverbial fisherman
lamenting "the one that got away,"
fans at Crisler watched a local
product, Illinois point guard Jill
Estey, display her basketball talent
against the home team.
Estey grew up in Plymouth, MI
as a gym rat. The 5-foot-4
sophomore began honing her skills
at the age of eight. She went on to
play in the best girls' hoop program
in the state, Plymouth Salem, and
garnered All-State honors and hun-
dreds of letters from recruiters.
But she shunned the Wolverines
for the mediocre program in Cham-
paign.
"I saw myself more in the
Illinois program," Estey said. "They
needed a point guard, and I really
liked what they had to offer."
At the young age of 19, Estey
already possesses better fundamentals
than any player on either the
Michigan or Illinois teams. Her

defensive and offensive execution are
something to behold.
"That just came from a lot of
practice, and a lot of driveway
basketball," Estey said. "Being in
Plymouth really helped. The
program goes all the way back to the
third grade. My high school coach
really helped me with my fun-
damentals."
First-year Illini coach Kathy
Lindsey must have felt like she won
the lottery when she learned Estey
would be running the show on her
new squad. Lindsey, a fqrmer assist-
ant at Ohio State, recruited Estey for
four years before losing out to
Illinois.
"I've seen Jill play since her
freshman year in high school,"
Lindsey said. "She came from a great
program. Her coach put in a lot of
time with the kids in the off-season.
That's why Jill is so good already."
CAVERNOUS CRISLER: The
team in the Big Ten which draws the
fewest fans is none other than

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER M/F

4 -

I

The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports
presents
SUMMER
A SOFTBALL
ICKH1IGIA ,N Classics
WhlO: ALL ADULTS--I18and over
No residence or University affilation required

k1inO1VS
Michigan. The Wolverines are so far
below their conference counterpats';
that they have attracted just over half
the number of fans as the next
lowest team, Minnesota.
Michigan's average home attend
ance for Big Ten games is 489. The
ninth-rated Golden Gophers pack
their arena with almost 900 fansa
game.
Some women's basketball teams@
draw support on a comparable level
with the men's game. Ohio Stae
averages 4,002 fans a game, aiid
even drew 10,216 once this season.
More people witnessed the Buck-
eyes' 72-70 defeat of Indiana last
week in Columbus, than have
shown up at Crisler all year.
ANDREW'S NO. 1 FAN:.
Michigan center Trish Andrew'i
quickly eierging as one of the Bik
Ten's premier post players. And
Wolverine coach Bud VanDeWege 9
becoming her greatest admirer.
"The only thing that varies in Ifbr
game is foul trouble," VanDeWeg6
said. "She has been a consistent
offensive threat, and her defeift
continues to get better. Even thodgh
she doesn't think so, her shot-block!
ing ability is very important to the
team."
Andrew rejected six shots Frida?
night against the Illini.
Is she one of the top three centers
in the league? "As soon as she plays
consistently, without foul trouble,
she will be at that level;"
VanDeWege said. "She is clearly
there - she is that caliber of player
- and will undoubtedly have'V
wonderful career."0
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