The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SportsMonday January 12, 2015 — 3B Power trio lifts ‘M’ over OSU in OT By BRAD WHIPPLE Daily Sports Writer Freshman guard Katelynn Flaherty made a 3-pointer. And another. There were 50 seconds left in regulation when she received the ball at the top of the key. Unguarded and 24 feet from the hoop, she drained the 3-pointer with a flick of her wrist, tying the Michigan women’s basketball team with Ohio State at 82, forcing overtime and sending Crisler Center into a mad frenzy. The Wolverines (3-2 Big Ten, 11-5 overall) got the ball to start an electric five-minute battle, and Michigan played its best basketball of the season. Rebound by rebound and intangible by intangible, the Wolverines controlled overtime and came out with a thrilling 100-94 victory over the Buckeyes. Flaherty, alongside senior guard Shannon Smith and senior forward Cyesha Goree, led the charge against Ohio State, and all scored in double digits. “It was pretty incredible,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “I’m so proud of our seniors and of our entire team for the way that they battled and played today.” Michigan paved the way for its first 100-point scoring total since 1998 with the help of a full- court press on defense, which held Buckeyes guard Kelsey Mitchell — the nation’s leading scorer with 26 points per game — to zero points by halftime and just 13 overall. Near halftime, the defense cooled down before firing back up late in the game. As the defense clicked once again, so did Flaherty, who had started the game in a slump. After losing control of the ball twice in the first half, resulting in four points for the Buckeyes, she was benched. But when the stakes rose, she reverted back to her usual 3-point finesse. To start the extra minutes, Flaherty followed up her clutch shot with another open triple from the same spot — ending the game with a career-best 24 points. “Coming out (my 3-point shooting) felt good, and then, just like Michigan State, I missed a lot,” Flaherty said. “But at the end, I started hitting them again. And my teammates find me in great spots that I’m wide open for.” Then there was Smith, who was fearless en route to a career- high 36 points. Whether absorbing contact when driving to the basket or taking a charge, she executed every intangible there was and helped launch the Wolverines into overtime by scoring five quick points in 18 seconds. During that span, Flaherty dove on the floor to steal the ball and passed to Smith, who was already in transition and faced only one defender to make an easy layup. The crowd jumped to its feet, and Smith signaled to get loud. Whenever Michigan missed shots, it seemed as though Goree was always there to take the ball back. Goree — who had a double- double in the first half alone — ended the game with 18 points and a career-tying 19 rebounds. Goree halted several crucial Buckeye possessions and helped Michigan outrebound Ohio State, 45-31. “She is the number one person in everyone’s scouting report,” Barnes Arico said. “That speaks to her work ethic, her motor and her desire and passion to be a great basketball player.” The Wolverines have now beaten Penn State, Michigan State and Ohio State in the same season for the first time since 2001. If the trend continues, even bigger things could be on the horizon. Wolverines are answering their own questions W ith the final seconds of overtime ticking down on the Michigan women’s basketball team’s 100-94 win against Ohio State, coach Kim Barnes Arico looked out onto the court and smiled. And she kept smiling as she went down her bench, hugging every player, coach and trainer. “I know how incredibly hard everyone works everyday, and I was just so proud of them,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “This is an Ohio State team that’s been playing extremely well that has a lot of talented kids on their team, and we stuck together to find a way to win.” Her team had just beaten a Buckeye squad that had won seven in its last eight games, a team that featured the first and 15th-leading scorers in the nation, and everything that could have possibly gone right went right for Barnes Arico and the Wolverines. Before the season began, there were four big question marks that Barnes Arico was concerned with: rebounding, senior forward Cyesha Goree, youth and the strength of the Big Ten. When Barnes Arico started her hug line, she did so because her questions had been emphatically answered. First, there was rebounding. While Michigan is still one of the shortest teams in the Big Ten, rebounding hasn’t been as big of an issue as Barnes Arico thought it would be. The Wolverines have stood their ground on both the offensive and defensive glass with Goree and senior forward Nicole Elmblad leading the charge, grabbing a majority of the rebounds. But with contributions from freshman forward Jillian Dunston and senior guard Shannon Smith, Michigan has done just fine on the glass. Sunday’s game against the Buckeyes showcased the team’s rebounders, with Goree pulling down 19 while Elmblad had eight. As a team, the Wolverines outrebounded Ohio State by 14 by the end of the game. The Wolverines are still an undersized team, and with the rest of the Big Ten schedule looming, rebounding is a question they are going to have to continue answering every single night. But against the Buckeyes, they looked like they had a cheat sheet decoding the bounces of the ball. The second worry Barnes Arico had was whether or not Goree could repeat her second team All-Big Ten performance now that she has received some recognition for her efforts. While Goree wasn’t double teamed as much against Ohio State, she has had to fend off double and even triple teams most games. But she has found a way to still average a double- double. “She is the number-one person on everyone’s scouting reports after she wasn’t on anyone’s scouting report last year,” Barnes Arico said. Added Smith: “I think we have the best big in the country.” And Sunday against Ohio State, Goree only strengthened that opinion. Not only did Goree earn herself a double-double by halftime, she played the intangibles — diving for loose balls or fighting for space inside — as well as anyone could have. With 18 points to go along with 19 rebounds, Goree made a statement to the rest of the league that she is going to be an inside presence every night, despite her name appearing at the top of every team’s scouting report. But Goree is just one piece. Other teams still know Michigan has just three seniors, and no matter how Goree and her senior counterparts played, Barnes Arico was worried about the youth of the team and if they would be able to handle the pressures of a tough Big Ten schedule. But Sunday, over half of the players who played for the Wolverines were underclassmen, and while they didn’t have as much impact as Smith or Goree, all five underclassmen contributed in some way. Freshman guard Katelynn Flaherty was on point, as usual, with her shot, scoring 24 points on six-for-11 shooting from behind the arc, and bounced back from her four-point performance at Rutgers. Flaherty has answered her coach’s questions about youth by making Barnes Arico forget there ever was one. “Sometimes I have to remind myself that she is still a freshman playing college basketball at the highest level,” Barnes Arico said. Sophomore Danielle Williams’ hustle and defense were integral as she was a big part of a full- court press that stonewalled the Buckeyes from crossing half court at times. And while freshman forward Jillian Dunston and sophomore guard Siera Thompson both struggled with foul trouble, the duo still contributed a combined 10 points to the cause. But even if all of those things went well, Barnes Arico was worried about the talent of the Big Ten. But after five games of conference play, the Wolverines have proven that they can hang with the best in the Big Ten, as they have beaten three top teams in the conference, including both of last year’s co-champions in Penn State and Michigan State. “The challenge every night is to keep that intensity each and every single night, because if you have a letdown in this league, you’re going to lose.” Michigan’s loss to Rutgers on Wednesday gave Barnes Arico little to smile about, but after its win over Ohio State, Barnes Arico couldn’t stop grinning. Just because the Wolverines answered all of Barnes Arico’s preseason questions doesn’t necessarily mean Michigan will win the national championship, because it is going to have to answer the same questions night in and night out. But for one game, at least, everyone contributed to the victory. And everyone got a hug. Michigan splits on weekend ‘M’ falls just short against No. 2 Minnesota but tops Michigan State By NATHANIEL CLARK Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING — Reflecting the poise and strength Paul Bunyan used to cut down trees, the Michigan wrestling team nearly took down a giant of its own. The 15th-ranked Wolverines fell just short of a road upset of No. 1 Minnesota on Friday, 20-19, and came back on Sunday to beat down in-state rival Michigan State, 28-9. Michigan went 5-5 in individual matches on Friday and 7-3 on Sunday. “Our goal was to make sure we put (the loss at Minnesota) behind us,” said Michigan coach Joe McFarland. “I think the guys did a pretty good job of that.” The big story from Friday was No. 8 sophomore heavyweight Adam Coon. With Michigan (1-1 Big Ten, 4-2 overall) down 17-10 to the Golden Gophers, Coon tossed No. 13 Michael Kroells onto his back a mere eight seconds into his match. Coon went on to pin Kroells at the 0:23 mark to cut the margin to 17-16. “Having a stopper like (Coon) is very important,” McFarland said. Redshirt sophomore Conor Youtsey followed up Coon’s victory with one of his own, a 10-7 decision over Jordan Bremer in the 125-pound class. Youtsey’s win gave the Wolverines their first lead of the meet, 19-17. It also set up a do-or-die matchup at the 133-pound weight class, with junior Rossi Bruno taking on No. 1 Chris Dardanes. Bruno fought valiantly, but Dardanes scored a takedown with less than one minute left in the third period, sealing the match for himself and the meet for Minnesota. Sunday’s meet against the Spartans went much more smoothly for Michigan. Youtsey led off with a victory over Mitch Rogaliner, 3-2, in the 125-pound class. “(Conor) getting the first win was huge in that it gave us the momentum for the match,” McFarland said. Bruno followed Youtsey with a dominant performance of his own, notching a 4-0 win over Hermilo Esquivel at 133 pounds. No. 13 Alec Pantaleo, a freshman, and No. 19 Brian Murphy, a sophomore, kept the Wolverines’ momentum going with 10-3 and 6-0 wins, respectively. Things got tense at the 165- pound match, when Ryan Watts of Michigan State went down with an injury late in the third period in a close battle. Watts eventually got up, but No. 10 Taylor Massa, a redshirt sophomore, grabbed a win by injury default, putting the match out of reach. The weekend matches capped a two-month-long stretch on the road for the Wolverines. Michigan will return to Cliff Keen Arena on Jan. 18 to face Ohio State in their first home dual meet of the 2014-15 season. McFarland is excited for his team to resume channeling Paul Bunyan in Ann Arbor. “It hasn’t been a typical year,” McFarland said of the long road stretch. “We usually have at least one dual meet at home in the first semester. But we always enjoy wrestling at Cliff Keen Arena and it’ll be nice to be home.” BY THE NUMBERS Michigan Women’s Basketball 100 Points Michigan scored Sunday, its high- est total since 1998 36 Points senior guard Shannon Smith scored Sunday, a career high 2001 The last year Michigan beat Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State in the same season 19 Rebounds by senior forward Cyesha Goree 22 Turnovers forced by the Wolverines 9-1 Michigan home record, compared to 0-4 on the road MINH DOAN ROBERT DUNNE/Daily Freshman guard Katelynn Flaherty scored 24 points on 6-for-11 shooting from 3-point range in Sunday’s win. WRESTLING WOMEN’S BASKETBALL