8 — Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Women’s Basketball
4
Michigan players with double-digit
scoring: Cyesha Goree, Nicole Elmblad,
Katelynn Flaherty and Shannon Smith
12
Double-doubles this season for Cyesha
Goree
6
Consecutive home wins for the Wol-
verines
19
Largest lead for Michigan, with 2:05 left
in the first half
25
Michigan turnovers in the game, a
season high
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basketball coverage
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Michigan extends
home win streak
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Writer
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball team entered Crisler
Center on Monday night having
won five straight home games,
including its first three against
Big
Ten
opponents.
For
a
struggling
Illinois squad to have any chance
of securing a streak-snapping
upset, it needed to both outshoot
the Wolverines and contain
senior forward Cyesha Goree.
The Fighting Illini (2-6 Big
Ten, 11-9 overall) weren’t able to
do either.
Michigan (5-3, 13-6) jumped
out to a quick lead by making
nine of its first 12 field goals.
Goree also picked up her now-
customary double-double (19
points, 14 rebounds), allowing
the Wolverines drop Illinois
handedly, 70-57.
The Illinois post players gave
it their best effort, but they
simply had no answer for Goree
on either side of the ball.
On
offense,
senior
guard
Shannon Smith and Michigan’s
other passers frequently pushed
the tempo in transition, looking
for Goree in the paint early and
often. Even on transition plays
when she was triple-covered,
the Wolverines had little trouble
forcing passes into the paint
for Goree, who scored eight of
Michigan’s first ten points.
“We really did a great job of
sharing the basketball, having
a ton of assists and finding
Cyesha,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. “We found
her a ton early, and then we kind
of got greedy.”
On the other end, Goree’s
tough post defense left very
few offensive opportunities for
the Fighting Illini. Matched up
against two different 6-foot-3
forwards, Goree still managed to
pick up three blocks and help her
team win the rebounding battle,
41-28.
While Goree’s presence down
low was invaluable, Michigan
truly separated itself with its
long-range
game.
Facing
a
significant height disadvantage
and a tough zone defense, the
Wolverines
were
forced
to
look for open shots around the
perimeter, and they delivered.
Sophomore
guard
Siera
Thompson,
whose
shooting
percentage
has
fluctuated
throughout
the
season,
made four of
her eight shots,
including two
3-pointers and
a
long-range
2-pointer.
Freshman
guard
Katelynn
Flaherty,
whose 3-point
shooting prowess is a key in
most opposing scouting reports,
found
numerous
wide-open
shots from beyond the arc and
knocked down five of them.
“My
team
creates
(those
shots) for me,” Flaherty said.
“They find me in great positions.
As you can see, a lot of my shots
I really don’t have to put the ball
on the floor for. They look over
the top of the zone, or the guards
attack into the middle of the
zone and see me spotting up, so
it creates shots that are easy for
me to hit.”
Conversely,
the
Fighting
Illini struggled mightily when
Michigan’s defense forced them
to the outside. Illinois shot
just 21 percent (4-for-19) from
beyond the arc, with three shots
missing the rim by several feet.
Even on one memorable first-
half play where both Thompson
and
senior
forward
Nicole
Elmblad tripped and fell to the
ground in a heap, the Fighting
Illini failed to convert an
uncontested triple.
But Illinois still managed to
stay within 10-15 points of the
Wolverines for much of the game
because of a several mistakes
in transition. Michigan lost 25
turnovers,
including
several
errant passes in the first half that
sailed out of bounds.
“(Illinois)
played kind of
crazy,
which
forced
us
to
turn
the
ball
over,”
Flaherty said.
“We
need
to
be
more
patient, more
confident
at
times.”
But thanks
largely to a sharp improvement
from Smith, who scored all 13 of
her points in the second half, the
Wolverines finished strong to
seal a 13-point win.
“You can make a couple bad
plays in a game, or you can have
a bad half, or you can have a bad
39 minutes, and maybe make
one play to help your team win
the game,” Barnes Arico said.
“But if you let all that stuff
bother you, mentally, you’re
not in a good place to make that
play.
“(Smith) is good enough to
make a play that’s going to be a
difference maker for us.”
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Junior forward Cyesha Goree finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds as Michigan moved to 5-3 in the Big Ten.
“We need to be
more patient,
more confident
at times.”
Inside-out game leads
Michigan to victory
Post presence opens
perimeter for hot
3-point shooting
night at home
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
Cyesha
Goree
had
three
players
hovering
over
her,
and with barely any room to
maneuver, she made a layup
anyway.
Monday
night
at
Crisler
Center,
the
senior
forward
faced multiple triple teams, but
she nonetheless managed to
fight through most of them. In
every other instance, she was
double-teamed, and that was
even easier.
When it wasn’t Goree, it was
senior forward Nicole Elmblad,
who in the opening minutes
salvaged a missed triple by
senior guard Shannon Smith to
set up the offense for another
basket.
And
when
the
Fighting
Illini
prevented
the
duo
from wreaking havoc down
low, sophomore guard Siera
Thompson,
freshman
guard
Katelynn Flaherty and junior
guard
Madison
Ristovski
cleaned up nicely from the
3-point line.
With a strong and physical
game in the paint that opened
up the floor for other shooters to
step in, the Michigan women’s
basketball team easily pulled
away with a 70-57 victory over
Illinois.
“It makes it hard for teams
to defend you,” said Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico. “When
we go through preparing for
opponents, we try to say, ‘What
can we take away?’ … If you have
people like Cyesha inside and
people that can shoot it from the
outside, then who’s gonna help?
I think that really opens up the
game for us.”
Though the Fighting Illini
scored 10 more points in the
paint than Michigan, it was
the Wolverines who dominated
on the glass, outrebounding
Illinois, 41-28. The game came
down to defensive rebounding,
where Goree and Elmblad —
who collected
14 and 12 total
rebounds,
respectively
—
led
the
charge.
With
7:52
left
in
the
second
half,
Illinois
was
looking
to
make
a
comeback when center Chatrice
White drove inside the paint.
Goree and Elmblad covered the
Illini’s leading scorer almost
instantly, forcing a lane violation.
Meanwhile,
on
offense,
Michigan continued to find
Goree under the basket in
transition, allowing her to pick
up quick baskets.
When Illinois began to pack
the paint to stop the inside
threat, Goree started to find
herself trapped on the baseline.
The outside game willed the
Wolverines to victory.
Finding
themselves
open
on the outside, Flaherty (five),
Thompson (two) and Ristovski
(one)
played
a
threatening
3-point shooting game, going a
combined 8-for-18.
As for Flaherty, she was
always open.
“We’re great when we go
inside and back out,” Flaherty
said. “It opens up the floor a
lot, especially when (Cyesha)
is down inside because she can
make shots and is a good passer.
… She knows how to get me in
good positions to score.”
Added Goree: “If I’m doubling
in the paint, then I know I have
Katelynn
outside
for
sure.
I’m
confident
she’s going to
make nine out
of 10 of those
shots. … (You
gotta)
know
(defenders
are)
gonna
collapse
and
you gotta get it out quick.”
Both Barnes Arico and Goree
refer to their team as a selfless
one, always willing to share
the basketball. That’s why four
Michigan players scored in
double digits, and it’s why the
Wolverines set a goal to average
20-plus assists a game.
Against the Illini, it worked
in Michigan’s favor, and if the
Wolverines can keep things
consistent, it will continue to
work in the games to come.
“I’m confident
she’s going to
make nine out of
10 of those shots.”
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