W

hen Danielle Williams 
was announced in the 
starting lineup for 

the Michigan 
women’s 
basketball 
team back 
on Dec. 19 
at Crisler 
Center, 
more than 
a few fans 
scratched 
their heads.

The 

sophomore 
guard had played just 81 minutes 
her freshman season, with 
only one start under her belt. 
Days earlier, Williams wasn’t 
even practicing alongside the 
starters — she was on the scout 
team, trying to simulate Canisius 
players. Williams herself was 
surprised when Michigan coach 
Kim Barnes Arico gave her the 
starting nod.

“I think I surprised everyone,” 

Barnes Arico said then. “I told 
(assistant coach) Joy (McCorvey) 
and (assistant coach Megan) 
Duffy, ‘You guys are going to 
have to get her off the prep team 
— she’s going to start today.’ 
And they both looked me like, 
‘What?’ ”

The surprise move was just 

the most notable example of 
something Barnes Arico has 
shown all season: She’s not afraid 
to tinker with the starting lineup 
if she doesn’t like what she sees 
on the court.

Three seniors — forward 

Cyesha Goree, forward Nicole 
Elmblad and guard Shannon 
Smith — have their places in 
the lineup secured, and so 
does sophomore guard Siera 
Thompson.

But the fifth spot hasn’t 

been set in stone all season. 
And it doesn’t matter if you’re 
a defensive specialist like 
Williams, a lights-out shooter 
like freshman guard Katelynn 
Flaherty or a more experienced 
long-range threat like junior 
guard Madison Ristovski. On 
Barnes Arico’s team, everyone is 
weighed equally.

For a team that currently sits 

in the middle of the pack in a 

talented Big Ten, that constant 
reevaluation could be the key to 
staying on the right side of the 
NCAA Tournament bubble.

“I think sometimes kids get 

complacent,” Barnes Arico 
said. “It’s our job as coaches to 
continue to challenge them to 
improve. When we see that other 
kids are really improving, we 
want to reward them and give 
them an opportunity for pushing 
themselves and doing the things 
we ask.”

In December, it was defense 

the Wolverines were lacking. 
Coming off blowout losses to 
Princeton and Notre Dame 
with the Big Ten season on the 
horizon, Michigan desperately 
needed a spark to stop falling 
into early deficits.

Enter Williams. Despite 

averaging just 11.3 minutes while 
making 11 straight starts, she 
picked up 19 steals — including 
six in one game against Eastern 
Michigan — and 32 rebounds. 
With her on the floor in the early 
minutes, the Wolverines’ defense 
thrived in victories over Penn 
State, Michigan State and Ohio 
State.

Most Big Ten squads wouldn’t 

start a player who only plays 
a quarter of the game, but in 
Barnes Arico’s system, any hard-
working player can step into a 
starring role, depending on the 
team’s needs.

Which is why, in Sunday’s 

tough loss to No. 15 Nebraska, 
Ristovski found herself back 
in the starting lineup for the 
seventh time this season. After 
first-half offensive droughts 
plagued Michigan in all six of 
its previous road games, Barnes 
Arico decided her team needed a 
fast start.

The new lineup delivered, 

jumping out to a 20-9 run on 
the strength of five points and 
two assists from Ristovski. The 
Wolverines went stagnant on 
both offense and defense in the 
second half and let the upset 
slip away, but yet again, the new 
lineup did what it was supposed 
to.

Much like Williams’ defensive 

presence, Ristovski’s experience 
on offense brought an edge that 

looked like it might be enough to 
give Michigan its first road win 
against a ranked opponent.

That experience is the same 

reason Barnes Arico is keeping 
one of her best pure shooters on 
the bench.

After starting the first three 

games of the season, Flaherty 
was relegated to sixth-man 
duties after showing her 
inexperience and turning the 
ball over six times in a loss at 
Pittsburgh. She hasn’t made a 
start since, but the freshman 
has excelled in her new role, 
scoring 14.5 points per game and 
shooting 40 percent from beyond 
the arc.

“I fit in well (in that role),” 

Flaherty said. “I’m just happy 
that they have confidence in 
me to do that, and that’s what 
they want me to be. I think I’ve 
been successful at that, and I’ve 
helped the team, which really is 
the most important thing.”

Flaherty’s prolific scoring 

ability — with her signature 
moment being a late game-tying 
3-pointer in the Wolverines’ 
overtime victory over Ohio 
State — has made her a fixture in 
Barnes Arico’s late-game lineup, 

yet another alternative to the 
offense-first and defense-first 
squads.

But for Michigan, it’s not 

about searching for one perfect 
starting lineup.

Barnes Arico cares more about 

evaluating things game by game, 
rewarding players who improve 
and making changes to the 
lineup whenever necessary.

The fact that Flaherty is still 

fifth on the team in minutes 
without making a start since 
November shows that Barnes 
Arico doesn’t use the fifth lineup 
spot as a permanent solution — 
she uses it as a tool to address 
whatever problem Michigan is 
facing lately.

Future success won’t come 

from finding one solution — it’ll 
come from finding the perfect 
offensive and defensive balance 
from the Wolverines’ many 
options.

And if that means throwing a 

scout-team player with limited 
minutes into the starting lineup, 
so be it.

Jacob Gase can be reached 

by e-mail at jgase@umich.edu 

and on Twitter @JacobGase.

‘M’ gets fresh air 
at outdoor rink

By ZACH SHAW

Daily Sports Writer

For the Michigan hockey 

team, there was a different 
feeling in the air Monday 
afternoon. A cooler one.

Five 
days 
away 
from 
a 

rematch against Michigan State 
at Chicago’s Soldier Field, the 
14th-ranked Wolverines got a 
taste of what hockey is like in 
the elements. The team trekked 
down Packard Road to nearby 
Buhr Park, where it had its first 
exposure to outdoor hockey this 
season.

The change of pace and 

return to hockey’s roots was 
a welcome one for a team in 
midseason form.

“It was a lot of fun,” said 

junior forward Andrew Copp. 
“Getting back to where it all 
started, I’d played at that rink a 
few times growing up, so it was 
cool to go back.”

The 

coolness 
stayed 
throughout 
practice. 
Temperatures 
were 
hovering 
in 

the teens, but 
for Michigan 
coach 
Red 

Berenson, 
it 

doesn’t 
get 

much better.

“It was perfect,” Berenson 

said of the conditions. “It was a 
bit on the cool side, but once the 
players get going, they warmed 
up pretty good.”

Located in the middle of the 

39-acre park and covered with 
an aluminum canopy, the rink is 
far from the fanfare of Yost Ice 
Arena. The video scoreboard, 
speaker system, championship 
banners and grandstands are 
replaced by fresh air, calming 
trees and sunshine.

While 
children 
took 

advantage of Monday’s snow 
day by sledding down a nearby 
hill, the Wolverines made sure 

to get a thrill of their own.

“Once things got going, we 

had a lot of fun out there,” Copp 
said. “There was a lot of hooting 
and hollering, there was a lot of 
energy. It was good to get out 
there.”

Added Berenson: “They liked 

it, and it gives them a bit of a 
taste of what it can be like, too. 
Whether it’s windy or sunny or 
cold, rainy, I’m just trying to 
help our team understand that 
no matter what it’s like, we’re 
going to make the most of it.”

Michigan is also looking to 

make the most of its 2-1 loss 
to the Spartans in Detroit on 
Friday. Though the Wolverines 
hung tight for the entire game, 
the team couldn’t muster up the 
extra urgency to make a big play 
and tie the game.

With 
another 
big 
game 

ahead, and a chance to respond 
to a loss for the first time since 
December, Berenson anticipates 

excitement 
all week, no 
matter 
the 

location.

“We need 

more 
of 

that,” he said. 
“We 
need 

everyone 
to 

play 
with 

that 
fire. 

We’re 
not 

good enough 
to 
have 

passengers and expect to win. 
These games are going to be 
close, these goals are going to 
be precious and we need to take 
care of the puck.”

The long season can grow 

old quickly if things start to go 
awry. Rather than sit back and 
wait for it to happen, Michigan 
looked to get some fresh air 
Monday.

“It’s 
something 
that 
can 

bring the guys together, bring 
the team together and get 
us heading back in the right 
direction,” Copp said. “I think 
we’re all really looking forward 
to it.”

Big Ten’s NCAA Tournament outlook: 
Wisconsin, Maryland, OSU only locks

Michigan on the 
outside looking in 
with six weeks left

By JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

The Michigan men’s bas-

ketball team’s game Sunday at 
Michigan State was the first in a 
brutal stretch 
that includes 
four of seven 
games 
on 

the road and 
five of seven 
against teams 
in the top half 
of the Big Ten.

In the end, 

the 
Wolver-

ines dropped 
a heartbreaker 
in 
overtime, 

76-66, falling 
to 6-4 in the 
Big Ten and 
13-9 overall.

As February begins and the 

clock starts ticking on the regular 
season with under six weeks until 
Selection 
Sunday, 
Michigan’s 

NCAA Tournament chances will 
start to move to the forefront of 
the conversation.

The Wolverines are on the out-

side looking in right now, project-
ed as the eighth team out of the 
field in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s lat-
est Bracketology update. Though 
their strength of schedule is solid 
at No. 19, their RPI sits at a below-
average 70, and they still have to 
weather trips to Maryland and 
Indiana as well as home games 
against Michigan State and Ohio 
State.

The other games are at Illi-

nois and Northwestern and home 

dates with Iowa and Rutgers. The 
March matchups with North-
western and Rutgers are close to 
must-wins, and Michigan would 
be well served to pick up another 
road win at Indiana, Illinois or 
Maryland.

One of those, plus the two 

March wins, a home win over 
Iowa and a split of Ohio State and 
Michigan State would put the 
Wolverines at 18-12, 11-7 in the 
Big Ten.

That would probably leave it 

up to the Big Ten Tournament. 
Anything less would make for a 
very anxious Selection Sunday.

In six tries, Michigan still does 

not own a top-50 RPI win — the 
closest was against No. 59 Illi-
nois. The Wolverines are also 
still hurting from two ugly losses 
— No. 150 Eastern Michigan and 
No. 183 New Jersey Institute of 
Technology.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 

5 Wisconsin, No. 17 Maryland 
and No. 20 Ohio State are likely 
the only three locks at this point, 
barring something catastrophic. 
At the bottom, Rutgers, North-
western, Minnesota, Nebraska 
and Penn State are well outside 
the field.

The Daily breaks down the 

chances for everyone in between:

Indiana (6-3 Big Ten, 16-6 

overall, RPI No. 34, SOS No. 
43): The Hoosiers are about as 
close to a lock as it gets, but things 
could still go awry. They struggle 
playing away from home and play 
at Wisconsin and Maryland in the 
next three games. Lose both of 
those, and slip up at home against 
Michigan on Sunday, and Indiana 
is at .500 in the Big Ten. Things 
could get dicey at that point.

Still, the Hoosiers are prob-

ably safe. They boast nice non-
conference wins over RPI No. 17 
Butler (at a neutral site), No. 22 

Southern Methodist and No. 67 
Pittsburgh, and their worst loss 
is at No. 78 Purdue. If they escape 
with road wins over Rutgers and 
Northwestern later this month, 
they should be OK.

Michigan State (6-3 Big Ten, 

15-7 overall, RPI No. 36, SOS 
No. 30): The Spartans are play-
ing well and staying healthy, but 
they still need a few more wins to 
feel secure. After they missed out 
on three big-time chances in the 
non-conference season against 
Duke, Notre Dame and Kansas, 
their lone top-50 win is over Indi-
ana at home.

Michigan State has already 

lost to Maryland twice and only 
plays Wisconsin on the road, 
which would be a tough win to 
get. The Spartans could use a 
home victory over Ohio State. 
Other than that and a trip to 
Indiana, there aren’t a lot of 
opportunities on the table, and 
the Dec. 20 loss to Texas South-
ern was a setback. But Michigan 
State is a No. 8 seed in Lunardi’s 
latest projection, and would 
need to slip up several times to 
play its way out.

Iowa (4-4 Big Ten, 13-8 over-

all, RPI No. 51, SOS No. 10): 
Lunardi has the Hawkeyes as a 
No. 10 seed in his latest bracket, 
eight spots from the bubble. 
Strength of schedule has Iowa 
in good shape, as does a sweep of 
Ohio State and a big road win at 
North Carolina, which is ranked 
No. 10 in the RPI. Moreover, the 
Hawkeyes’ worst loss is at Pur-
due, far from the Incarnate Word 
or NJIT debacles their Big Ten 
counterparts suffered.

Plenty of minefields are still 

there: a home game against a dan-
gerous Minnesota team, a trip to 
Penn State and a home-and-home 
versus Northwestern, any of 
which would be Iowa’s worst loss 

of the season. A home win over 
Maryland would be helpful, but 
not necessary. Because the Hawk-
eyes have taken care of business so 
far, they should be alright.

Purdue (6-3 Big Ten, 14-8 

overall, RPI No. 78, SOS No. 
72): The Boilermakers are Lunar-
di’s sixth team out of the field as 
of Monday, two spots ahead of 
Michigan. They clubbed Indiana 
at home Wednesday and boast a 
decent non-conference win over 
North Carolina State, but they’ll 
have to overcome some ugly 
losses: No. 110 Vanderbilt, No. 129 
Gardner-Webb and No. 198 North 
Florida.

As a result, their strength of 

schedule is low and their RPI even 
lower, and they don’t have anoth-
er chance to knock off Wisconsin, 
the Big Ten’s premier team. At 
least a split of road games at Ohio 
State and Michigan State later in 
February would be nice, plus the 
Buckeyes come to town Wednes-
day. A sweep of Rutgers is likely 
necessary as well, but even then, 
Purdue is squarely on the bubble.

Illinois (4-5, 14-8 overall, 

RPI No. 59, SOS No. 63): Quite 
simply, the Fighting Illini just 
need wins — lots of them. They’re 
not saddled with a terrible 
non-conference loss, and they 
picked up a nice win over Baylor 
in November. But they sit cur-
rently at 4-5 in the Big Ten, and 
this year, even a .500 conference 
record is cutting it close.

Illinois has four tough road 

games remaining: Michigan State, 
Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue. 
At least one would be nice. The 
Illini also have five very winnable 
home games in Michigan, Michi-
gan State, Rutgers, Nebraska and 
Northwestern. If they avoid a bad 
loss there, they’ll have the oppor-
tunity to play their way in during 
the Big Ten Tournament.

Sports
8 — Tuesday, February 3, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The search for the perfect lineup

“We need more 
of that. We need 
everyone to play 
with that fire.”

LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily

Andrew Copp and Michigan practiced outdoors at Buhr Park on Monday.

Big Ten Standings

1. Wisconsin
2. Maryland
3. Ohio State
4. Indiana
5. Michigan St.
6. Purdue
7. Michigan
8. Iowa
9. Illinois
10. Nebraska
11. Minnesota
12. Penn State
13. Rutgers
14. N’Western

JACOB
GASE

RITA MORRIS/Daily

Madison Ristovski made her seventh start of the season Sunday at Nebraska.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

