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.
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