4B — Monday, February 16, 2015
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan squanders late lead
Northwestern goes
coast to coast in
final seconds to
upend Wolverines
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball team hadn’t scored in
just under two and a half minutes
when
junior
guard
Madison
Ristovski stepped up to the foul
line with 14 seconds left in the
game.
With the Wolverines holding
a 62-61 lead and Northwestern
clinging to the hope of making
a comeback in the final minutes,
both of Ristovski’s shots missed.
But
senior
forward
Cyesha
Goree came in and collected the
rebound, so she stepped up to the
line with 10 seconds left.
Then she missed both tries and
the atmosphere in Crisler Center
changed dramatically.
Wildcat forward Nia Coffey
— who ended the game with 25
points — took it to the other end of
the court and made a layup with
four seconds left. On the inbound,
a potential buzzer beater by senior
guard Shannon Smith fell short of
the basket, giving Northwestern
a 63-62 win that will likely prove
damaging to the Wolverines’
NCAA Tournament hopes.
“Normally, we make those free
throws,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. “Madison,
probably in her career, is over an
80 percent free-throw shooter.
To miss two is really surprising.
Then to miss four is really
surprising.”
Added Smith: “Every little play
matters. Whether it’s a free throw,
getting a loose ball, or getting a
person out on the defensive end.
Every play matters.”
Michigan (6-8 Big Ten, 14-11
overall) shot a dismal 27.6 percent
from the floor in the second half
compared to 46.7 in the first, and
missed eight of its last 10 shots.
Northwestern (9-5, 19-6) hadn’t
held a lead all afternoon, but the
final 10 minutes gave the team
several opportunities to make it
happen.
The
circumstances
were
perfect for Northwestern to
take the lead: Michigan was
in a scoring slump, all of the
momentum was on the Wildcats’
side and, most importantly, Goree
had to be taken out of the game at
four fouls and 12 minutes still left
in the game.
“Cyesha gets in foul trouble
and it just changes the dynamics
of our team, really from an
offensive
standpoint,”
Barnes
Arico said. “Even if she’s not
scoring, she gives an inside
presence and that changes what
teams do against us defensively.”
Despite
the
favorable
circumstances,
though,
something always went awry for
the Wildcats on each of the next
few possessions, and it looked
like the Wolverines might have a
stroke of luck. That thought was
short-lived.
After the Wildcats went on
an 11-0 run to tie the game at
51 with eight minutes left, they
stole the ball and guard Karly
Roser took it to the other end a
wide-open court. With junior
guard Madison Ristovski just
crossing midcourt, Roser’s layup
rolled around the rim for a few
moments before falling out and
into the hands of Ristovski.
Roser got called for a reach-in
foul and slammed her hands hard
on the floor. It had been just over
six minutes since the Wolverines
had scored, but Ristovski made
her free throws to push Michigan
past a potential breaking point.
Even after the Roser hiccup,
the mishaps continued. On the
next Northwestern possession
with the game still tied at 51,
Roser missed her first on a one-
and-one opportunity at the free-
throw line, giving the ball back
to the Wolverines. Ristovski stole
the ball the possession afterward
and freshman forward Jillian
Dunston made a layup for a four-
point lead.
Once Dunston had done her
part, Goree, freshman guard
Katelynn Flaherty and senior
forward
Nicole
Elmblad
all
subbed back in to finish out
the game. Goree grabbed the
necessary defensive rebounds
— finishing with 10 total boards
alongside nine points. But at 2:26,
her pair two points from the free-
throw line were the final ones for
Michigan, holding on to a five-
point lead.
The Wildcats capitalized on
the Wolverines’ inability to score,
making a 6-0 run in the final two
minutes.
“When we go through stretches
where we’re not scoring, I think
we get a little bit down and it
takes away from our defensive
intensity,” Elmblad said. “I think
that was when they were able to
get back in the game and make
their run and close it out.”
“To try and get them back
mentally before this game was
incredibly difficult,” Barnes Arico
said. “My heart goes out to them
because they’ve been so close, and
that’s what makes it so difficult.”
RITA MORRIS/Daily
Sophomore guard Siera Thompson scored 15 points, but Michigan gave away a late lead and lost its third straight game Saturday against Northwestern.
N’WESTERN
MICHIGAN
63
62
3-pointer from freshman guard
Katelynn Flaherty or maybe
it was a missed jumper from
senior forward Nicole Elmblad.
Without any one of those
miscues, Michigan wouldn’t
have faltered once again.
Adding the losses up,
Michigan could be 12-2 in the
Big Ten and be in position as
a No. 3 or 4 seed in the NCAA
Tournament. Even if it had lost
half of them, it would likely be
squarely in the tournament.
On the bright side, the
Wolverines have played almost
every team in the conference
competitively, and they have
four games to go against
teams below them in the
conference before the Big Ten
Tournament.
So they aren’t permanently
out of the NCAA Tournament
picture. They just can’t make
too many more mistakes down
the stretch.
It’s not over.
But it could be very soon, and
in another universe, Michigan’s
season could be far from over.
Minh Doan can be reached
at minhdoan@umich.edu or
on Twitter @_minhdoan.
MICHIGAN
From Page 1B
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan vs. Northwestern
4
Missed free throws for Michigan in the
last 14 seconds
6:03
Length of the Wolverines’ second-half
scoring drought
13
Fouls for Cyesha Goree in Michigan’s
last three games, all losses
1
Lead for Northwestern during the
game — the 63-62 final score
‘M’ salvages series finale at LBSU
By NATHANIEL CLARK
Daily Sports Writer
A rough start gave way to a
good finish for the Michigan
men’s baseball team in Long
Beach, Calif.
The Wolverines (1-2) dropped
their Friday and Saturday games
against Long Beach State (2-1),
3-2 and 7-2 respectively. But they
bounced back on Sunday to top
the Dirtbags, 5-3, in 10 innings.
“I like how the team responded
on Sunday after getting kicked
around,” said Michigan coach
Erik Bakich. “They fought back
and didn’t waiver.”
The
Wolverines’
offense
snapped out of its funk in the
fourth inning on Sunday when
Patrick hit a single with runners
on first and second to drive in a
run. Later in the inning, senior
shortstop Eric Jacobson came
through with a two-run single to
put Michigan up 3-0.
Long Beach State chipped
away at the lead from there as the
Dirtbags put up a run in both the
fifth and sixth innings, prompting
Bakich to pull starter Ryan Nutof
after 5.2 innings for Lozer. Lozer
got out of the inning before being
replaced by sophomore Jackson
Lamb.
The Wolverines maintained
their 3-2 lead into the ninth inning
when redshirt junior Matt Ogden
was called upon for the save
opportunity. But with runners on
first and second with two outs, he
surrendered an RBI single to the
Dirtbags’ Derek Domingues to
send the game into extra innings.
After failing to score for five
innings, Michigan broke through
in the 10th when Patrick drew
a walk to lead off the inning.
Sophomore second baseman Jake
Bivens was hit by a pitch with
one out to put runners on first
and second and a groundout by
Jacobson moved both runners
ahead by 90 feet.
That
left
the
Wolverines’
hopes in the hands of junior first
baseman
Jacob
Cronenworth,
who delivered with a two-run
single to left field to give Michigan
a 5-3 lead that would hold through
the bottom of the frame.
“You could feel the energy in
the dugout after Cronenworth’s
hit,” Bakich said. “But it was a
team effort. There were a lot of
good contributions from a lot of
guys.”
Michigan got off to a promising
start on Friday night when junior
right fielder Cody Bruder hit a
double to left field in the first
inning. Junior
shortstop
Travis Maezes
brought
Bruder home
with an RBI
double
on
the
next
at
bat.
The
Wolverines
doubled their
lead
in
the
fourth when fifth-year senior
designated hitter Kendall Patrick
doubled down the left-field line
and scored on an RBI single by
freshman third-baseman Drew
Lugbauer.
Michigan’s pitching was strong
through the fourth inning as well.
Sophomore pitcher Brett Adcock
surrendered just one hit through
the first four innings.
“(Adcock)
gave
us
an
opportunity to win,” Bakich said.
“He was in a groove there for a
while.”
But it all unraveled in the
bottom of the fifth. After the
Wolverines turned a double play
for two quick outs, Adcock gave
up a walk, a single and another
walk to load the bases. He then
walked in a run before being
pulled for Ogden, who missed all
of 2014 with an injury.
“I felt (Adcock) sort of hit a
brick wall in the fifth,” Bakich
said.
Ogden walked in the tying run,
but got out of the inning with a
strikeout before more damage
could be done. After a scoreless
top of the sixth for Michigan,
Ogden came back out to pitch the
bottom half of the inning. The
Dirtbags once again scored with
two outs when Tristan Mercadel
hit an RBI triple to take the lead.
Ogden was subsequently replaced
by sophomore Mac Lozer, who
nabbed a strikeout to end the
inning.
Michigan had scoring chances
late, especially in the top of
the eighth inning when the
Wolverines loaded up the bases
with one out. But a strikeout and
a groundout closed Michigan’s
window of opportunity and the
score remained 3-2. Ogden was
tagged with the loss.
“I feel some
of the guys were
squeezing
the
bats a little too
tightly,” Bakich
said.
“We
need to be in
those pressure
situations often
in
order
to
improve
as
a
team.”
Unlike Friday, the Dirtbags
wasted no time scoring on
Saturday as they were up 2-0
by the end of the first inning
and extended the lead to 5-0
by the end of the second. The
Wolverines’ starter, sophomore
Keith Lehmann lasted 1.2 innings,
giving up three runs on three hits.
Freshmen
relief
pitchers
Michael Hendrickson and Bryan
Pall stopped the bleeding for
Michigan as they combined for
5.2 innings, two runs allowed
and five strikeouts, but the
Wolverines offense was stifled
by the Dirtbags’ Tanner Brown.
Michigan’s two runs came off of
an RBI single by Bruder in the top
of the third and a pinch-hit RBI
double by sophomore outfielder
Johnny Slater in the seventh.
Michigan’s weekend trip to
Long Beach was the first of several
such trips over the next six weeks.
By the time the Wolverines face
Bowling Green in their home
opener on Mar. 24, they will have
traveled 11,682 miles.
“I don’t think the team is feeling
jet lag yet,” Bakich said. “But they
probably will by (Monday).”
“We need to
be in pressure
situations like
that.”
BASEBALL
Michigan secures
2-0 start to season
Possession edge
helps Wolverines
rout Detroit
By BRANDON CARNEY
Daily Sports Writer
Detroit may not be the
Michigan men’s lacrosse team’s
biggest rival, but that didn’t
stop
the
Wolverines
from
bringing loads of intensity into
Saturday’s matchup.
Sophomore
attacker
Ian
King led Michigan in scoring,
setting a program record with
six goals in the game. King’s
efforts, combined with strong
defense in the second half, were
enough for the Wolverines to
earn a 15-6 victory and move
to 2-0 for the first time in
program history.
No one was happier to see
King score than Michigan
coach John Paul, who gave
the attacker grief after going
scoreless against Bellarmine.
“I knew King was going to
get his goals,” Paul said. “Last
week was kind of an anomaly. I
thought he played a smart game
too and didn’t take any bad
shots or make any mistakes.”
King’s
fellow
starting
attackers,
seniors
David
McCormack and Will Meter,
also found the back of the net.
Sophomore midfielder Mikie
Schlosser followed a four-goal
outing
against
Bellarmine
last week with two more as
Michigan’s offense had no
trouble figuring out the Titan’s
defense.
“We just cut out and got
open,” said redshirt junior
midfielder
David
Joseph.
“When (Detroit) pressed out,
we used it to our advantage.
That opened up our attack for
easy goals and finishes.”
The Wolverines jumped out
to an early 5-1 lead thanks to
junior faceoff man Brad Lott’s
perfect seven-for-seven first-
quarter performance.
Lott faced two different
Detroit players, but regardless
of the challenger, he was able
to get the job done. Lott’s
dominance in the faceoff circle
led to Michigan’s complete
control
of
possession
and
allowed its offense to settle in.
“The first period’s big because
you want to get into a rhythm,”
Lott said. “As a unit we were
getting together and figuring
out everything we needed to do,
so no matter who we faced, we
were getting it done.”
While
the
Wolverines’
attack continued to cruise in
the second half, Michigan’s
defense stepped up to shut
down any hopes of a Titan
comeback.
The
Wolverines
would continue to maintain
possession
throughout
the
period.
Redshirt
sophomore
goalkeeper
Gerald
Logan
earned six saves en route to
giving up only one second-half
goal.
“(Logan) was seeing the ball
better in the second half,” Paul
said. “Our offense was getting
long
possessions.
(Detroit)
really didn’t have the ball that
much. That’s defense, through
having a great offense.”
Paul believes the Wolverines’
performance against the Titans
was one of the most balanced
he has ever seen. Michigan
outshot Detroit 52-28, and Paul
credited the margin to playing
mistake-free lacrosse.
Not
only
was
Michigan
pleased with the result on the
field, but also for what the
victory means off the field
too. Ever since the Titans took
Michigan to overtime last year,
many players have taken the
in-state matchup personally.
“So much for us right now
is about confidence,” Paul said.
“We’re coming out of these first
two games pretty confident.
When we have a team that hasn’t
really
proven
anything
yet,
confidence is the step you need
to start actually proving it.”
MEN’S LACROSSE