Sports
6A — Thursday, February 19, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
RITA MORRIS/Daily
Senior forward Nicole Elmblad totaled nine points and 12 rebounds in Michigan’s win over Indiana on Wednesday night.
‘M’ snaps three-game
losing skid vs. Indiana
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
With just two weeks until the
Big Ten Tournament, Michigan
women’s basketball coach Kim
Barnes
Arico
can
mark
another
tally in this year’s win column.
Coming off three straight
losses, the Wolverines (7-8 Big
Ten, 15-11 overall) earned an
easy 68-52 win over Indiana on
Wednesday at Crisler Center.
Michigan limited the Hoosiers
from getting good looks by
winning the defensive rebound
battle by 18, an effort led by
senior forward Nicole Elmblad.
More
importantly,
the
Wolverines made the “hustle
plays” that Barnes Arico has
stressed to her players — the
ones they hadn’t been making
during the losing streak.
“In some of those tight
games, when we look back,
there were one or two of those
plays that we didn’t make that
could’ve
been
a
difference
maker,”
Barnes
Arico
said.
“Tonight we did a great job of
sharing the basketball, making
the extra pass and finding
our teammates, and those are
changing points for us.”
One such play came early in
the second half, when Elmblad
dove out of bounds to throw
a ball back in, extending the
possession that ended with a
3-pointer from freshman guard
Katelynn Flaherty.
For the first time since Nov.
20,
Flaherty
was
inserted
into the lineup, and she didn’t
skip a beat. With her help, the
Wolverines shot 66.7 percent
from the field in the first half
— a season high — which gave
them a 35-26 halftime lead.
With her first start in three
months,
Flaherty
led
the
team with 21 points on 9-for-
17
shooting,
including
two
3-pointers. Behind her were
senior guard Shannon Smith
and sophomore guard Siera
Thompson, who racked up 16
and 15 points, respectively.
Much of the offense’s success
can be attributed to senior
forward Cyesha Goree. After
battling significant foul trouble
in the last three games, Goree
committed only one foul, which
came midway through the first
half.
With Goree not having to
worry about being taken out of
the game, the Wolverines could
rely on their most important
inside presence to draw a double
team and open up shooters on
the outside.
“She has to realize it’s not
about her scoring all the time,”
Barnes Arico said. “If people
are
really
focused
on
her that much,
and
sending
two or three
people to her,
it’s good for
our
team.
It’s
going
to
open
up
things for her
teammates,
and it might
not result in her numbers on the
stats sheet being 20 points, but
it results in Katelynn having 20
points, Siera having open looks
and Nicole cutting to the basket.
“We found easy shots because
of Cyesha’s double-teams.”
As Goree — totaling four
points and 12 boards — gave
the offense a chance to click,
Elmblad had the same effect for
the defense. Michigan opened
the second frame with a 25-9
run in the first 11 minutes.
Though sophomore guard
Danielle
Williams
wasn’t
slotted in the starting lineup for
just the second time in the last 17
games, she added four defensive
rebounds to the team’s 29.
But leading by example and
paving the way for Michigan to
make the necessary stops was
Elmblad, who finished with
nine points and 12 rebounds.
“I
definitely
focused
on
making
sure
to
box
out,”
Elmblad said. “I felt like I didn’t
do a very good job against
Northwestern … and that really
killed us.”
Added Barnes Arico: “She’s
been sensational rebounding
the basketball for us lately. …
I’m happy she’s playing this well
heading into the tail end of her
senior year.”
The beginning of the second
half
didn’t
exactly
mirror
the start of the first for the
Wolverines, when Indiana (4-11,
14-12) jumped out to a 6-0 lead
as Michigan missed its first four
shots and committed a turnover.
“I thought defensively, I
was gonna have a heart attack
the first couple minutes of the
game, because
we
couldn’t
get
a
stop,”
Barnes Arico
said.
“Once
we started to
dig in and try
to get some
stops
and
play
defense,
we were able
to get easier
baskets
in
transition.”
But with a long 3-pointer
from Thompson nearly four
minutes in, the Wolverines
finally got on the board.
The Hoosiers built a 17-11
advantage
throughout
the
next seven minutes, but once
Elmblad and Flaherty subbed
back into the game after a brief
rest, Michigan started rolling.
Flaherty
sparked
the
Wolverine
offense
midway
through with a 3, and the
defense held Indiana to nine
points in the final nine-and-
a-half minutes — including a
three-minute drought in that
span.
When halftime came around,
Michigan still had another
20 minutes to put together
even with a nine-point lead.
But with the team firing on
all cylinders, the ball never
stopped bouncing the right way
for the Wolverines.
‘M’ sticks to philosophy
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
Any coach can talk philosophy
until she’s blue in the face, but
working that conviction into the
fabric of a team is an entirely
different ballgame — unless
you’re Michigan softball coach
Carol Hutchins.
Hutchins first learned the
mantras that circulate through
the Wolverines’ dugout from a
sports psychologist by the name
of Ken Ravizza. She attributed
the specifics of her softball
mindset
to
Ravizza’s
book,
“Heads Up Baseball: Playing the
Game One Pitch at a Time.”
But that’s not to say that
Hutchins hasn’t formulated her
own unique philosophy during
her tenure in Ann Arbor.
“Over the years, you realize
that you always play the game
of softball,” Hutchins said. “The
game does not ever change. Your
opponents change, and so there
your perception changes. Or
whether you come to hit with
bases
loaded
versus
nobody
on and nobody out. You still
have to see the ball and strike
it, so nothing changes but your
perception. (Ravizza) taught me
how to teach that better.”
And if you spend time around
the Wolverines, you’ll quickly
become accustomed to Hutchins’
“one-pitch
softball”
idiom.
This
expression
embodies
a
mentality that stresses evolving
a new thought process every
single pitch. It emphasizes the
importance of not dwelling on
the outcome of a previous game,
or even the result of the previous
pitch, in an appearance at the
plate.
It’s about staying in the
present moment during games,
rather looking forward to what
may happen in hypothetical
situations.
This concept has translated
well for a Michigan team that
encounters
perennial
college
softball
powerhouses
every
season, the most recent being
then-No.
5
Florida
State.
The Wolverines defeated the
Seminoles 6-5 and 2-1 in a
doubleheader on Saturday, and
“one-pitch softball” certainly
played a role in those victories.
“It slows the game down
a little bit,” said sophomore
infielder Abby Ramirez. “Instead
of focusing on getting hits, you’re
focusing on having good at-bats.
I think it not only helps us with
big games, but we (also) practice
it every day. So it’s almost like just
bringing what you do in practice
to the game.”
For
the
majority
of
the
Wolverines, the concept of one-
pitch softball is a brand-new
experience, but that doesn’t
mean they aren’t willing to
embrace it. As Ramirez and
sophomore
outfielder
Kelly
Christner
explained,
high
school and travel-team coaches
focused on the end result of
games rather than emphasizing
the importance of the more
intangible aspects.
“In high school, a lot of the
mental game (wasn’t a big part),”
Ramirez said. “But now, coming
here, we notice the mental game
is a huge part. We’re all talented
enough, it’s just about who’s
mentally stronger.”
The most interesting thing
about this 20-player roster is
that each individual believes in
Hutchins’ philosophies — they
aren’t simply cliché expressions
designed for a press conference.
Conventionally, this is a task that
most coaches couldn’t achieve,
but then again, Hutchins isn’t like
most coaches.
“We trust her so much,”
Ramirez said. “We know she
genuinely cares for not just the
outcome of the game, but for us
as players, so she wants not only
to win but she wants us all to do
well. So we know that she’s not
going to tell us anything wrong.”
Added Christner: “It’s Hutch.
If you think about her past and
all the success that she’s had,
you almost have to believe that
whatever she is saying to you is
right. It’s worked in the past.”
So if you can count on seeing
one thing at the Wilpon Complex
this year, it will be Michigan
battling one pitch at a time.
And it will quickly become
apparent that Hutchins has been
winning the coaching ballgame
for 31 years.
Rivalry edge tilts back
toward Michigan State
After two Michigan
wins in 2014, MSU
takes series at
Crisler Center
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
After
Michigan
State
polished off a regular-season
sweep of the Michigan men’s
basketball
team
at
Crisler
Center late Tuesday night, a
reporter asked Spartans coach
Tom Izzo if there was any
NCAA Tournament talk with
his team as it tries to lock up a
bid.
“I’m sure some,” Izzo said,
“but I think they were pushing
more that they hadn’t won here.
“That was a big thing to
them. I don’t get into all those
things anymore. I’m just trying
to get this team to play better.
If we play better, I know we’ll
be good enough to get in. If we
play better, I think we can win
games at a lot of places. But I
think for (seniors Travis Trice
and Branden Dawson), winning
here was a big deal. We’ve had a
couple of very tough losses here,
if you remember.”
His
team
certainly
remembered.
Entering
Tuesday,
Michigan
State’s
seniors had won in every
Big Ten venue except those
of
conference
newcomer
Maryland and Michigan. They
took down No. 18 Wisconsin
in Madison in 2012, No. 3
Ohio
State
in
Columbus
a month later and finally
Indiana in Bloomington in
2014, nearly finishing the list
of the conference’s harshest
environments.
But one remained.
“Coming into this game, it
was important,” Dawson said.
“With myself and Travis being
seniors, it was just coming out
with intensity. … Getting this
win tonight, it feels great for us,
this program and the seniors.”
So when the Spartans rolled
into Ann Arbor on Tuesday and
beat Michigan again, the edge
in the rivalry shifted north
toward East Lansing a bit more.
After
two
one-point
Michigan
wins
at
Crisler
Center in the first two years of
their careers,
Michigan
State’s seniors
dropped
both regular-
season
meetings last
year.
The
Wolverines
came
back
to
win
in
Ann
Arbor
on
Feb.
23,
and though the Spartans won
the rematch in the Big Ten
Tournament final, Michigan
earned the higher seed when
the NCAA Tournament bracket
was announced afterward.
The Wolverines boasted the
wins, the Big Ten title and the
NBA draft picks. Michigan
State’s seniors earned back the
bragging rights with Tuesday’s
victory.
“We knew it was a big
game,” Dawson said. “I’m a guy
from Indiana, but the whole
Michigan-Michigan
State
rivalry has definitely grown on
me.”
Added Trice: “It feels good. It
makes you mad all the past few
years, losing here.”
Trice and Dawson had won
in other big venues before.
They upset No. 7 Kansas in
Atlanta in 2012, shocked No.
1 Kentucky in Chicago in 2013
and reached the Elite Eight
with a victory over top-seeded
Virginia in 2014.
But whether it be with Stu
Douglass’ game-winning layup
in 2012 or Trey Burke’s game-
clinching steal in 2013, a road
win over their in-state rival had
always eluded them.
“Last year, when those guys
beat us twice, just sitting on
the bench and
watching,
it
was painful,”
Dawson said.
“It hurt a lot.”
On the flip
side, no one
on Michigan’s
young
team
had ever lost
to
Michigan
State at home,
and
the
Wolverines continued to slide
with their fifth straight loss.
Their losing streak started
Feb. 1 at Michigan State, and
two weeks later, after starting
to gain momentum in 2014,
Michigan is on the wrong end of
the rivalry again.
“It’s tough to lose a big
rivalry game, especially at
home,” said junior guard Spike
Albrecht. “You have to credit
them. They played really well,
and we aren’t going to win
many games when we give up
62-percent shooting from the
field. It’s the first time we’ve
lost at home to them in a few
years, so it is tough.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
“It’s tough to
lose a big rivalry
game, especially
at home.”
“We found easy
shots because of
Cyesha’s double-
teams.”
INDIANA
MICHIGAN
52
68
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Carol Hutchins has stuck to the same mantra for 31 years of Michigan softball.