Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 — 7A

‘M’ places seventh 
at Wildcat Invite

By SAMANTHA MARSH

For the Daily

With 
underclassmen 

leading the way at the Wildcat 
Invitational in Arizona, the 
future looks bright for the 
Michigan women’s golf team.

Freshman Kathy Lim started 

off the tournament strong with 
an even-par 72 in the first round 
with birdies on holes five, six 
and 10. Closely behind were 
sophomore 
Grace 
Choi 

and freshman 
Megan 
Kim 

with 
74s, 

contributing 
to a team total 
of 296.

The second 

round of play was suspended 
until Tuesday morning due to 
darkness, and the Wolverines 
fought hard despite different 
weather conditions, shooting 
a 298. Michigan coach Jan 
Dowling said she was proud 
of the way her team handled 
themselves.

“The course that we played is 

desert golf so your ball can take 
a lot of unpredictable bounces 
that 
aren’t 
always 
great,” 

Dowling said. “They adjusted 
well and they were emotionally 
resilient throughout the whole 
week.”

The team finished the final 

round with a score of 300, 
contributing to a team total of 
894 for the tournament.

“Our final round wasn’t our 

best round,” Dowling said. “But 
they fought hard, and because 
of that we ended up nipping 
some teams and finishing in the 
top eight.”

Choi led the Wolverines and 

finished 16th overall after firing 

a pair of 73s during the second 
and third rounds and finishing 
with a total score of 220. It was 
a productive day for Choi, but 
one particular highlight stood 
out to her.

“On my 36th hole, I made 

a-25 footer in front of my 
teammates, so it was a pretty 
cool way to finish a long day of 
golf,” Choi said.

Her individual performance 

aside, Choi is optimistic about 

her 
team’s 

improvement.

“We 
are 

constantly 
putting 
ourselves 
up 

against 
the 

best teams in 
the 
nation, 

and that’s the only way to get 
better,” Choi said.

Among those teams was 

Southern 
California, 
which 

finished first with a combined 
score of 834, 60 strokes lower 
than Michigan.

Lim and freshman Emily 

White followed close behind 
Choi, shooting 225 and 227 
respectively. 
After 
playing 

as an individual in the last 
tournament, White was able to 
rejoin the lineup this week.

“She had a pretty solid 

tournament at the Hurricane 
Invitational,” 
Dowling 
said. 

“She deserved a shot at getting 
in the lineup.”

Three freshmen made up 

the team of five, and Dowling 
relied heavily on their talent 
throughout the tournament.

“Their potential is pretty 

vast,” Dowling said. “They’re 
a very hungry bunch. They are 
comfortable, they are really 
wanting to learn, and they are 
gaining a ton of experience.”

WOMEN’S GOLF
Wolverines kick off WNIT play

By MINH DOAN 

Daily Sports Writer

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team is playing in 
the postseason, but it isn’t quite 
under the same circumstances it 
hoped to be in at this time of year.

After 

missing 
out 

on an NCAA 
Tournament 
bid, 
the 

Wolverines 
will kick off 
their Women’s 
National 
Invitational 
Tournament 
run Wednesday 
night 
when 

they take on 
Cleveland State 
(10-6 Horizon 
League, 
19-12 

overall) at Crisler Center.

“My staff met with each 

player individually (after the 
Big Ten Tournament), just to 
kind of refocus, regroup and talk 
about winning a championship,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Kim 

Barnes Arico on WTKA Radio 
Tuesday morning. “Even if it is 
the WNIT championship, it’s 
something that hasn’t been done 
in Michigan women’s basketball 
(history).”

Michigan 
(8-10 
Big 
Ten, 

16-14 overall) is coming off 
a 
disappointing 
Big 
Ten 

Tournament in which in-state 
rival Michigan State handily 
defeated the Wolverines two 
weeks ago, 69-49.

In the game, Michigan was 

unable to get going offensively, 
shooting just 27.1 percent in its 
lowest-scoring output of the 
season.

“(The Spartans) were super 

fired up,” Barnes Arico said. 
“They came out really sharp, 
really crisp, shooting the ball 
especially well, so it was a tough 

game for us and a tough way to 
finish the season.”

If 
the 
Wolverines 
want 

to 
bounce 
back 
from 
their 

performance in Hoffman Estates, 
Illinois, senior forward Cyesha 
Goree is going to need to step up.

In her last two games, Goree 

has put up just two and five 
points, respectively, well below 
her season average of 13.8.

Michigan’s 3-point shooting 

arsenal of sophomore guard 
Siera Thompson, freshman guard 
Katelynn Flaherty and junior 
guard Madison Ristovski will 
also need to step up its game after 
shooting just a combined 11-for-
40 against the Spartans.

On 
the 
opposing 
side, 

Cleveland State comes into the 
game after being bounced from 
the Horizon League semifinals 
by Wright State, 99-87.

The 
Wolverines 
and 
the 

Vikings 
have 
played 
three 

common opponents this season: 
Minnesota, Detroit and Eastern 
Michigan. Cleveland State is 1-3 
in four contests against these 
opponents, splitting its season 
series with Detroit and dropping 

its 
games 
against 
Eastern 

Michigan and Minnesota.

Michigan, on the other hand, is 

3-1 against the three squads, with 
its only loss coming in double 
overtime to the Golden Gophers.

While the Vikings are 14-2 

at home, they are just 5-9 away 
from campus, which gives the 
Wolverines 
an 
advantage 
at 

home, where they are 12-4.

“They’re a team that has won 

19 games,” Barnes Arico said. 
“But we feel extremely fortunate 
that they are coming to Crisler, 
and we have an opportunity to 
play at home again.”

Cleveland State is led by 

first team All-Horizon League 
forward Imani Gordon, who 
leads the Vikings with 16.3 points 
per game, while second team 
All-Horizon League guard Cori 
Coleman averages 16.1 points.

“Cleveland State’s a team 

that has been really solid year 
in and year out,” Barnes Arico 
said. “They have three primary 
scorers, two kids who average 
over 16 points per game. They 
really shoot a ton of (3-pointers). 
They do a lot of dribble-drive, 

they get to the line a ton, so it is 
going to be a team that tests our 
defense and makes us get out and 
contest 3-point shots, as well as 
contain off the bounce.”

The Wolverines have shown 

this season that they can handle 
most teams that lack height, and 
the Vikings fit right into that 
formula with just one player 
taller than six feet.

But 
Michigan 
has 
also 

struggled down the stretch, 
having lost eight of its last 11 
games.

A win over Cleveland State 

could jumpstart a long run in the 
WNIT, as the Wolverines have 
just one opponent in their region 
with a higher RPI — Kansas 
State.

A win would also stretch out 

the illustrious Michigan careers 
of Goree, senior guard Shannon 
Smith and senior forward Nicole 
Elmblad just a little bit longer.

“I don’t think they’re ready 

to hang up their shoes just yet,” 
Barnes Arico said. “They want 
to put on that Michigan uniform 
again, so it’s really an exciting 
time for them.”

Michigan looks to keep up 
streak over Bowling Green

By KEVIN SANTO

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan softball team 

hasn’t lost to Bowling Green 
since 2003, winning the last 
nine matchups 
between 
the 

teams.

But 
that 

doesn’t 
mean 

that anything 
is guaranteed 
Wednesday, 
when 
the 

Wolverines 
will host the 
Falcons 
at 

Alumni 
Field 

in their final 
game 
before 

Big Ten play 
begins Friday 
in Columbus.

Michigan (24-4) is looking 

to cap off its non-conference 
schedule with a win against 
Bowling Green by applying 
lessons learned from a gut-
checking loss to Kent State in the 
first game of its home-opening 
series last weekend.

“We’ll just focus on being able 

to make adjustments quicker,” 
said sophomore left fielder Kelly 
Christner. “Obviously in the first 
game (Saturday), we couldn’t 
make the adjustment of laying 
off the high pitch. Even in the 
game (Sunday), we couldn’t do 
that until the end of the game. So 
(we’ll focus on) trying to adjust 
pitch to pitch or at-bat to at-bat, 
instead of game to game.”

The Falcons (7-12) will enter 

Wednesday’s one-game contest 
riding the momentum of back-
to-back wins, but they will need 
to improve at the plate to upset 
the Wolverines.

Bowling Green sophomore 

Aspen Searle stands to be the 
biggest threat in the batter’s 
box, having contributed four 
home runs and a .426 on-base 
percentage in 19 games played 
this season. But other than 
Searle, the Falcons have just 
three players with a batting 
average greater than .300 — 

Michigan has six. And they will 
be facing a Wolverine pitching 
corps that has been excelling in 
the circle.

Sophomore 
right-hander 

Megan Betsa and senior left-
hander 
Haylie 
Wagner 
are 

coming into the game having 
allowed a combined five runs in 
three games against Kent State.

There is one chink in the 

Wolverines’ armor that may be 
exploited, however. Michigan 
senior catcher Lauren Sweet 
suffered an injury in a play 
at home plate on Saturday. 
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins 
indicated that Sweet might need 
significant recovery time, but 
the diagnosis is not yet clear.

Sweet will likely be replaced 

by freshman Aidan Falk on 
Wednesday. 
Though 
Falk 

put 
together 
a 
respectable 

performance behind the plate 
Saturday, Michigan will miss 
the experience and leadership 
Sweet has accumulated in her 
three years at the position.

Losing Sweet’s bat will be 

a hard pill to swallow as well, 
given that she has tallied six 
home runs and 27 RBI so far this 
year while posting a .329 batting 
average.

Despite the setback, Hutchins 

emphasized that it won’t serve as 
a distraction, and that the team 
will still do what is necessary to 
win.

“I want to see us continue 

(taking it) one pitch at a time,” 
Hutchins said. “Winning the 
(Kent State) series was big, and 
hopefully that can give us some 
confidence. To get where we 
want to go, we have to be able to 
chip away and win tight games.”

Bowling Green right-hander 

Braiden Dillow will be the 
biggest threat in the circle, 
battling against a powerful 
Wolverines lineup that has hit 
48 home runs this season.

Dillow has a 3.79 earned 

run average through 16 games, 
and the other members of the 
Falcons’ pitching staff — right-
handers Jamie Kertes and Briana 
Combs — have accumulated 4.59 
and 4.74 earned-run averages, 
respectively.

Bowling Green will be in 

pursuit of its first win over 
Michigan in 12 years when 
it arrives in Ann Arbor, but 
Michigan won’t soon forget the 
upset it suffered against Kent 
State four days ago.

Bowling 
Green at 
Michigan

Matchup: 
Bowling 
Green 7-12; 
Michigan 24-4

When: 
Wednesday 
4 P.M.

Where: 
Wilpon 
Complex

ROBERT DUNNE/Daily

Kelly Christner is hitting .365 through Michigan’s first 28 games this season.

SAN PHAM/Daily

Senior forward Cyesha Goree has struggled offensively recently, despite averaging 13.8 points per game this season.

Cleveland 
State at 
Michigan

Matchup: 
Cleveland 
State 19-12; 
Michigan 
16-14

When: 
Saturday 
7 P.M.

Where: Crisler 
Center

“Their potential 
is pretty vast.”

