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.”