The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
March 30, 2015 — 3B
Michigan advances to WNIT semis
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
In its last five games, Southern
Mississippi had clawed its way
out of a double-digit deficit before
coming
back
to
win.
So
when
the
Michigan women’s basketball
team held a 32-13 lead with 3:42
to go in the first half, it didn’t
mean much.
Then, the Golden Eagles (13-5
Conference USA, 25-11 overall)
went on a 9-0 run, ending the
first half on a buzzer-beating
jumper. They wanted that sixth
comeback,
especially
amidst
their deepest postseason drive in
program history.
“What they did to us at the
end of the first half, I was kind
of having a stomachache at
halftime,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. “I knew down
the stretch it was going to be a
battle. I knew they were going
to double us, they were gonna
pressure us (and) they were
gonna throw everything at us.
“We were gonna have to make
free throws, we were gonna have
to take care of the ball and we
were gonna have to respond, try
to defend and make some stops.”
Sunday, those things needed to
fall in place for Michigan to earn
a win in front of a record-setting
crowd of 5,480 in Hattiesburg,
Mississippi.
Though
Barnes
Arico’s stomach may have been
churning at halftime, her team
didn’t skip a beat during the
second half en route to a 69-60
win over Southern Mississippi.
The win sends the Wolverines
(8-10 Big Ten, 20-14 overall) to
their first WNIT semifinal since
2010, and they will host UCLA on
Wednesday night.
“Southern
Mississippi
had
an incredible crowd,” Barnes
Arico said. “Thought it made a
difference in the game, and it
kept the game really tight. Every
time we tried to pulled away, they
came back. … I thought it was
an exciting basketball game for
everyone.”
With a win over the Golden
Eagles — the result of a balanced
offense that had five players in
double-digit scoring — Michigan
eclipsed 20 wins for the fourth
straight season. But in the final
three minutes of the game,
that reality almost escaped the
Wolverines’ hold.
In the second half, Southern
Mississippi showed its trademark
skill, which is to take a blowout
game and turn it into a single-
digit nail biter. Michigan once
had a 17-point lead, but with 2:30
to go in the game, it was down
to five. Guard Jerontay Clemons
completed a three-point play to
put the game at 59-54 in favor of
the Wolverines.
The Golden Eagles’ comeback
looked inevitable, but it wouldn’t
come to fruition.
“We held on, but that’s just the
kind of team they are,” Barnes
Arico said. “If you can get your
team to play that hard all the time
and to not quit when you’re down
like that, that’s pretty special.”
Senior guard Shannon Smith
made a jumper immediately
after to get Michigan back
in
control,
and
Southern
Mississippi’s offense fell apart.
The Wolverines’ next eight points
came from free throws, as the
Golden Eagles were desperate to
make anything fall. But Michigan
continued to grab the defensive
rebounds, preventing any sort of
second-chance opportunities.
It wasn’t a final defensive
lockdown by the Wolverines
though, but instead a stellar
first-half performance from the
senior class that kept Michigan
alive. With perfect shooting, the
seniors — Smith and forwards
Cyesha Goree and Nicole Elmblad
— put the team in a position to
handle any second-half runs
from Southern Mississippi.
During the first 20 minutes,
the senior trio shot a combined
11-for-11, scoring 24 of Michigan’s
first 32 points. Elmblad never
missed a beat with her left-
handed shot and missed just two
shots overall to total 14 points.
Smith missed only one shot, with
seven of her 11 points coming
from the charity stripe.
As for Goree, she found
herself packed in the paint with
two or three Golden Eagles to
trying to shut her down. But she
remained relentless. With 15
points alongside 12 boards, Goree
recorded her 17th double-double
this season. During the second
half, though, she sat several
minutes with three fouls — an
absence that was most certainly
felt.
That’s
when
Southern
Mississippi made its move.
With 13:16 to go and Goree
out, the Golden Eagles quickly
chipped away at a double-digit
deficit to cut the game to nine
points. With no other option,
Goree went back in, facing the
risk of fouling out. Elmblad soon
followed suit with a third foul of
her own, putting more pressure
on the guards to pick up the slack.
As the inside became a war
zone, junior guard Madison
Ristovski made a 2-point jumper
26 seconds after Goree returned,
and freshman guard Katelynn
Flaherty
carried
the
weight
thereafter.
Flaherty
scored
just
two
points in the first half, but during
the second frame, Barnes Arico
moved Flaherty to the baseline.
In the next six minutes after
Ristovski’s
basket,
Flaherty
scored all four baskets, also
ending a four-minute scoring
drought in that span.
“She is arguably one of the best
shooters in the country, hands
down,” Barnes Arico said. “She
got tight in the first half, and
I’m so happy she came out in
the second half and didn’t stop
shooting.”
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Cyesha Goree scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Michigan’s win.
MICHIGAN
USM
69
60
Michigan drops
Big Ten opener
By KATIE CONKLIN
Daily Sports Writer
It was a historic weekend
for Big Ten women’s lacrosse,
headlined
by
the
first-ever
games in its inaugural season.
While
the
conference
may be new, many of the teams
featured
are
anything
but.
With
perennial
powerhouse
Maryland from the Atlantic
Coast
Conference,
alongside
another
longtime
contender
in Northwestern, the Big Ten
makes for stiff competition.
The
Michigan
women’s
lacrosse team
opened
its
Big Ten slate
at Ohio State.
Though
off
to
a
better
start
this
season
than
last year, the
Wolverines
did not perform to what they
consider to be the best of their
abilities, losing to the Buckeyes,
13-5.
Michigan
sophomore
midfielder Madeline Dion hit
twine off a midfield transition
to put the Wolverines up
by a goal just 1:45 into the
match. The lead did not last
long, though, as the Buckeyes
responded with four straight
goals.
Sophomore midfielder Kim
Coughlan, the only player to
score more than one goal in
the game, broke the Buckeyes’
streak by scoring with 19:12 left
in the first half, but the tally
was Michigan’s last goal for the
next 30 minutes.
“We started slow on attack,
and our communication was a
little off,” Coughlan said.
Though
the
Wolverines
improved into the second half,
there was no escaping the 8-2
advantage Ohio State gained in
the first stanza of the game.
“All
season
we’ve
been
trying to play for 60 minutes,”
Ulehla
said.
“I’ve
stressed
the importance of coming up
against the Big Ten. You can’t
choose to play your own game.”
Playing for a full 60 minutes,
or in some cases longer — as
three of Michigan’s losses have
been in overtime — has been
something the Wolverine’s have
struggled with
this season.
Whether
this difficulty
is due to the
team’s lack of
experience or
composure,
they
still
don’t
know.
However,
learning
how to play a
consistent game as a cohesive
unit is one of Michigan’s top
priorities.
“We’re not there yet but we
keep talking about (playing
consistently),” Coughlan said.
“We’re still working on it and
working to get to that point.”
Though
the
Wolverines
didn’t come out on top in their
first Big Ten matchup against
Ohio State, there is a still an
entire month before they could
meet again in Piscataway in the
Big Ten Tournament.
“This is definitely a good
learning experience,” Coughlan
said. “For the future, we’ll just
be working on our plays and
offense and communications
and working more together as
a team.”
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
MICHIGAN
OHIO STATE
5
13
“All season
we’ve been
trying to play
for 60 minutes.”
‘M’ struggles continue
By DAVID MALINOWSKI
Daily Sports Writer
The
Michigan
men’s
tennis
team stumbled
into
the weekend with one of the
worst records in team history.
Against respectable Iowa (2-2
Big Ten, 10-5 overall) and
Nebraska
(2-2,
9-7)
teams,
the
Wolverines’
fortunes
were supposed to finally turn
around.
Initially,
Michigan
(0-4,
3-12) was cruising with a lead
coming out of doubles play
against Iowa with wins by the
senior pairing of Alex Petrone
and Michael Zhu and from the
second pairing of Leo Hua and
Alex Knight.
Then, the Wolverines stalled
and entered a downward spiral,
a sight that has become all too
familiar for a team that cannot
get out of its own way.
Michigan went on to lose nine
of its next 11 combined matches
over the course of the weekend.
In
Iowa
City,
freshman
Carter Lin and Zhu were the
only singles wins. After getting
shut out, 6-0, in the first set,
Zhu came back to win the next
two sets and the match 6-3, 7-5.
Against
Nebraska,
the
Wolverines were swept, losing
the doubles point and its first
three singles matches. Petrone
took junior Dusty Boyer to
two separate tie breaks in the
match’s first two sets, failing to
convert on both. The day ended
quickly, with none of the singles
matches lasting longer than two
sets.
“We come here to win these
matches and find our first Big
Ten win, but it’s disappointing,”
said Michigan coach Adam
Steinberg. “Every match we’ve
played except for one we’ve
been in.”
With the losses, the team is
still winless in conference play
and now has just three wins
overall.
“We just have to be a little
better at the big moments,
and we’re just not doing that,”
Steinberg said.
The team, Steinberg said,
loses all belief and makes a
lackadaisical
attempt
at
a
comeback up until it loses.
“We have a lot of work to
do fundamentally,” Steinberg
said. “When things aren’t going
well, we break down and stop
thinking about technique and
it becomes, ‘Oh, we’re going to
lose again.’ I think that happens
to a team when things just aren’t
going well.”
Michigan needs to improve
on the little aspects of the
game, with sitting back on
short balls instead of playing
them aggressively serving as a
principle example of one of the
many problems it has to fix.
“You lose those matches
and it just goes (downhill)
fast,” Steinberg said. “We get
into this habit of, ‘Here we go
again.’ We’re running into each
other.”
If there is any hope of
salvaging the season, it will
come in the next few weeks.
Michigan will be playing at
home for the majority of its
remaining
games.
Taking
advantage of a chance to focus
on the basics, practice in a
familiar environment and hit
the reset button to get itself
back on track is all the team can
grasp onto at this point.
Wolverines fail to handle
Maryland’s skilled offense
By BRANDON CARNEY
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men’s lacrosse
team didn’t bring the right
demolition crew to College
Park on Sunday when it tried to
smash through the nation’s No.
1 defense.
It took the Wolverines nearly
the entire
first half to
find
their
opening
goal, as the Maryland defense
kept them in check on the way
to a 13-4 victory.
In addition to facing the
nation’s top defense, junior
specialist Brad Lott had his
hands
full
taking
faceoffs
against the Terrapins’ senior
midfielder Charlie Raffa, who
ranks in the top 10 nationally in
faceoff win percentage. Raffa
dominated all Michigan faceoff
men he faced, winning 11 of his
14 draws on the day.
“There’s not really a lot you
can do when the other team
is dominating faceoffs,” said
Michigan coach John Paul. “It’s
such a tough matchup. (Raffa is)
one of the top faceoff men in the
country, and there’s not a magic
pill you take and suddenly start
winning faceoffs against top
guys.”
Heading into the half, it
appeared the Wolverines (0-1
Big Ten, 4-5 overall) were still
within arm’s reach of catching
up to No. 3 Maryland (9-1,
1-0). Junior midfielder Kyle
Jackson
netted
Michigan’s
opening goal with 67 seconds
left in the half, bringing the
Wolverines within three goals
of the Terrapins.
Before Jackson’s goal, the
Michigan
offense
looked
completely
incapable
of
breaking
down
Maryland’s
solid defense, struggling to
maintain possession and find
a finishing touch on shooting.
The Wolverines were especially
vulnerable due to weak stick
work, giving up a total of 11
turnovers Sunday.
Michigan
was
without
sophomore attacker Ian King,
who, despite being out the last
four games, still leads the team
in scoring. While replacing an
attacker as talented as King has
been nearly impossible, Paul still
needs the Wolverines’ starting
attackers to pick up some of the
slack, something they failed to
do against Maryland.
“Our attackmen need to be
more explosive,” Paul said.
“They need to be challenging
their defensemen a little more.
Maybe that’s where (King) can
help
us
in
the
coming
weeks,
but
we still need
some
of
these
guys
to
step
up
consistently
and
win
games
and
own that.”
On
the other side of the field,
Michigan’s defense absorbed
attack after attack from a slow
and methodical Terrapin attack.
After conceding three goals
in the first quarter, Michigan
held Maryland to only one
goal in the next period despite
the Terrapins’ advantage in
possession.
Six minutes into the second
half, though, the Wolverines’
defense
couldn’t
hold
the
Terrapins’ attack back any
longer. Maryland went on a
5-0 run over the course of
five minutes, putting itself up
eight and crushing any hopes
of
a
Michigan
comeback.
In the five-minute stretch,
the Terrapins held constant
possession
and
pummeled
redshirt
sophomore
goalie
Gerald Logan with quality
shots.
The Wolverines were able
to score three goals after
halftime, including freshman
midfielder Patrick Tracy’s first
career goal. Tracy received
extended minutes and also
earned his first assist off of
Jackson’s first goal.
“It
felt
nice
to
finally
contribute to the team,” Tracy
said. “(It) feels good to finally
get over the hump and be able
to help the team anyway I
can. Personally, sticking to my
strengths worked, especially
with the assist.”
There was very little that
went right for Michigan on
Sunday, but Tracy and Jackson’s
performances highlighted the
Wolverines’ depth in midfield,
which
will
be crucial in
upcoming
games.
That
being
said,
defense
was a concern
with Michigan
being outshot
and
out-
possessed.
Maryland
posted 20 more shots than the
Wolverines, a stat due primarily
to the Terrapins holding the
ball for a majority of the game.
With the matchup against
the
Big
Ten
favorite
in
Maryland out of the way,
Michigan will focus this week
on a crucial game against
Rutgers. With a fourth-place
or better finish still a strong
possibility for the Wolverines,
they will surely refocus and
carry forward some positives
from Sunday.
“We talked about in the
locker room afterward how our
goals are still there and we still
have incredible opportunities
in front of us,” Paul said. “The
guys were talking about that
right after the game, and I
think they understand how
good Maryland is, but a lot of
things have to go right to beat
those guys, and we’re not the
only ones who have figured
that out.”
MEN’S LACROSSE
MICHIGAN
MARYLAND
4
13
“It felt nice
to finally
contribute to
the team.”
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Alex Petrone earned a doubles victory with partner Michael Zhu to get Michigan off to a strong start against Iowa.