The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
8A — Thursday, November 12, 2015

Big Ten breakdown: 
Terps in front again

By CHRIS CROWDER

Daily Sports Writer

Since the additions of Maryland 

and Rutgers to the Big Ten, 
the state of collegiate women’s 
basketball in the Midwest has 
been elevated. The Big Ten is 
now one of the most competitive 
leagues in the nation, and will be 
well-represented in the NCAA 
Tournament at the season’s end.

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team lost in the WNIT 
semifinals last season and will 
face another uphill battle to make 
it to the NCAA Tournament 
this year. With the Big Ten only 
getting stronger, the Daily breaks 
down Michigan’s top conference 
competition.

No. 6 Maryland

Entering their second season in 

the Big Ten, the Terrapins are the 
strongest team in the conference. 
Led by juniors Shatori Walker-
Kimbrough (13.5 points and 5.3 
rebounds per game last season) 
and Brionna Jones — both first-
team All-Big Ten selections last 
season — Maryland is coming 
off of two straight Final Four 
appearances. Led by Big Ten 
Coach of the Year Brenda Frese, 
the Terrapins went 18-0 in the 
conference 
last 
season 
and 

show no signs of slowing down. 
Maryland could be knocked off 
in conference play this year, but it 
wouldn’t be surprising if it ran the 
table once again.

No. 10 Ohio State

The Buckeyes return all five 

starters from last season, including 
four double-figure scorers. Coach 
Kevin McGuff said he wants his 
team to play even faster, which 
will give teams trouble since 
the starting lineup has all of last 
season’s chemistry to build on. 

Sophomore guard Kelsey Mitchell, 
the preseason Big Ten Player of 
the Year, averaged 24.9 points 
last season and will only further 
develop after a stellar freshman 
year. Ohio State advanced to 
the second round of the NCAA 
Tournament last season and has 
its sights set on a possible Final 
Four appearance this year.

No. 24 Northwestern

At Big Ten Media Day in 

October, 
Wildcat 
coach 
Joe 

McKeown said, “You know, when 
I took the job, we were voted 
12th, and there was 11 teams in 
the league.” Now he has turned 
Northwestern into a conference 
contender, with its first NCAA 
Tournament appearance since 
1997 last season. Junior forward 
Nia Coffey, who averaged 15.5 
points and 8.5 rebounds last 
season, will give teams fits on 
defense. Senior Maggie Lyon will 
provide leadership at the point 
guard position and averaged 14.2 
points in her junior year.

No. 23 Iowa

The Hawkeyes made it to the 

Sweet 16 last year but also lost 
the Big Ten’s highest scoring trio 
of all time from that team. Those 
shoes will be tough to fill, but 
the other two starters from last 
season’s squad, Whitney Jennings 
and Ally Disterhoft, will lead the 
way. Replacing 42.3 points per 
game from three starters will be 
a challenge, but coach Lisa Bluder 
knows how to replace talent 
through recruiting. She brought 
5-foot-4 guard Tania Davis — a 
former Michigan Miss Basketball 
selection 
— 
to 
complement 

Jennings at the guard positions.

Michigan State

The Spartans were on the 

outside looking in at the USA 
Today Poll but drew a No. 24 
ranking in the AP Poll. Injuries 
plagued them last season, at one 
point only being able to field seven 
players. The bulk of Michigan 
State’s scoring comes from junior 
forward Aerial Powers and junior 
guard Tori Jankoska. Powers was 
10th in the nation in scoring last 
season, averaging 21.9 points, 
while Jankoska racked up 17.5 per 
game. The Spartans only finished 
one game above .500 last season 
but will finish well above that 
mark this year if they stay healthy.

Rutgers

Led by the third-winningest 

women’s college basketball coach 
of all time, C. Vivian Stringer, 
the Scarlet Knights can never 
be counted out as competitors. 
Stringer speaks very highly of 
freshman guard KK Sanders, who 
could become a special player 
over the duration of her career 
in Piscataway. Rutgers loses one 
of its two top scorers from last 
season, but the one returning, 
Kahleah Copper (16.3 PPG) will 
likely lead the team in scoring 
again.

Nebraska

The Cornhuskers started four 

seniors in 2014, and will miss 
their collective 350 career starts 
this season. Although Nebraska 
has drastically switched from 
a veteran team to a young 
one, coach Connie Yori will 
make sure the program stays 
on track in this transition. To 
reload, Nebraska recruited Jess 
Shepard, a Lincoln native who 
was the top-ranked forward in 
the country out of high school. 
She scored 42 points in the 
Huskers’ exhibition, proof that 
she’s making an impact and will 
make headlines right away.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

ICE HOCKEY
Connor acclimating from 
USHL to college hockey

Highly touted 

freshman jumps in 
on fastest line with 

Selman, Nieves

By JASON RUBINSTEIN

Daily Sports Editor

Senior forward Justin Selman 

says his line is as fast as the snap 
of a finger.

That 
was 
evident 
during 

line rushes on Tuesday at 
the Michigan hockey team’s 
practice. Selman, senior Boo 
Nieves 
and 
freshman 
Kyle 

Connor 
brought 
the 
puck 

through the neutral zone with 
just two passes before Connor 
found twine.

“When we get the puck, next 

thing you know we’re in the 
other end,” Selman said. “Today 
we were talking at practice, and 
we’re like, ‘Wow, we’re fast — 
like two passes and we’re in the 
other end, and we scored.’ ”

None 
of 
that 
would 
be 

possible if it weren’t for the 
line’s youngest player: Connor.

The freshman joined the 

Wolverines 
as 
their 
most 

heralded recruit. It was much 
deserved, 
though, 
after 
he 

notched 195 points in three 
seasons in the United States 
Hockey League.

But 
Michigan 
coach 
Red 

Berenson 
said 
players 
of 

Connor’s talent level often don’t 
realize the challenge college 
hockey presents.

“We recruit gifted players,” 

Berenson said, “and some of 
them are more receptive (to) 
learning how to play without the 
puck, and some of them don’t 
because they’ve been babied all 
the way up because they are a 
good player. ... We’re not babying 
Kyle Connor.”

Connor knows that, and he 

has been extremely coachable, 
according 
to 
Berenson. 

Moreover, 
Nieves 
said 
his 

linemate is always listening 
to him and Selman on the ice, 
which is refreshing from a 
senior’s vantage point.

However, 
if 
there’s 
one 

blemish to the freshman’s game 
through six contests, it’s his 
play without the puck and in the 
defensive zone. That’s not to say 
his play has been porous, but 
it’s something Connor — who 
has tallied three goals and four 
assists — needs to work on.

“He’s been able to freelance 

all the way up, and now all of 
the 
sudden 

he 
needs 
to 

play better in 
his own zone 
because 
he’s 

not going to 
have the puck 
all the time,” 
Berenson 
said. “He’s not 
going to be as 
dominant 
a 

player as he 
was in the U.S. Hockey League. 
He still will be able to freelance 
to a certain extent, but he will 
have to be more responsible.”

As a comparison, Berenson 

praised former forward Dylan 
Larkin, who is now a rookie for 
the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. 

“You score your way into the 

NHL by being a talented player 
without the puck,” Berenson 
said. “Dylan Larkin wouldn’t 
be there right now if he weren’t 
one of the top plus-minuses in 
the NHL, so good for him for 
taking care of business without 
the puck.

“And that’s what Kyle Connor 

has to learn.”

The message has been made 

loud and clear to Connor, who 
has already taken the initiative 
to find ways to improve his 
100-foot game. This past week 
during the bye, Connor sat down 
one-on-one with assistant coach 
Brian Wiseman to watch each of 
his shifts against Robert Morris.

Wiseman 
helped 
Connor 

learn 
where 
he 
should 
be 

without the puck and how to 
make the correct defensive play.

“It was good to get a different 

perspective to see what the 
coaches have to say,” Connor 
said. “I think you can always 
work on it and fine-tune your 
defensive game. I think I’ve 
taken a lot of strides in my 
defensive game since my last 
year in Youngstown.”

Those strides were much 

needed. Despite notching 195 
points in three years with 
Youngstown, his plus-minus was 

minus-29. 
In 

other 
words, 

for 
as 
many 

goals he was on 
the ice — and 
that’s a ton — 
he was on the 
ice for more 
goals against.

So 
far 
at 

Michigan, 
though, he is 
already 
plus-

three through six games, and 
his offensive game has been 
invaluable to the Wolverines.

A large of chunk of that 

success stems from his ability 
to 
deceive 
goaltenders 
and 

defensemen. So while he may 
not overwhelm you with his slim 
and fragile 175-pound frame, 
before a defenseman can lay a 
hit on him, the puck is usually 
on its way to the net.

“He’s got a real exceptional 

release on the puck,” Berenson 
said. “He shoots it before the 
goalie is even ready for it. Other 
players will get it and stick 
handle it. I call that telegraphing 
the shot.”

Added 
Connor: 
“It’s 

something growing up through 
all the ranks I tried to work 
on, being indecisive and sneaky 
with my shot. At this level, all 
goalies are good, so you got to 
try new ways to beat them.”

And he has beaten them 

with the puck so far. Now, he’s 
working 
to 
beat 
opponents 

without it. 

“We recruit 

gifted players. ... 
 

We’re not babying 

Kyle Connor.”

