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.”