Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, January 8, 2016 — 7
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Editor
At first, it seemed like the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team was going to add another
loss to its
Big
Ten
record.
At first, it
seemed like the Wolverines were
going to let their inconsistency
get the best of them once again. At
first, it seemed like Michigan had
no chance of a comeback.
Instead, the Wolverines did the
unthinkable.
For four minutes in the third
and fourth quarters, Iowa (3-1 Big
Ten, 12-4 overall) went cold and
allowed Michigan (1-2, 9-5) to
slowly claw its way out of the hole
it had dug during the first half.
Initially, the game seemed like
it was on the path to be a blowout.
But the Wolverines dominated
the fourth quarter and came away
with an 82-75 win — its first win
in the conference.
The comeback sent a previously
quiet Crisler Center into an
absolute frenzy. By the sound of
it alone, Michigan might have just
won the Big Ten Tournament.
“It’s really been a difficult
couple of weeks,” said Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico. “We’ve
lost a lot of tough games, and our
confidence was really shaken at
some times. … (Iowa) went on
that run and got it to 17, and we
stopped looking at the scoreboard
and really just buckled down,
tried to get one stop at a time and
then score down the other way.
“A lot of people stepped up and
made really tremendous plays for
us, especially down the stretch. …
Just proud of our total effort and
bounceback.”
That
bounceback
wouldn’t
have
been
possible
without
sophomore
guard
Katelynn
Flaherty and senior forward
Kelsey
Mitchell,
who
each
made huge strides in the final 10
minutes of regulation.
Flaherty, who ended the game
with 24 points, looked confident
with every shot and continued to
drain them from all over the floor.
When the game was within
one possession, Flaherty drove
inside the paint and rolled the ball
off the backboard and into the
net, falling into the cameraman
behind the net before quickly
reorganizing herself to get back
on defense. That basket kept
Michigan up by only one point
with a minute left.
“There’s no words to describe
it,” Flaherty said. “What we’ve
been going through the past couple
of games, it’s just a reminder to all
of us that we can win and we can
be one of the best teams.”
Mitchell followed up Flaherty
with a layup of her own before
making a huge defensive block
on
the
ensuing
Hawkeye
possession,
which
ultimately
ended with a turnover. In her
first start since the Wolverines’
last win, Mitchell finished with
her first career double-double on
15 points and 11 rebounds.
Michigan’s comeback started
in the third quarter when it
changed its defensive strategy.
After
Iowa
plowed
through
the
Wolverines’
man-to-man
defense to open the second half
on a 6-0 run, Barnes Arico called
a timeout and switched to a
triangle-and-two defense. She
also subbed out freshman center
Hallie Thome for Mitchell, who
added the physical grit that
Michigan needed.
When
the
clock
started,
Michigan went on a 12-0 run to
close the scoring deficit to just
seven points as the Wolverines
face-guarded the Hawkeyes’ two
starting point guards.
“Even if a post player got the
ball, they were immediately
shaded or doubled,” Barnes
Arico said. “It just got Iowa out
of what they wanted to do, and
they were never really able to
get in rhythm again.”
Iowa, which didn’t stand a
chance against a Michigan team
quickly gaining momentum, went
on another four-minute scoring
drought in the final frame. At that
point, the Wolverines opened with
a pair of 3-pointers from junior
guard Danielle Williams and
freshman guard Nicole Munger.
The Hawkeyes couldn’t score
for the final 1:51 of the game,
resorting to fouling to try to inch
back into the game.
But by that point, the game was
decided, and Michigan finally
found itself on the other end of a
nail-biting game.
“We’ve been tested like that
so many times in different
situations, and we’re just sick of
losing, sick of working so hard
and coming out on the opposite
end,” Flaherty said. “It was our
time to close a game out.”
Michigan upsets Hawkeyes
SINDU KILARU/Daily
Sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty’s 24 points led the Wolverines to an upset of Iowa on Thursday.
IOWA
MICHIGAN
75
81
Mitchell powers
‘M’ to big victory
By CHRIS CROWDER
Daily Sports Writer
Typically,
Kelsey
Mitchell
is a soft-spoken person. But on
Thursday night, she screamed.
Following an emphatic block
in the waning seconds in a win
against Iowa, the senior forward
roared after her energy-sapping
rejection,
staring
down
the
Hawkeye who was sprawled out
on the hardwood.
“She’s
a
pretty
even-keel
person,” Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico said. “But she does
show emotion, and I think her
showing emotion is a really good
thing.”
In her fourth career start,
Mitchell took over in the fourth
quarter. With 44 seconds left in
the game, she scored to give the
Wolverines their first lead since
1:52 remained in the first quarter.
After Michigan’s deficit reached
a high of 17, Mitchell led the team
in the next three possessions with
an offensive rebound, help on a
defensive stop and another layup
for a three-point lead.
It was Mitchell’s turn to step up
and take the reins of her position,
and on Thursday night, she made
the case that her spot in the starting
lineup should be cemented. Her
15-point,
11-rebound
double-
double led Michigan to a much-
needed 82-75 win.
“It was just a rush,” Mitchell
said. “I was thinking, ‘We came
too far to lose now, so we might
as well come out with the win. It’s
just one step at a time.’ ”
The Wolverines have struggled
at the ‘4’ and ‘5’ positions over
the past few weeks. With the ‘4’
position in need of a consistent
starter
and
freshman
center
Hallie Thome getting into foul
trouble early in games, Barnes
Arico needed her taller athletes
to play disciplined in order to stay
close against Iowa.
Thome picked up two fouls in
the first minute of Michigan’s last
contest against Indiana, though
did not commit any in the first
quarter Thursday. Her 6-foot-5
frame kept the paint guarded, and
she was able to pick up six points
in the quarter as her teammates
easily tossed the ball over Thome’s
defender for a quick catch-and-
shoot layup.
At the ‘4’ position, Mitchell
earned her fourth career start
and scored four points to help
Michigan stay tied, 19-19, with
the Hawkeyes at the end of the
first quarter. Her first basket came
off of a slick spin move toward
the basket that dizzied her Iowa
counterpart. But while Thome
stayed away from fouls, Mitchell
fell victim to them. With 6:20 left
in the second quarter, Mitchell
picked up her third.
Sophomore
forward
Jillian
Dunston and freshman forward
Sam Trammel took Mitchell’s
place at the ‘4’ while she sat on the
bench, but the pair only combined
for two points by the end of the
first half.
Thome
did
look
hesitant
at times, sometimes allowing
Hawkeyes to drive into the
lane without their shots being
contested in the paint. With just
under two minutes left, Iowa
guard Whitney Jennings missed
a shot from behind the 3-point
arc, but was able to grab her own
rebound and zip past Thome for
an easy two points. The basket
sparked a 7-2 Iowa run to give the
Hawkeyes a 43-34 lead going into
the halftime break.
Mitchell
didn’t
start
the
second half. Instead, her spot was
occupied by junior guard Danielle
Williams as the Wolverines went
with a small, guard-heavy lineup.
Mitchell replaced Thome with
8:06 left in the third quarter.
After the substitution, Michigan
went on an 8-0 run, anchored
by a Mitchell layup. When the
Wolverines cut the deficit to one,
Mitchell took over again.
“In the past, I feel like we
pondered on mistakes a lot,”
Mitchell said. “But in today’s
game, our goal was to look past it
and go with the next play.”
Mitchell came into the lineup
like a whisper, but ended with a
much louder pitch. The noise she
made is still sounding.
“Tonight was Kelsey’s night,”
Barnes Arico said.
SINDU KILARU/Daily
Kelsey Mitchell chipped in a double-double in the Wolverines’ upset win.
Michigan kicks off second half
against in-state rival Spartans
By MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
When the Big Ten preseason
polls
were
released
at
the
beginning of the season, the No.
8
Michigan
hockey
team
sat
atop
the
rankings.
Just
two
spots down in
third place was
Michigan State,
led by the 2015
Big Ten Player
of the Year in
goaltender Jake
Hildebrand.
With
half
the season gone
and two weeks
of Big Ten play
completed, the
Wolverines
(2-1-1 Big Ten,
11-3-3 overall)
have lived up
to their expectations, dropping
just four points out of 12 in their
first four games and winning the
Great Lakes Invitational.
The Spartans (1-3-0, 5-13-2), on
the other hand, have not.
Their
season,
filled
with
promise at the beginning, has
unraveled, and the Spartans
concluded
2015
with
two
heartbreaking overtime losses in
the GLI.
Hildebrand
has
had
little
support from the players in front
of him, especially the defense,
which was one of Michigan State’s
strengths coming into the season.
A 2015 first-team All-American
and Mike Richter Award finalist,
Hildebrand has a save percentage
of just .903 on the season.
In
front
of
Hildebrand,
forward
Michael
Ferrantino
and
Mackenzie
MacEachern
led the team with 16 and 15
points, respectively. Freshman
defenseman Zach Osburn and
freshman
forward
Mason
Appleton have impressed in their
first season in East Lansing, but
the duo has not been enough to
turn around the Spartans’ dismal
season.
Despite
Michigan
State’s
performance, Michigan-Michigan
State has always been a big rivalry,
and this year is no different.
“No
matter
where
(the
Spartans) are in the Pairwise
Rankings, I think that it’s such
an old rivalry that it’ll be a tough
game no matter what,” said
sophomore defenseman Cutler
Martin. “Whatever team that
comes out to play is the team that
will come out on top.”
With a majority of players
on both teams hailing from
Michigan,
there
will
be
familiarity between the two
teams. But with six crucial points
on the line, the players have made
it clear that the friendliness stops
as soon as the puck is dropped.
“When the game starts, it’s
all business,” Martin, an East
Lansing native, said. “They’re
not my friends anymore, but I’m
sure in the summer time, there
are bragging rights for who takes
care of business.”
Added junior forward Tyler
Motte: “It’s a rivalry. Maybe you
give someone you know a bump
after the whistle to say ‘How’s it
going,’ but between the whistle,
it’s game on, especially against
those guys.”
For the Wolverines, confidence
has been high all season, and the
GLI championship was a cherry
on top of a solid first half to the
season.
While Michigan has prided
itself on its offensive firepower
all season, it was the depth of
the defense that shined through
during the GLI.
Missing
in
action
were
sophomore Zach Werenski, who
was busy captaining the U.S. Junior
team at the World Championships;
junior Michael Downing, who was
suspended from the GLI after a
dangerous hit against Minnesota;
and senior Kevin Lohan, who has
been injured since November. Yet,
the Wolverines let in just four goals
in two games.
In
the
trio’s
absence,
sophomore
defenseman
Sam Piazza was given a big
opportunity. And he delivered,
earning a goal and three assists, as
well as All-Tournament honors.
“It
was
different
because
it wasn’t the usual lineup, but
I think we are very deep on
defense,” Martin said. “It was
good
second-effort
hockey.
Everyone blocked shots.”
But
no
one
was
more
impressive at the GLI than
freshman forward Kyle Connor,
who
many
hockey
experts
thought should’ve been playing in
Finland with Werenski.
Connor
was
named
tournament
MVP
after
registering a goal and two assists,
and capped off a month that saw
him score 13 points in six games
en route to winning the Hockey
Commissioners’
Association
National Rookie of the Month for
December.
Michigan will go into the back
end of its season on track to make
it back to the NCAA Tournament,
a place the Wolverines have not
been in three years.
But to get there, they will need
to continue to play well. And it all
starts Friday in East Lansing.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Junior forward Tyler Motte is tied for the team lead in goals with 12 heading into Michigan’s series this weekend.
Michigan vs.
Michigan St.
Matchup:
Michigan 11-3-
3; Michigan
State 5-13-2
When: Friday
6:30 P.M.,
Saturday
7:05 P.M.
Where:
Friday: Munn
Ice Arena,
Saturday: Yost
Ice Arena
TV/Radio:
Friday:
ESPNNEWS,
Saturday: BTN