The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
March 7, 2016 — 3B
Michigan falls early in Indianapolis
Iowa storms back
to oust Wolverines
in first round of Big
Ten Tournament
By TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Both the
Michigan and Iowa women’s
basketball teams held double-
digit
leads
as
they
faced off to
open the Big
Ten Tournament, but it was the
latter that lasted until the end.
The Hawkeyes powered back
from a 16-point deficit to build an
equally commanding lead of their
own, and they never let Michigan
back into the game for a 97-85 win.
The Wolverines trailed by
just eight going into the fourth
quarter, but 35-percent shooting
in the last 10 minutes prevented
them from crawling back.
Michigan had been in that
position before, even against
Iowa. At home in January, the
Wolverines trailed Iowa by 17 and
came back to win. Early in the
fourth quarter Thursday, they cut
the lead to just two.
“We hit a couple shots and
pulled within, but because we
didn’t get the stops, we weren’t
able to convert on the offensive
end,” said senior guard Madison
Ristovski, who had 10 points, four
rebounds and four assists.
A simple defensive change from
Iowa was the difference maker.
It became clear from the
opening tip that the Hawkeyes
hadn’t assigned the right matchup
to Michigan freshman center
Hallie Thome.
Iowa forward Chase Coley
guarded Thome in the first
quarter, but during that stretch
the Wolverine center had 11
points, two offensive rebounds, a
block and a steal.
Iowa
coach
Lisa
Bluder
adjusted the matchup, giving
freshman
forward
Megan
Gustafson a bigger share of the
responsibility, and she completely
flipped the script.
Gustafson
played
more
physical against Thome, and she
personally outscored Thome 11-4
in the Hawkeyes’ second-quarter
run. Gustafson finished with a
career-high 25 points as well as 10
rebounds, just one of Iowa’s three
double-doubles Thursday.
Whenever
the
Wolverines’
guards were on the wing and
looking to make an entry pass
to the post, the other defender,
either Gustafson or Coley, sagged
behind Thome, ready to double-
team Michigan’s inside scorer.
“The double team took my
game over,” Thome said. “I saw
(Coley and Gustafson) rotate back
and forth, but a lot throughout
the game they would come over
and double. Chase is kind of a
short player, so you can attack
her more. Whereas Megan, you
want to do the up-and-under’s to
get around her feet.”
With two players of Thome’s
size, Iowa’s post presence wore
her down, as they continued to
attack her on both the offensive
and defensive end. She scored just
four points in the remainder of
the game.
As Thome began to struggle,
the Hawkeyes took advantage.
Iowa crushed Michigan in the
second quarter, 31-13, stealing the
lead behind a dominant showing
from guard Ally Disterhoft.
For about eight minutes on
Thursday, Michigan was leaving
Iowa in its dust.
But then Bluder made the switch
from Coley to Gustafson, and Iowa
fought back. While Iowa advanced
to play Friday, Michigan will likely
head to the WNIT.
Foul trouble limits
Thompson in wild
loss to ninth-
seeded Hawkeyes
By LELAND MITCHINSON
Daily Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — With 3:17
remaining in the first quarter Siera
Thompson committed her third
foul in as many minutes. Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico had no
choice but to take her out for the
remainder of the first half of the
Wolverines’ Big Ten Tournament
game against Iowa.
With the junior guard on the
bench, the Michigan women’s
basketball team had to make do
without its best defender, and the
Hawkeyes capitalized. Though
Iowa was held to 21 points in
the first quarter, the Hawkeyes
exploded for 31 in the second,
putting the Wolverines in a hole
they were never able to claw their
way out of.
As Michigan’s No. 1 defender,
Thompson
is
often
charged
with shadowing the opponent’s
biggest offensive threat. Against
Iowa that meant her assignment
was guard Ally Disterhoft who
averages 36.3 minutes and 16.9
points per game.
While guarded by Thompson
in the first quarter, Disterhoft
scored just two points. But with
Thompson sidelined, Disterhoft
made the Wolverines pay, racking
up 15 points with Thompson out
of the game, including 11 in the
second quarter, to finish the first
half with 17. Disterhoft’s hot
shooting, including 4-for-4 from
beyond the 3-point line, spread
to the rest of her teammates as
well. As a team, Iowa shot 81
percent from the floor in the
second quarter.
“We got some really good
percentage shots,” said Iowa
coach Lisa Bluder. “You know
when things are falling for you
— and again (Disterhoft) made
some great 3s to bring us back into
this — but you know it’s kind of
contagious. Shooting’s contagious
and I think once you start feeling
it, everybody feels it.”
Without Thompson, Michigan
was not only without its top
defender, but it also had to find a
way to make up for her offensive
output.
Thompson
leads
the
Wolverines with 151 assists on
the season. Without her running
the offense, Michigan — which
scored 29 points in the first
quarter — was unable to keep pace
with Iowa, totaling just 13 points
in the second frame.
As the game progressed to its
final stages Thompson gained
the freedom to be more and more
aggressive, since she had not
committed a foul in the second
half, and she shifted back to
her role as Disterhoft’s primary
defender. Back in her original
role, Thompson once again shut
down Disterhoft, who scored just
five points in the second half and
finished the game with 22.
The offense was also able to
get back on track with Thompson
back in charge. The Wolverines
were just two points shy of
matching Iowa’s second half
scoring total of 45 points with
Thompson
contributing
eight
points, three rebounds and four
assists throughout the contest —
though she eventually fouled out
with 1:12 left in the game.
The second-half rally wasn’t
enough for Michigan to overcome
its second quarter hole, and Iowa
finished off the win, 97-85.
“We’re at the point now, if
someone comes out, other people
have an opportunity to step
up,” Barnes Arico said. “And
we weren’t really able to take
advantage of that today.”
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Freshman guard Boogie Brozoski scored eight points to go along with six rebounds and four assists in the Michigan women’s basketball team’s loss Thursday.
IOWA
MICHIGAN
97
85
‘M’ falls short on beam against Utes
By LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Writer
On the night when a win
could have meant the most, the
Michigan women’s gymnastics
team dropped the ball — or rather,
they dropped off the beam.
With the meet being Senior
Night and the last regular-season
home meet, success could have
meant a lot more than just another
win to an already impressive 9-3
record. The championship season
is approaching quickly, so a win
for the fifth-ranked Wolverines
against No. 6 Utah would have
been the positive reinforcement
they
needed
before
the
big
tournaments, especially after last
week’s loss to No. 1 Oklahoma.
Instead, multiple falls on beam
spoiled Michigan’s hopes, 197.525-
197.050.
The
first
fall
came
from
sophomore Lauren Marinez mid-
routine, and it followed her for the
rest of the event. The remainder of
her routine saw a slew of bobbles,
and she ended with a score of
8.900. It was a sharp contrast
from her performance last week
against the Sooners, where she
posted a career-high 9.925.
Marinez sat in the middle of
the lineup for beam, so there
were high hopes that the rest of
the team could repair the damage
done to the team score. Senior
Lindsay Williams posted a 9.875
immediately therafter, and junior
Nicole Artz followed with a 9.925.
Junior Talia Chiarelli served
as anchor for the beam as one
of Michigan’s most prominent
athletes for the event. She had
already secured first place on the
vault with a 9.900.
Chiarelli, who was voted Big
Ten event specialist of the week
for the beam earlier in the season,
took the second fall for the
Wolverines. Near the end of her
routine, she rushed an acrobatic
sequence which ended in a full fall
off of the beam. She finished with
a final score of 9.325.
“I’m still in shock that the
two athletes that had a fall on
beam have been two of my top
consistent beam performers all
season,” said Michigan coach
Bev Plocki. “I don’t really know
if it was just a fluky thing or the
pressure. In another event, you
can have a tiny stumble and cover
it up and move on, but if you have
the slightest bobble on beam, it’s
only four inches wide — it doesn’t
take much to be on the floor.”
While the beam was definitively
the downfall for Michigan, the
Wolverines managed to come
back from their major deductions
for a final score of 197.050, which
is surprisingly close to what
Michigan
scores
on
average
without falls on beam. Despite the
loss, multiple Wolverines were
able to contribute immensely to
Michigan’s final-score comeback,
including Williams, Artz, senior
Austin Sheppard and freshman
Olivia Karas.
It’s no surprise the seniors
were on top of their game during
Senior
Night.
Williams
and
Sheppard both had phenomenal
performances on the uneven bars,
where Williams tied for fourth
with a 9.900 alongside Karas.
Sheppard came in at sixth with a
9.875. Williams went on for fifth
on the beam with another 9.875,
and seventh on the floor, tying
her career-best of 9.850. While
Williams was making a splash
on floor and beam, Sheppard was
dominating on the vault, taking
third with a 9.875.
Despite the strong presence
offered by the seniors, it was Artz
who stole the show with four first-
place scores. After a rough couple
of weeks on the bars, where she
was injured multiple times, Artz
was able to come back and take
first with a career-high 9.975.
She followed with a solid beam
routine, earning first place with
a 9.925. In the final rotation for
Michigan, Artz tied her career-
best on the floor with a 9.975, to
earn an overall score of 39.725,
enough to take first in the all-
around as well.
Karas followed closely behind,
taking third in the all-around
with a 39.500. She had a driven
floor routine, where she stuck
landings on all of her tumbling
passes, including an impressive
double Arabian. She finalized a
floor score of 9.925, taking second
to Artz. In addition to tying
Williams for fourth on the uneven
bars, she also tied Artz for fifth on
the vault.
“Overall, I thought it was a
great meet against a great team,
and you can’t make mistakes
against a great team and come
out victorious. We knew that
coming in,” Plocki said. “This is
exactly what we need, though.
This is why I like going against
the best teams in the country,
because we need to be put in
these situations.
“We need to understand that
if we had made one more beam
routine, we would have won the
meet and walked away with the
highest score of the season, and
those are two really important
things. Sometimes you learn
that lesson the hard way, but
sometimes learning it the hard
way is what motivates you to go
back into the gym and make sure
it doesn’t happen again.”
With Big Ten Championships
and the NCAA Championships
around the corner, the Wolverines
don’t have much time to make
sure it doesn’t happen again.
Michigan will have to work hard
to repair its confidence, especially
on the beam, after such a close
loss to Utah.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Junior Nicole Artz scored a career-high 39.725 in the all-around, the 11th-best mark in school history.
Michigan finishes 3-3
over busy Spring Break
Wolverines beat
San Jose State, fall
to UC Davis to close
out West Coast trip
By COLE ZINGAS
Daily Sports Writer
Just two weeks into the
season, the Michigan baseball
team was ready for its busiest
week on the schedule.
The 20th-ranked Wolverine
baseball
team
headed
to
northern California in search of
sunny weather to cap an eight-
game, nine-day trip. Their final
two contests were canceled
due to rain, but Michigan
still played six games. The
Wolverines (7-3) broke even
over the break, going 3-3.
After sweeping Canisius in
dominating fashion the previous
weekend,
the
team
entered
Spring
Break
undefeated.
However,
Michigan
dropped
two out of its first three
in
California
to
unranked
opponents to start the trip.
Expectations for the team are
higher than ever, with numerous
polls placing them as favorites
in the Big Ten, but a couple of
early-season losses didn’t faze
the Wolverines.
“Going 1-2 on that weekend
was a positive,” said Michigan
coach Erik Bakich. “We wanted
to see how we would respond to
getting knocked down.”
Monday,
sophomore
left-
handed pitcher Oliver Jaskie
set up the next set of games by
shutting down No. 10 California.
Jaskie gave up just three hits in
5 and one-third innings pitched
to boost the Wolverines to a 5-0
upset victory.
But beyond Jaskie, the entire
pitching staff has impressed
early in the season. Bakich
emphasized that every pitcher
who has stepped in has done
well so far, not just the marquee
returners such as junior Brett
Adcock
and
senior
captain
Evan Hill.
Thirteen Michigan hurlers
have seen action thus far, and
they have combined to allow just
17 earned runs in 10 games.
“Us as a staff have been
really locked in on making good
pitches when it counts,” said
sophomore right-hander Ryan
Nutof. “I think that’s been a key
for the whole staff.”
Though the pitching has
been solid, it was the lively
bats in the lineup that carried
the Wolverines to their next
victory, as eight players notched
hits in a 6-5 win against San
Jose State. A joint effort from
four Michigan relief pitchers,
who didn’t allow a run past the
fifth inning, halted a comeback
effort by the Spartans.
Against
UC
Davis
on
Thursday, Nutof (2-1) took the
mound hoping to win his third
consecutive start. But Michigan
committed two errors, which
cost the Wolverines the lead
and eventually the ballgame,
losing, 4-3.
The
chance
for
revenge
against UC Davis never came,
as rainouts spoiled the games
on Friday and Saturday. But
a loss to end the week didn’t
discourage
Bakich
and
his
team.
“Even though we had a few
losses, I still feel like we’re
getting better, because we had
some teachable moments in
those games,” Bakich said.
Bakich says that overall there
were many positives to come out
of the trip, both on and off the
field. The rainouts and a built-
in off day allowed extra time for
team bonding.
The Wolverines spent the
off day in San Francisco, where
they took a boat across the bay
to tour Alcatraz. At night, they
watched the NBA’s Golden State
Warriors pull out an overtime
win against the Atlanta Hawks.
Despite the three losses, the
team gained a lot of experience
together on the road during the
week, which will be key to its
success throughout the season.
BASEBALL