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Michigan ousted from WNIT

By CHRIS CROWDER

Daily Sports Writer

Throughout 
the 
Women’s 

National 
Invitational 

Tournament, Madison Ristovski 
has told her 
teammates, 
“This 
isn’t 

going 
to 

be my last game,” while still 
playing like it will be. With every 
performance Ristovski had in 
the WNIT, she has played the 
best basketball of her career to 
delay the last time she dons the 
maize and blue.

But in the Final Four against 

Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday, 
the senior guard could no longer 
prolong the end. Ristovski scored 

19 points, but it was in vain, as 
the Wolverines fell, 71-62, to end 
their season.

Since the Eagles’ inaugural 

season in Division I in 2007, 
they have won more than 90 
percent of their home games 
at their home Alico Center — a 
win percentage second only to 
Connecticut during that time 
span. That figure alone was a 
hint that Michigan would need 
everything they had to pull out a 
victory in its first time away from 
Crisler Center in the WNIT.

“It definitely helps in this 

tournament to play on your 
home court, a place where you 
shoot and practice every day,” 
said Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico. “I think that definitely 

played into their advantage, but 
they still made shots and they 
did what they needed to do to 
seal the game down the stretch 
when we made that run.”

The 
Eagles 
(33-5) 
scored 

the first basket of the game 
with a 3-pointer, but soon after 
they went into a four-minute 
drought, shooting 0-for-8 while 
the Wolverines went on a 9-0 
run before a timeout at the 4:54 
mark in the first quarter. Florida 
Gulf Coast didn’t remain quiet 
for much longer, though, as it 
knocked down its next three 
3-pointers to take the lead. The 
Eagles used their hot shooting 
from distance to cap off the first 
quarter with a 13-2 run to take 
the lead, 16-11.

Michigan (22-14) struggled to 

take care of the ball in the first 
frame, committing six turnovers 
that turned into 11 points for the 
Eagles. The Wolverines went on 
an 8-0 run and took over the lead 
twice for brief moments in the 
beginning of the second quarter, 
but Florida Gulf Coast regained 
momentum at the end of the first 
half with a blocked shot and a 
coast-to-coast layup to go up 
by six. The Wolverines had one 
more opportunity to score before 
the end of the half, but freshman 
center Hallie Thome was denied 
at the rim.

“I wish I had that first and 

second quarter back to change 
the tempo a little more like we 
did in the second half,” Barnes 
Arico said. “They exposed our 
young defenders and they did a 
great job of that.”

Florida Gulf Coast’s defense, 

which allows 49.1 points per 
game — second-fewest in the 
nation behind Connecticut — 
proved its legitimacy against 
Michigan in the first half. The 
Wolverines shot 10-for-28 from 
the floor while giving up 10 
turnovers to fall behind, 28-22, 
by halftime. The Eagles made 
only one more shot than the 

Wolverines, but they made four 
more 3-pointers and six fewer 
turnovers, giving their senior-
laden squad confidence going 
into the break. Zero Michigan 
players scored in double digits 
at the half, as sophomore guard 
Katelynn 
Flaherty 
led 
the 

Wolverines with six points on 30 
percent shooting.

“They scout the heck out of 

you and I think that they know 
their personnel and make other 
people have to beat you,” Barnes 
Arico said. “They take away your 
top guys and they put everybody 
else in the paint and they make 
those other guys have to play to 
beat you. They block out, they 
give you one shot, and they get 
back in defensive transition.”

Michigan didn’t score in the 

first two minutes of the third 

quarter, turning the ball over 
two more times along the way 
before Ristovski knocked down 
a 3-pointer to get it going. But 
Florida Gulf Coast matched the 
shot with a triple of its own to 
push the lead to seven. The Eagles 
led by as much as 10 in the third 
quarter, but finished it leading by 
just two due to Ristovski’s play. 
Putting the team on her back 
while the cold-shooting Flaherty 
was on the bench for the majority 
of the half, Ristovski dropped 12 
points and dished out two assists 
in the third quarter to keep the 
Wolverines close while the rest 
of her team struggled.

The game stayed close deep 

into the fourth and, with just 
over three minutes left to go in 
regulation, Flaherty sank two 
free throws to cut the deficit 

to two again, 59-57. After a 
defensive stop, the Wolverines 
took the lead after Flaherty made 
her first 3-pointer of the game. 
But again, the Eagles battled back 
with another make from behind 
the arc. Florida Gulf Coast’s next 
possession ended with another 
3-pointer that deflected off the 
rim and went in at the shot-
clock buzzer to push the lead 
to five with a minute left. Only 
managing a pair of free throws 
down the stretch, Michigan was 
unable to climb back again.

The Wolverines saw their 

season end at the exact same 
point this year as they did last 
year — in the Final Four of the 
WNIT. And even with a desperate 
effort from Ristovski, the team 
once again fell short of hoisting 
its first banner at Crisler Center.

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Madison Ristovski scored 19 points in a losing effort in the WNIT semifinals on Thursday to close out her career.

Michigan seeks to answer 
questions against Indiana 

By TYLER COADY 

Daily Sports Writer

In 
the 
Michigan 
softball 

team’s loss to Northwestern last 
Friday, Sierra Romero filled in at 
shortstop. As a 
routine ground 
ball 
made 
its 

way 
to 
the 

senior, it slipped 
through 
her 

legs, 
allowing 

two 
Wildcats 

to score. And 
with the added 
cushion 
of 

those two runs, 
Northwestern 
survived 
the 

Wolverines’ 
spirited seventh-
inning comeback and won, 13-12.

The next day, Romero moved 

back to second base as junior 
shortstop Abby Ramirez made 
her return to the field, injecting a 
sense of normalcy into Michigan’s 
infield and exuding confidence in 
the lineup.

“(Ramirez) is a player who 

shows up to do her part,” said 
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. 
“That is one of the things I love 
about her the most.”

Though she usually hits second, 

Ramirez hit ninth and notched 
one hit in four at-bats, keeping her 
batting average above .400.

“I thought she did as well as she 

could do,” Hutchins said. “I don’t 
think she is … 100 percent or her 
speed is all there, but we just need 
her to do the best with what she 
has.”

In 
Ramirez’s 
three-game 

absence, due to an ankle injury, 
Hutchins 
inserted 
freshman 

Faith Canfield at second base 
for Romero. Canfield excelled, 
hitting .333 with a home run and 
three RBI.

“Faith is a role player, not a 

bench player,” Hutchins said. “Her 
role is to fill in where we need her 
and … she is very capable of doing 
anything we need her to do.”

As strength is restored to 

the Wolverines’ middle infield, 
questions surround the rest of 

No. 2 Michigan (2-1 Big Ten, 24-3 
overall) as it prepares for three 
away 
games 
in 
Bloomington 

against Indiana (3-0, 20-10).

During 
the 
Wolverines’ 

collapse on Friday, catcher Alex 
Sobczak’s inexperience showed 
itself as the freshman struggled 
to deal with low-thrown pitches, 
allowing several to make their 
way to the backstop.

Sobczak lost her place in the 

lineup for the series’ final two 
games, giving way to sophomore 
catcher Aidan Falk.

Hutchins gave no hints as to 

who will be catching against 
the Hoosiers, stating only that, 
“(Sobczak) is one of our catchers.”

Though 
uncertainty 
marks 

the catcher position, there is 
little doubt as to the improved 
performances of junior pitcher 
Megan Betsa on Saturday and 
Sara Driesenga on Friday.

Coming into Friday’s game 

in a relief role, Betsa struggled, 
garnering zero outs, walking 
three and allowing four earned 
runs. Saturday, Betsa continued 
to give up an inordinate amount 
of walks — five in total — but 
found a way to work through 

jams, as 12 strikeouts proved to 
be the difference between further 
Northwestern 
scoring 
and 

Michigan returning to bat.

As 
the 
public 
relations 

department touted the game as 
“Sara Driesenga Day,” last Friday 
turned out to be anything but 
for the hard-throwing right-
hander. While Driesenga started 
in commanding fashion, the top 
of Northwestern’s lineup got to 
her in the fifth inning, when she 
put two early runners on base. 
The Wildcats used that as a 
springboard to construct a seven-
run scoring inning.

Returning to the mound for 

the series finale, Driesenga tossed 
four solid innings, allowing only 
one earned run and restoring 
confidence 
to 
Michigan’s 

beleaguered pitching staff.

As Betsa and Driesenga return 

to their confident selves, the 
return 
of 
defensive 
stalwart 

Ramirez is sure to be a boon for 
the defense. However, it won’t 
solve all of the Wolverines’ 
problems, as more consistency 
from the pitching staff holds the 
key to Michigan’s success against 
the Hoosiers.

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Junior infielder Abby Ramirez gives a sense of normalcy to the Michigan infield.

Michigan 
at Indiana

Matchup: 
Michigan 24-3, 
Indiana 20-10

When: Friday 
6 P.M.

Where: Andy 
Mohr Field

TV/Radio: 
BTN2Go

MICHIGAN
FGCU 

62
71

8 — Friday, April 1, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

