‘M’ ready to
end WNIT
streak in 2017
A
fter four seasons at the
helm, Michigan women’s
basketball coach Kim
Barnes Arico
has made
the NCAA
Tournament
only once
— her first
season when
she took over
the head
coaching job
in the 2012-
13 season.
However,
over the past three seasons, the
Wolverines have failed to make
the Big Dance, instead settling
for the Women’s National
Invitational Tournament.
Now in Barnes Arico’s fifth
season, she’ll finally have a team
consisting solely of players she
has recruited. And in the 2016-17
season, Barnes Arico will have
the right pieces to lead Michigan
back to the NCAA Tournament
for the first time since 2013.
Last season, the Wolverines
had the 14th best recruiting
class in the nation, according
to ESPN. That class was
highlighted by center Hallie
Thome and guard Nicole
Munger, who were ranked as
the 64th and 68th best recruits
in the country, respectively.
Thome lived up to the hype,
racking up the second best field
goal percentage in the country
while averaging 14.4 points per
game. Munger averaged just
under five points, but showed
flashes of potential. Others from
the class, such as guard Boogie
Brozoski and Sam Trammel,
displayed promise as well in
their positions and will likely
gain more playing time next
seasons with the graduations of
guard Madison Ristovski and
forward Kelsey Mitchell.
This incoming recruiting
class isn’t as highly touted as
last season’s, but it is talented
in its own right. The class
includes four-star forward Kayla
Robbins, three-stars KeAsja
Pierce and Akienreh Johnson,
and guard Kysre Gondrezick,
the No. 70 recruit in the nation,
according to ESPN’s HoopGurlz.
Gondrezick was named
Michigan’s Miss Basketball
and is the first winner of the
award to attend Michigan
since Ristovski first came to
Ann Arbor. Like Ristovski,
Gondrezick could leave a lasting
mark on the program after
changing the state of Michigan
high school women’s basketball
records when she was the first
player to ever average over 40
points per game during her
senior season. She even put up a
72-point performance in the first
round of the district playoffs.
If Gondrezick continues
her stellar play into college,
she could earn playing time
alongside the Wolverines’ best
player — rising junior guard
Katelynn Flaherty. Flaherty is
coming off a season in which she
garnered Honorable Mention
All-American honors after
averaging 22.1 points per game
— good for 10th in Division I.
She shows no signs of slowing
down, hungry to get her team
closer to a Big Ten title in her
third season. While that goal
may be tough with Maryland,
Ohio State and Michigan State
having had the Wolverines’
number, this upcoming season is
Flaherty’s best shot yet at finally
leading Michigan over the
WNIT hump.
While the Wolverines showed
last season that they are capable
of stepping up to win a game if
Flaherty has an off night, they’ll
still need Flaherty to lead the
way to reach their full potential.
Thome will have a year under
her belt, more experience and be
stronger, helping her dominate
the paint on both sides of the
ball. Guard Siera Thompson
will be a senior, looking to
continue to be one of Michigan’s
best perimeter shooters while
locking down the opposing
team’s best scorer. Players like
rising junior Jillian Dunston,
rising senior Danielle Williams
and Munger should continue
to pull down rebounds, take
charges and step into any role to
give the team a boost like they
did last season when Michigan
needed it most.
Dunston, Williams, Munger,
Brozoski and Gondrezick will
likely battle for the final two
starting spots behind Flaherty,
Thompson and Thome. No
matter who is chosen, the
Wolverines have depth and
experience on the bench, which
is needed in the scrappy Big Ten
conference.
Michigan picked up only
one more win this season than
it had in the 2014-15 season,
finishing 21-14 overall and 9-9
in the Big Ten. However, in this
past season, Michigan averaged
8.7 more points (78.6) than
the season before with a team
that featured just two seniors
playing consistent minutes.
Now that the Wolverines will
be older while still bringing
in young talent, they’ll be in
great position to end their
WNIT streak after ending their
season in the semifinal round
of the tournament the past two
seasons.
Fans, players and even
Barnes Arico have preached
a NCAA Tournament-or-
bust mentality. Falling to the
WNIT again would be a severe
disappointment. A deep run in
the NCAA Tournament may
still be a few years out, but
simply playing in at least one
game in the Big Dance is a step
forward for the program. It’ll
give Michigan more exposure in
the women’s basketball spotlight
while giving the returning
players more confidence for the
next year to make it back again.
Next year, the Wolverines
won’t likely win the Big Ten
title or the WNIT or hoist their
first banner in Crisler Center.
But Michigan is poised to
accomplish something more that
it can rest its laurels on, paving
the way for the teams that will
come after it.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
CHRIS
CROWDER
MAZIE HYAMS/Daily
Senior outfielder Olivia Richvalsky was tagged out at third base to end the Wolverines’ 1-0 loss to Nebraska on Friday.
Small mistakes hamper Wolverines
By AVI SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 1 Michigan softball
team entered its Friday game
against Nebraska as the highest-
scoring team in the country.
In its previous Big Ten series,
the Wolverines swept Indiana,
outscoring the Hoosiers, 31-9,
driving its ascension to the top
spot in the national rankings.
Friday, though, the Wolverines’
offense tallied only one extra
base hit. They reached base just
eight times, a far cry from their
previous nation-leading offensive
output. And present throughout
the game were subtle errors
that added up to a 1-0 loss to the
Cornhuskers.
Trailing by one in the seventh
inning Friday, Michigan (8-1
Big Ten, 29-4 overall) made a
baserunning error that cost it a
chance to tie the game. While
the top of the order awaited the
chance to tie the game or take
the lead, senior outfielder Olivia
Richvalsky entered the game to
pinch-run for sophomore infielder
Aidan Falk at second base. As
senior second baseman Sierra
Romero — who leads the team in
most batting statistics — stood
in the on-deck circle, senior
centerfielder Sierra Lawrence hit
a ball to left field.
Richvalsky chose to tag up on
the fly ball and found herself out at
third thanks to a pinpoint throw
from Cornhuskers’ left fielder
Gina Metzler. Game over.
As well as the Wolverines have
performed this season, their past
series against Nebraska (6-5,
25-14) made them appear, well,
normal.
In its two victories, Michigan
defeated the Cornhuskers by
just a combined five runs. Part
of this struggle can be attributed
to its troubles on the basepaths
throughout the series.
Richvalsky’s mistake proved
to be the most costly, but she was
not the only Wolverine to have
a base running error. Saturday,
sophomore outfielder Nikki Wald
attempted to steal her first base of
the season, but was thrown out.
The Wolverines failed to mount
an attack the rest of the inning and
maintained a slim one-run lead
until the seventh when Lawrence
hit a two-run home run.
Michigan will focus on base
running and communication this
week in practice before facing
Michigan State on Wednesday
and a weekend home series
against Ohio State. Lawrence
emphasized that in order to
perfect these techniques on the
basepaths, players must change
their mentality.
“(It’s) important to look up as
you’re rounding the base, see if
(Michigan coach Carol Hutchins)
is gonna send you or hold you up,”
Lawrence said. “(Hutchins) likes
to hold you up at the last second,
so you gotta go hard all the way
around third and then brake if you
need to.”
In the third game of the
weekend
series,
with
the
Wolverines holding a 6-5 lead,
junior third baseman Lindsey
Montemarano walked up to the
plate with runners on second
and third with one out, eager
to extend the Wolverines’ lead.
Unfortunately
for
Michigan,
another costly base running error
doomed its rally. Montemarano
hit a hard line drive to third
base
caught
by
Cornhusker
MJ Knighten, who tagged out
Lawrence,
who
was
slightly
leading off.
Though
the
Wolverines
came back to win in their past
two games, the closeness of the
final score is cause for concern.
Hutchins said Sunday that the
game felt similar to a postseason
matchup.
Hutchins
need
not
worry
about her team scoring runs, as
Michigan leads the Big Ten in
nearly every offensive category
and consistently gets on base. But
the Wolverines sometimes show
lapses in these minor yet equally
important areas: running on the
basepaths and tagging up.
The
Nebraska
series
demonstrated
that
Michigan’s
bats know the opportune time to
come alive. Still, the Wolverines’
activity on the basepaths — while
not the primary focus of the game
— can clearly affect its result.
8 — Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan readying for Spartans
By SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Writer
After a disappointing weekend,
Michigan’s
anticipation
is
running high to reestablish itself
near
the
top
of the Big Ten
pecking order.
The
Wolverines (3-2
Big Ten, 21-8
overall) — who
dropped
out
of the national
rankings
after
this weekend’s
two-loss
performance
against
Minnesota
—
will head into a
pair of midweek
games
against
Michigan State
and
Eastern
Michigan hoping to end their
losing streak.
“We’ve played at a high level
consistently,”
said
Michigan
coach Erik Bakich last week.
“You’re not always gonna have
your ‘A’ game, you’re not always
going to be 100 percent, so I think
our guys have done a good job of
responding to the adversity we’ve
experienced.”
The weekend series against
the Golden Gophers (4-1, 18-10)
fell short of expectations as
the Wolverines were fraught
with unexpected adversity —
Minnesota won both games in
Friday’s doubleheader — and
unexpected weather. Michigan’s
last chance at redemption in
the third game of the series
was
cancelled
due
to
cold
temperatures, and it won’t get
another chance again this season
against the Golden Gophers.
The Wolverines’ first contest
this week will be against the
Spartans on Tuesday, but will
count
as
a
non-conference
matchup.
Michigan
has
had
three games cancelled so far this
season, and the rivalry game was
scheduled just five days ago. The
two teams will have a chance to
compete again the last weekend
in April in conference play.
The last time
the teams met
was last season
at
Comerica
Park in Detroit,
where
the
Spartans took
home
a
4-2
win.
Though
Michigan
leads
in
the
all-time series,
Michigan
State has gone 8-6 against the
Wolverines under current head
coach Jake Boss Jr. since 2008.
Boss’s team will host Michigan
at McLane Baseball Stadium in
East Lansing. The Spartans are
currently ranked second in the
conference in batting average (.311)
and first in team pitching with an
earned-run average of 2.36.
The key Spartan that Michigan
will have to watch for is junior
first
baseman
Jordan
Zimmerman,
who ranks in
the top 10 in
the conference
in
batting
average,
slugging
percentage,
on-base
percentage,
runs, hits, total
bases and doubles. Most notably,
he’s ranked first in batting average
(.437) and second with on-base
percentage (.521).
Despite
the
less-than-
stellar
hitting
performance
the
Wolverines
had
against
Minnesota, Michigan’s average
of 9.9 hits per game is comparable
to the Spartans 10.7 hits per game.
The second matchup of the
week will be back at Ray Fisher
Stadium against the Eagles, who
boast a win against Michigan
State from last Tuesday.
Left-hander Tyler Butzin is
currently leading the Eagles with
a 2.11 ERA. The freshman hasn’t
allowed an earned run in his last
four starts through 28 innings.
But neither Tuesday’s nor
Wednesday’s
battles
will
irk
the Wolverines steadfast motto:
getting better each day.
“We just talk about getting
better,”
Bakich
said.
“We
talk about today. Today’s our
opportunity.
Everything
in
the future will take care of
themselves and will only happen
as a byproduct of attacking each
day. That’s what we’re going to
do.”
Michigan
at Michigan
State
Matchup:
Michigan 21-8;
MSU 21-6
When:
Tuesday
4 P.M.
Where:
McClane
Stadium
TV/Radio:
Spartan Sports
Network
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich will hope to lead his team to a bounce-back win over Michigan State on Tuesday.
“You’re not
always gonna
have your
‘A’ game.”