6A — Thursday, November 3, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines set for exhibition against Wayne State

With 
all 
the 
high-profile 

events in which the Michigan 
women’s basketball team has 
participated 
this preseason 
— the Jumpman 
uniform 
unveiling, 
the 

kids 
clinic 

and the open-
practice 3-point 
shootout 
— 

it is easy to 
forget that the 
Wolverines 
have to yet to 
play a game.

That will change Thursday 

night 
when 
Michigan 
hosts 

Wayne State, a Division II team, 
in an exhibition contest. The 
game will be a rematch of the 
Wolverines’ 2013 season opener, 
when 
Michigan 
topped 
the 

Warriors, 81-55.

And with the season around 

the corner, excitement has built.

“I’m pretty thrilled with how 

practices have been going,” said 
Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico. “A lot of ups and downs 
with the beginning of the season, 
but the enthusiasm and the 
excitement is really high.”

On 
paper, 
Wayne 
State 

appears to pose little threat to 
Michigan. The Warriors lost six 
letterwinners from their squad 
that finished 12-16 last year and 
the Great Lakes Intercollegiate 
Athletics Conference’s preseason 

rankings 
have 
Wayne 
State 

finishing sixth out of eight teams 
this season.

The 
Warriors 
are 
not 

completely 
devoid 
of 

playmakers, 
though. 

Guard 

Shannon 
Wilson returns 
this year after 
averaging 
13.6 

points 
and 

four 
rebounds 

in 
2015-16. 

Transfer 
guard 
Ja’Nee 

Williams came to Wayne State 
after 
averaging 
10.9 
points 

last year on an IUPUI team 
that tallied a 29-2 record. 

Wilson and Williams will test a 
Wolverine defense that Barnes 
Arico believes has improved 
from last year.

Thursday’s 

contest 
will 

also 
give 

Michigan 
a 

chance to show 
off its offensive 
weapons, 
the 
most 

noteworthy 
being 
junior 

guard Katelynn 
Flaherty.

Flaherty 

was 
the 

Wolverines’ 
leading 
scorer 

last 
season, 
accumulating 

22.1 
points 
per 
game 
and 

scoring at least 10 points in 

34 of 35 contests. Already this 
season, she defeated senior 
guard Duncan Robinson of 
the Michigan men’s basketball 
team in a three-point shooting 
contest. Flaherty made 21 shots 
compared to Robinson’s 20.

“I know he’s a great shooter,” 

Flaherty said of Robinson. “I 
think it was very exciting. I think 
I made every shot up until the 
last ones. It was great to have a 
good atmosphere.”

Thursday will also be the first 

in-game action for freshman 
guard Kysre Gondrezick.

She 
enters 
this 
season 

with high expectations after 
averaging 
40.5 
points 
for 

Benton Harbor High School 
last year, including a 72-point 
performance in a playoff game, 

a Michigan state record.

“We 
have 
an 
incredible 

freshman in Kysre Gonderzick,” 
Barnes Arico said. “She was 
Miss Basketball in the state of 
Michigan. We now can go 8 or 9 
deep without losing a beat.”

While Wayne State shouldn’t 

pose much of a threat to 
Michigan — barring a stunning 
upset — the Wolverines are 
just excited to finally play an 
actual basketball game against 
another team.

“Preseason 
becomes 
long, 

especially with how hard we go 
every day,” Flaherty said. “You 
just have to realize that there’s a 
light at the end of the tunnel and 
it’s all going to pay off. I think 
we’re just really excited knowing 
how well we can do this year.”

Michigan women’s basketball to see first action of 2016-17 on Thursday ahead of season opener Nov. 11 against Oakland

NATHANIEL CLARK

Daily Sports Writer

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Guard Katelynn Flaherty begins her junior campaign Thursday night with an exhibition against Wayne State.

Wayne State 
at Michigan

Matchup: 
Wayne 
State 0-0; 
Michigan 0-0

When: 
Thursday 
7 P.M.

Where: Crisler 
Center

Breaking down the stats 
behind Michigan’s slump

Seven games into the season 

last year, the Michigan hockey 
team was working with a 5-1-1 
record. It was an early indicator 
of the potential it had that would 
lead it all the way to the NCAA 
Midwest Regional Final. The 
Wolverines hadn’t even created 
their lethal first line consisting 
of forwards Tyler Motte, Kyle 
Connor and J.T. Compher, but 
they still managed to rack up five 
wins in their first seven games.

This season, though, Michigan 

is off to a slower start.

The No. 17 Wolverines sit at 

3-3-1 roughly a fifth of the way 
into their season. They have 
three losses at the hands of 
Union (three weeks ago) and 
Vermont and Dartmouth (this 
past weekend).

In 
certain 
areas 
of 

Michigan’s stats so far, the 
reasons for these losses are 
evident. The Wolverines have 
totaled just 156 shots so far this 
season, while their opponents 
have generated 256. In the same 
span last year, they had won the 
shots battle, 285-195.

They’ve totaled 42 penalties 

in seven games, with an average 
of 6 per game — 50 percent more 
than early in last year. However, 
their opponents combined have 
scored just 36. And for two of 
these three losses, Michigan 
wasn’t able to hang onto an early 
lead to clinch a win.

These traits have been clear 

since the season opener against 
Union, and they were still 
present in the Wolverines’ most 
recent game. Against the Big 
Green, Michigan ended the game 
trailing by 11 shots. And despite 
tying up the game in the second 

period, the Wolverines allowed 
a late Dartmouth goal, securing 
their third loss of the season.

“We just kind 

of 
said 
we’ve 

done 
way 
too 

much 
talking 

this year and not 
enough showing 
it on the ice and 
showing it in our 
play,” said senior 
defenseman 
Nolan De Jong. 
 

“I think, like I 
said, we did a 
really good job. 
We did. Especially in that first 
play coming out and showing that 
we had something to prove, and 
we obviously couldn’t maintain 
that style of play throughout the 
entire game.

But we did come out with some 

excitement and we did come out 
like we had something to prove. 
So, like I said, it wasn’t the entire 
60 minutes like we needed, but it 
was a good sign going forward.”

Despite 
these 
problem 

areas, 
though, 
Michigan 
is 

capitalizing on its silver linings. 
The Wolverines’ goaltending, 
for example, boasts a .934 save 
percentage overall, much better 
than their opponents’ .885 and 
their own .882 from the first 
seven games of last season. All 
three Michigan goaltenders that 
have seen action this season have 
above a .900 save percentage, 
with a collective total of 239 
saves this season.

Penalty kills have also been 

a high point for the Wolverines 
this year. Just this past weekend, 
senior 
forwards 
Alex 
Kile 

and Max Shuart both found 
themselves 
in 
the 
penalty 

box during the second period 
against the Big Green. Even 

though Dartmouth had a two-
man advantage, it wasn’t able to 
capitalize. In these tight plays, 

the 
Wolverines 

have shown that 
they can secure 
the defense.

Michigan has 

a lot it needs 
to work on, but 
it’s not without 
its 
strengths. 

And 
since 
the 

Wolverines have 
acknowledged 
their 
downfalls 

early this season, 

it gives them a chance to fix their 
mistakes and capitalize on their 
positives before the bigger games 
roll around later in the season.

ICE HOCKEY

Though goaltending has improved, Wolverines getting 
outshot by their opponents after excelling last season

LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Writer

BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Hockey, 2016-17 vs. 2015-16

2.57

Goals per game for Michigan 

through the first seven games this 
season (the Wolverines are 3-3-1)

4.43

Scoring average for Michigan 

through the first seven games of last 

season, then second in the nation

22.3

Shots per game for Michigan through 

the first seven games this season, 

against 36.6 for its opponents

40.7

Shots for Michigan through the 
first seven games of last season, 

compared to 27.9 for its opponents

“We just kind 
of said we’ve 
done way too 
much talking.”

“I’m pretty 

thrilled with how 

practices have 
been going.”

