The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
February 6, 2017 — 3B

After trailing the entire game, Wolverines eke out victory

Nicole Munger was the fourth 

option. 

The final play was meant for 

sophomore center Hallie Thome. 
If the ball wasn’t going to her, 
junior guard Katelynn Flaherty 
was supposed to receive, and after 
Flaherty, freshman guard Kysre 
Gondrezick. 

But 
Munger, 
a 
sophomore 

guard, had the best matchup of 
the five Wolverines on the court. 
Flaherty knew that if she couldn’t 
make it, Munger was going to be 
the kickback. With 20 seconds to 
go, Munger scored the winning 
basket on a baseline layup. 

“We got (Flaherty) coming off 

like we wanted,” Munger said. “I 
hesitated on the 3-pointer, but then 
I just drove, and I got a step, and it 
went in.

“That was just one play. Our 

team grinded out for a full 40 
minutes. We were a little rickety 
in the first half, but we were able 
to come back and fight. What we 
did in that second half is just a 
testament to our team and our hard 
work.” 

Hosting Iowa (5-5 Big Ten, 

14-9 overall) for the first time this 
season, the Michigan women’s 
basketball team prevailed in its 
closest final minute the team has 
seen this season. The Wolverines 
have gone undefeated on their 
home court and have won 19 of 24 
games this season — the best mark 
in program history — and won 
eight of their first 10 Big Ten games. 
Contributing to the great game 
was Thompson, as she became the 
second player in program history 
to reach 500 career assists. 

But for the first time this season, 

Michigan ended its first quarter 
at Crisler Center trailing. The 
Wolverines were down 20-15 and 
trailed the Hawkeyes until the 
final minutes of the game when 
they pulled away to notch a 72-70 
victory. 

“I think Iowa’s a very good 

team,” 
Thome 
said. 
“They’re 

scrappy.They would do anything 
to get the ball. So 
at the end of the 
day we just had 
to make sure we 
were on point.”

In 
the 
first 

period, 
though, 

things 
looked 

bleak. 
Thome 

had almost half of 
the Wolverines’ 
points, but they 
were unable to 
defend against the Hawkeyes. 

The second period didn’t bode 

well for Michigan, either. In the 
first minute the Wolverines let up 
seven points, led mostly by Iowa 
guard Tania Davis. 

In response, Michigan coach 

Kim Barnes Arico called the team’s 
first timeout with 8:50 left in the 
second, when the game stood at 

27-15. 

With less than 

five minutes to go 
in the first half, 
Munger 
brought 

the Wolverines out 
of their 10-point 
deficit.

“I 
thought 

(Munger) 
was 

outstanding,” 
Barnes Arico said. 
“She 
played 
the 

front of the press, her length is 
great. She disrupts everything. Her 
ability to get the ball and shoot the 
ball is tremendous. She’s just active 
and was all over the place, she was 
a spark for us tonight.” 

Added Gondrezick: “(Munger) 

was very important. She’s as 
important as one of our starting 
five. The way that she was able to 
come in and create 
a spark off the 
bench, it shows our 
versatility.” 

But 
the 

Hawkeyes 
responded with a 
pair of baskets and 
the 
Wolverines 

found 
themselves 

facing a 10-point 
gap 
once 
again, 

eventually ending 
the half down, 45-33. 

“(In the Iowa game last year 

at home) we were down 17 at 
half and we came back and 
won,” Munger said. “So this 
year we were like, ‘Well, we did 
it last year and we’re only down 

12 this year so we know we can 
do it, we just have to stick to 
our morals.’ There’s no 12-point 

shot so we’re 
going to need to 
defend.” 

The 
first 

minute 
of 
the 

second 
half 

was 
almost 

a 
complete 

turnaround 
for 

the Wolverines, 
though. Flaherty, 
Gondrezick and 
Dunston 
each 

managed a layup apiece to make 
the game 45-39. 

The Wolverines entered the final 

quarter trailing 61-52, but Munger 
sunk a three in the first minute. 
With two seconds left on the shot 
clock, Thome then converted a 

layup before Michigan forced a stop 
on the next possession. Gondrezick 
got the ball and brought it down 
court for a layup to cut Iowa’s lead 
to two. 

Another 
missed 
layup 
by 

Iowa’s Gustafson had the crowd 
on its feet. And an added free 
throw 
by 
Gondrezick 
made 

the game 60-61 and created a 
deafening Crisler Center crowd. 
Iowa quickly called a time out, 
sensing the game slipping from 
its grasp. 

With 3:54 left on the clock, 

the Wolverines looked at a 61-66 
deficit after Gustafson hit a layup. 
But Gondrezick swooped in and 
brought Michigan back in the game 
with a 3-pointer, which was quickly 
followed by an Iowa turnover. 
The turnover ended in an injury 
substitution, though, when Davis 
finished sprawled on the paint and 
had to leave the court. 

Iowa guard Kathleen Doyle 

fouled out of the game, leaving 
Gondrezick with a chance to 
make a quick free throw to once 
again put the Wolverines within 
three points. Gondrezick then 
successfully made a pair of free 
throws, pushing the Wolverines 
within one point for just the second 
time of the game. 

Flaherty then hit a layup with 

45 seconds to go after Gondrezick 
forced 
a 
turnover, 
but 
Iowa 

responded with a quick basket, 
making the score 70-69. There 
were 35 seconds to go. 

The rest was a nail-biting 

back-and-forth struggle between 
the Wolverines and Hawkeyes, 
but after Munger’s layup, Iowa 
couldn’t capitalize within the 
time-pressure 
and 
Michigan 

maintained its undefeated streak 
at home. 

“This was a special game,” 

Munger said. “We couldn’t really 
get our mojo going in the first half 
just with our offense, but I think 
that makes this game almost 
sweeter. We were able to fight 
through that.” 

‘M’ pulls away late

With only one minute left on 

the clock in the fourth quarter, the 
Michigan women’s basketball team 
(8-2 Big Ten, 19-5 overall) trailed 
Iowa, 68-65. The Wolverines 
hadn’t lead since the end of the first 
quarter, and had gone down by as 
much as 15 points over the course 
of the game.

But the energy in Crisler Center 

was pulsing, and the crowd was 
deafening. As freshman guard 
Kysre Gondrezick stepped up to 
the free-throw line, she felt the 
pressure of the intense game and 
the chance to redeem herself 
after missing three of her last six 
attempts at the line.

This time, she sunk both tries.
“I said, ‘If I miss another free 

throw’ ... I told (senior guard Siera 
Thompson) ‘If I get the ball, come 
get it from me,’ ” Gondrezick said. 
“I think we just had a tough day 
at the line, but we were able to 
convert when it mattered.”

The score was now 68-67, and 

Michigan was close to solidifying 
what once seemed an unlikely 
victory. But 58 seconds remained, 
and coming within one point of a 
victory was not enough.

Seconds 
later, 
Gondrezick 

snagged a poorly-handled Iowa 
ball and bolted down the court, 
passing it forward to an open 
Katelynn Flaherty. The junior 
guard finished the layup at the 
47-second mark. The Wolverines 
led for the first time in over 30 
minutes, but their lead was still 
tremulous.

The 
Hawkeyes 
(5-5, 
14-9) 

were not done battling. Iowa 
passed around the offensive zone, 
carefully setting up a 3-point 
attempt that just missed. But it 
still managed a hard-fought layup, 
swinging the lead back in favor of 
the Hawkeyes.

With just 35 seconds left on the 

clock, the Wolverines needed to 
overcome their scoring struggles 
— they scored just 44.1 percent 
from the floor all game — to keep 
their home record immaculate. A 
timeout was called, and Michigan 
coach Kim Barnes Arico gave her 
team a play to run — but things 

turned out differently on the court.

“We 
would 
have 
had 

(sophomore 
forward 
Hallie 

Thome shoot) first, Katelynn 
second, Kysre third,” Barnes Arico 
said. “So (sophomore guard Nicole 
Munger) was actually a screener 
in that play. But she had the best 
matchup.”

Munger cut to the outside from 

beyond the 3-point line, got her 
shoulder in front of the defender 
and drove down the baseline, 
burying a layup.

“That was just the move that she 

made to the basket,” Gondrezick 
said. “It’s a move that she makes in 
practice every day, and it showed 
in the game. So we trusted her.”

But there were still 20 seconds 

on the clock, and the ball was in 
Iowa’s possession. Once again, 
the Hawkeyes missed a 3-point 
attempt, and there to snatch the 
rebound was Munger, who got 
fouled in the process.

Despite missing her free throw 

attempts, the ball ended up back 
in the Wolverines’ hands, as 
Thompson grabbed the ball off of 
Munger’s second attempt and was 
promptly fouled as well. With just 
six seconds left, she scored one of 
two attempts, earning Michigan’s 
final point for its 72-70 win.

The seconds that remained 

could have been enough time for 
Iowa to sink a 3-pointer, but Barnes 
Arico still had a few tricks left.

“We had so many fouls to give 

that we were trying to foul in the 
back court and stop the play,” 
Barnes Arico said.

The Wolverines gave three of 

their four remaining fouls in the 
last three seconds of the game, 
slowing things down and killing 
off the clock so the Hawkeyes had 
no chance to reclaim the lead. 
As the buzzer sounded, both the 
team and the crowd exploded with 
cheers to celebrate Michigan’s 
comeback victory.

“Last year we didn’t come out on 

the winning side of these games,” 
Barnes Arico said. “We had to go 
all the way down to the wire to get 
our lead and to win the game, and 
I think it took everything we had.”

Added Gondrezick: “That’s our 

motto. By any means, we just have 
to find a way to win.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MAGGIE KOLCON

Daily Sports Writer

JEREMY MITNICK/Daily

Sophomore guard Nicole Munger scored just seven points but managed to save the Wolverines from suffering their first loss at Crisler Center this season.

“Our team 
grinded out 
for a full 40 
minutes”

“We couldn’t 
really get our 
mojo going in 
the first half”

SYLVANNA GROSS

Daily Sports Writer

Nicole Munger scored a layup with 20 seconds remaining to maintain Michigan’s undefeated home record

Michigan starts year with same expectations

The 2016 season was the one 

that got away for the Michigan 
softball team.

The Wolverines had all the 

ingredients for success: They 
were 
the 
top-scoring 
team 

in the country, had a strong 
defensive unit, went 21-2 in 
conference play and won their 
ninth-straight Big Ten title. 
But, once again, the coveted 
Women’s College World Series 
title eluded them, after they 
were eliminated by Florida 
State to cap off a disappointing 
performance in Oklahoma City. 

Part of what made Michigan’s 

WCWS 
performance 
so 

heartbreaking was that the team’s 
seniors went to three WCWS in 
their four years but never took 
home a championship win. Four 
of those seniors were core players, 
including 2016 National Player 
of the Year Sierra Romero. As a 
four-year starter, she posted a 
batting average of at least .450 for 
three straight years and cemented 
her place as one of the greatest 
collegiate softball players of all 

time.

But the Romero-era is over, 

and for Michigan coach Carol 
Hutchins, it’s far in the past.

“It’s a huge loss, but I got over it, 

like, in September,” Hutchins said. 
“That’s Team 39. My only focus is 
on Team 40.”

Hutchins 
— 
the 
NCAA’s 

winningest softball coach — will 
begin her 33rd season at the helm 
of the Michigan program, but she 
has the same expectations and 
goals that she has every year: to be 
Big Ten Champions and to reach 
the World Series.

But a 10th-straight Big Ten title 

and a WCWS berth isn’t a certainty 
for No. 6 Michigan. With the loss 
of six seniors, the Wolverines are 
younger than they have been in 
recent years. Michigan has less 
star power to bail them out, so a 
balanced lineup will be crucial this 
season. 

While the infield is mostly 

unchanged from last year, the 
outfield will be almost completely 
new, as senior outfielder Kelly 
Christner is the lone returner. 
This opening will allow some of 
the four freshmen Wolverines 
to see playing time, a unique 

responsibility 
for 
such 
a 

historically impressive team. 

“You really want your freshmen 

to come in and not be freshmen,” 
Hutchins said. “The game doesn’t 
know if you’re a freshman or a 
senior.”

To ensure that the freshmen 

play with the confidence and 
strength that Hutchins looks 
for, strong senior leadership and 
support from Michigan’s four 
seniors will be imperative. 

Christner, senior right-hander 

Megan Betsa, and senior infielders 
Abby 
Ramirez 
and 
Lindsay 

Montemarano are poised to step 
into those familiar roles. 

“We all got a lot of playing 

time freshman year,” Christner 
said. “Looking up to the seniors 
and upperclassmen, that really 
showed us how to lead a team and 
how to be a voice on and off the 
field.”

While Christner was a captain 

last season, Betsa has mentored 
junior right-hander Tera Blanco 
and sophomore right-hander Leah 
Crockett while she took the fall off 
with an injury.

With an influx of youth and 

strong 
returning 
talent, 
the 

Wolverines have all the pieces 
to succeed in both the regular 
and postseason. However, there 
are 
still 
lingering 
questions 

determining the future of the 
season. 

A huge question mark for 

the Wolverines will be whether 
Christner can return to her form 
from two seasons ago, which saw 
her hit 21 home runs. Another 
question is whether Betsa will 
return to her top-notch pitching 
form coming off her injury. Yet 
another is whether Blanco will 
demonstrate 
prowess 
on 
the 

mound as well as the plate, after 
starting just five games as pitcher 
last season. 

Michigan will begin its season 

in Florida for the Wilson-Demarini 
Tournament in the first of five 
non-conference tournaments the 
Wolverines will participate in. 
Michigan will take on teams such 
as No. 4 Florida, No. 3 Florida 
State and No. 8 UCLA to begin 
their journey back to the top of the 
collegiate softball landscape.

“We’ll see how well Team 

40 does as we go through this 
journey,” Hutchins said. “But 
we’re excited to get started.”

ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer

MARINA ROSS/Daily

The Michigan softball team fell short of its expectations during the 2016 season, but could still make a push for the Women’s College World Series.

