8 — Friday, February 10, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wolverines set for matchup with Big Ten bottom dweller Wisconsin
For the second time this season,
the Wolverines are hoping to scare
off some Badgers.
The No. 21 Michigan women’s
basketball team
will be hosting
Wisconsin
in
its
annual
Pink Game for
breast
cancer
awareness
Sunday.
The
Wolverines
(9-2
Big
Ten,
20-5
overall)
are coming off
their 20th win
of
the
season
after dominating
Purdue,
72-61,
and have yet to lose at Crisler
Center.
“It’s just another game,” said
freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick
after a win against Iowa on Feb.
5. “But, ultimately, we talk about
protecting the ‘M’ and protecting
our own court.”
The team motto, according to
Gondrezick, has been to “just find a
way to win.” For the Wolverines, the
crux of that has been Gondrezick,
who scored a career-high 25 points
to notch her fourth 20-plus scoring
performance of the year. Gondrezick
went 9-for-13 from the field and
4-for-7 from the 3-point range.
The
success
against
the
Boilermakers was rounded out
with contributions from sophomore
Hallie
Thome,
junior
guards
Katelynn
Flaherty
and
Jillian
Dunston and senior guard Siera
Thompson. Remarkably, Thompson
played all 40 minutes of the contest.
The defense, led by Dunston, has
proven to be the backbone of this
team. Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico has worked to improve both
press and zone defense on her squad,
which was evident in the come-
from-behind victory against Iowa in
the final minute.
“I think what happens sometimes,
and it’s happened to us in the past, is
when you change defenses and then
come back to an old defense it shakes
it up a little bit,” Barnes Arico said.
“So when we went zone and then we
save the press kind of until the end …
it was more effective than just doing
it all the time.”
But, it’s hard to fathom Michigan
needing that much strategy in its
upcoming contest.
The impending matchup with
the Badgers (1-10, 6-18) won’t be
too threatening for the Wolverines.
They are ranked for the first time
since 2013 and have won 20 of its
first 25 games for the first time in
program history, while Wisconsin
has only won one game against a
conference team.
The Badgers most recent game
was that first win on Thursday
against Nebraska. Wisconsin is
sporting top players in junior guard
Cayla McMorris and fifth-year
senior forward Avyanna Young.
The two lead the team, averaging
12.9 and 10.2 points per game,
respectively.
Yet, the Badgers poor shooting
has hindered the team. They
rank last overall in the Big Ten
conference, and 13th — in front of
only Rutgers — in scoring and field
goal percentage. Wisconsin has
managed to shoot just 46 percent
from the field, compared to its
opponents, who have averaged 45.
In the last meeting between
the Wolverines and the Badgers,
Michigan swept the court, 73-56.
Thome led the charge with 37 points
and 14 rebounds, while going 13-for-
15 from the floor and 11-for-13 from
the free throw line.
The Wolverines trailed by a point
after the first quarter but managed
to hold a seven-point lead at halftime
to head a breakaway for the win.
Wisconsin tends to lead strong, but
Michigan matches that with its
reputation of breaking away during
the third quarter and suppressing its
opponents on the defensive end.
Michigan hopes to continue
its home-court success while also
notching another win against the
Badgers. Its win streak at Crisler
brings confidence, but no Michigan
player wants to sit comfortably and
assume a win.
“Definitely looking at other
team’s records (helps),” Thome
said. “You have the (other team’s
numbers) to prove that you can beat
them. But, I think that in the Big
Ten, any day, it’s like any team can
step up and beat you. The Big Ten,
knowing what kind of conference
it is, you just got to bring your best
game every day.”
SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Editor
MAX KUANG/Daily
Senior guard Siera Thompson played a full 40 minutes against Purdue.
Wisconsin
at Michigan
Matchup:
Michigan
9-2 Big Ten,
20-5 overall;
Wisconsin
1-10, 6-18
When: Sunday
2 P.M. ET
Where: Crisler
Center