2B — February 20, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

A Sunday at a crossroads

I

t’s impossible to encapsulate 
a season in one game, and 
there’s been plenty of good 

news for the Michigan women’s 
basketball 
team this 
year. The 
20th-ranked 
Wolverines 
are 21-7, one 
win shy of 
tying their 
all-time best 
mark. They’re 
a near-lock to 
secure their 
seventh NCAA Tournament 
bid. And on Sunday, against 
Michigan State at Crisler Center, 
they shattered their previous 
attendance record of 5,991 with 
an announced crowd of 12,707 
(though that figure measures 
tickets sold). 

Then came an image that 

might linger for a while: By 
the end of the afternoon, three 
sections of Michigan State fans 
were the only ones cheering in 
the Spartans’ 86-68 win.

In front of those fans, the 

Wolverines reached a crossroads: 
They saw how far they have 
come, and also how far they 
have to go. They played in front 
of a record-breaking crowd, yet 
they failed to match it with a 
result. They were undefeated 
both at home and when playing 
after a loss this season, yet they 
tarnished both of those marks. 
They played while ranked 
against an unranked Michigan 
State team for the first time this 
century, yet they couldn’t take 
advantage.

The crowd factor has always 

been a focal point for the 
Wolverines. The problem has 
been establishing that fan base. 
When she was hired in 2003, 
former coach Cheryl Burnett 
made the atmosphere at Crisler 
an immediate priority. Early 
in her first season, she told the 

Daily, “I believe that our support 
system — which is the crowd, the 
fans — can help us win games. 
I’ve seen it, I’ve experienced 
it and I believe it.” But the 
Wolverines couldn’t establish 
momentum, finishing 35-83 in 
Burnett’s four years.

Then, in 2010, after Kevin 

Borseth’s Michigan team routed 
Syracuse to win its 21st game 
and advance to the WNIT 
semifinals, Borseth said: “I’m 
hoping Wednesday we can really 
lure a lot of people out here. 
It’s going to be a great night 
obviously, because there’ll be not 
a lot on TV, not a lot going on. It’s 
a Wednesday, should be a great 
day for basketball to fill Crisler. I 
think our record is 5,500, I think 
we can get 13 grand. I would 

love to see that.” Michigan drew 
2,456 and lost by 17.

Kim Barnes Arico was next 

at the helm, and she arguably 
has the program in better shape 
than it has ever been. Two years 
ago, after the Wolverines’ season 
ended in the WNIT semifinals 
before an announced crowd of 
2,209, Barnes Arico thanked the 
fans for what she called the “best 
atmosphere I’ve been a part of 
since I came here.”

She said that again Sunday — 

calling it the best atmosphere of 
her career except for her trips 
to powerhouse Connecticut 
while at St. John’s — and it was 
legitimate. The best team in 
program history drew the best 
crowd in program history.

Everything after that went 

south.

For a day, Michigan eased 

its problem of low attendance. 
But there was another hex the 
Wolverines couldn’t break — 
their struggles against Michigan 
State.

They are now 18-66 against 

their rivals from East Lansing, 
4-27 in the last 31 meetings and 
4-18 against Spartans coach Suzy 
Merchant.

“I always talk about, from 

the first time we played them, 
they’ve been the team in the 
state,” Barnes Arico said. 
“They’ve been the benchmark. 
They’ve been the program. They 
have had tradition. We’ve tried to 
learn from them, and we’ve tried 
to grow from where our program 
was.”

The Wolverines have always 

struggled to match their 
rivals in building a program. 
Michigan State boasts 13 
NCAA Tournament berths to 
Michigan’s six and three Sweet 
Sixteens to Michigan’s zero.

Over the past eight years 

entering this season, Michigan’s 
highest attendance average was 
2,593. Michigan State’s lowest 
was 5,844, and the Spartans 
ranked in the top 10 in the 
country in six of those years.

It’s a difficult gap to bridge, 

and it’s hard to build a program 
in women’s basketball because 
of the margin between the top 
tier and everyone else. No. 1 
Connecticut has both of the 
two longest winning streaks in 
college sports history.

But the Wolverines have 

made progress. Their record this 
season speaks for itself, they are 
generating more buzz and Barnes 
Arico pointed out that Michigan 
beat out Michigan State for top 
recruit Kysre Gondrezick out of 
Benton Harbor, Mich.

Sunday was a reminder that 

these transformations don’t 
happen overnight.

“What happens is, once 

you start winning a little bit, 
everybody expects you to win 
every one,” Barnes Arico said. 
“It was funny, we lost at Indiana 
(on Thursday) and we came 
home and it was like the world 
had come to an end, around Ann 
Arbor, around the office. It was 
like, ‘What happened? What 
happened?’

“I was like, ‘Golly, we’re not 

Connecticut. We’re probably 
not going to win every one, and 
coming into the year, those 
weren’t the expectations. But 
once you start winning, those 
expectations significantly 
change.”

Sunday’s loss may sting for 

a while, in part because of 
those new expectations. It was 
Michigan’s second-most lopsided 
loss of the year, its first in 14 
games at home and its first back-
to-back defeat as well.

Now Barnes Arico must 

manage those expectations. She 
said after the game it’s important 
for her team to stay confident. 
She told star guard Katelynn 
Flaherty — who shot 2-for-12 and 
scored four points, her lowest 
total since Feb. 28, 2015 — to keep 
her head up. Barnes Arico knows 
that, at third place in the Big 
Ten, her team is still in a good 
position, if a new one as well.

“Uncharted territory,” she 

said, “for sure.”

Lourim can be reached 

at jlourim@umich.edu and 

on Twitter @jakelourim.

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico has moved the program forward since taking over in 2012, but Sunday was an indication of progress that still needs to be made.

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

JAKE 
LOURIM

The good, the bad and the ugly

Amid a crowd of 12,707 – a sold-

out crowd at Crisler Center – be-
speckled with maize, blue, green 
and white, the No. 20 Michigan 
women’s basketball team fell to 
Michigan State (8-6, 19-9) in the 
second-to-last home game of the 
regular season.

Despite a two-game losing 

streak — to Indiana and now the 
Spartans — Michigan coach Kim 
Barnes Arico isn’t bending under 
the pressure. 

“Once you start winning, every-

body expects you to win every 
one,” Barnes Arico said. “We’re 
not going to win every one, and 
coming into the year those weren’t 
the expectations. But once you 
start winning, those expectations 
significantly change.” 

Added sophomore guard Nicole 

Munger: “We’re not afraid of hard 
work, and that’s what this week is 
going to be about. Get ready for a 
big bounce-back.” 

The Wolverines battled through 

seven-lead changes throughout 
the game and managed a 43-42 
Michigan lead going into half-
time. They used scoring-runs by 
sophomore center Hallie Thome 
(21 total points), freshman guard 
Kysre Gondrezick (19), freshman 
forward Kayla Robbins (8) and 
Munger (12) to try to power past 
Michigan State. 

But, ultimately, a poor defensive 

showing and a dominant Spartan 
guard, Tori Jankoska, led to the 
Wolverines’ downfall. 

The Daily breaks down where 

Michigan stands after this week-
end’s performance. 

The good 
The Wolverines (10-4 Big Ten, 

21-7 overall) reached the 20-win 
mark faster than any other season 
in program history. And, if the team 
wins its upcoming games against 
both Nebraska and Penn State, 
Michigan could still tie for most-
ever wins in a season, reached only 
in 1999-2000 and 2012-2013.

The fan base is noticing the 

upward trend of the Wolverines, 
and proved it by breaking the pre-
vious record for tickets sold by 
more than 200 percent. 

“That was probably the best 

atmosphere I’ve ever been a part 
of,” Barnes Arico said. “If I could 
just thank the Michigan fans and 
the crowd today, it was incredible 
…That was a really unbelievable, 
incredible atmosphere.

“My first year here it was a great 

crowd, and it was mostly green, 
which was horrible. But today, it 
was mostly maize and blue, and it 
was unbelievable.” 

Other good looks included 

“spark plugs” like Munger, who 
was used in the last half of every 
period to push past deficits. 
Munger sunk 12 points, grabbed 
five rebounds and contributed an 
assist in 21 minutes of play-time. 

“I love coming in and playing 

’12,’ that’s our defense that I’m at 
the top at,” Munger said. “Even if 
it is just for a couple minutes, (I’m) 
bringing that spurt of energy.”

The bad
Even with this weekend’s loss, 

the Wolverines are still two games 
ahead of both the Spartans and the 
Hoosiers, who trail them in the 
Big Ten rankings. Michigan is still 
poised to notch a spot in the NCAA 
Tournament, something Michigan 
State is vying for with intensity.

“Everybody might be, ‘What’s 

going on? You just lost two games 
back-to-back,’ ” Barnes Arico said. 
“But we lost two games against 
two really good teams, and I think 
it’s important for our program at 
this state to remain positive and 
to keep our confidence and to con-
tinue to try to practice to improve 
everyday.” 

But, Michigan is facing pres-

sure to perform in these next two 
games to keep its spot open. Any 
major dip and its chances at a spot 
in the tournament for the first 
time since Barnes Arico’s first year 
here could be in jeopardy. 

The ugly 
Defensively, the Wolverines 

had trouble staying strong. In 
two instances, Michigan State 
trumped Michigan’s efforts to 
keep afloat. The first was a 14-4 
run in the first half of the third 
quarter – typically, a strong por-
tion of the Wolverines’ game – and 
the second was a 19-10 success in 
the final period. 

Added to that was junior guard 

Katelynn 
Flaherty’s 
inability 

to reach the rim. With just four 

points, Flaherty’s typical presence 
on the court was missed. 

“I think teams have scouted us,” 

Barnes Arico said. “I think the last 
couple games we played against 
teams that are pretty good teams. 
So they are in Katelynn Flaherty’s 
– she didn’t, I don’t think, she got 
an easy look at all tonight. I thought 
she had to work for everything. So 
we got to, as a program, as coaches, 
try to get her some easier looks.” 

Jankoska 
befuddled 
the 

defense using a “right-to-left, 
behind-the-back 
crossover, 

step-back for a ‘3,’ ” according to 
Munger. Despite the Wolverines’ 
best efforts, the Spartan was 
impenetrable in her approach to 
the basket. 

“I keep using the term ‘get bet-

ter,’ because there’s a lot of differ-
ent things we got to get better on.” 
Munger said. “I think our one-on-
one defense has been pretty poor 
the past couple of days. In practice, 
the past few days, we really focused 
on that and I think we got better at 
it. Michigan State just did a great 
job of hitting shots today. Really 
hard shots. We were contesting 
them, but that’s no excuse because 
we need to get right up next to them 
and make it a harder shot for them.” 

‘M’ drops first home game

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team was well aware 
that 
its 

matchup 
against 
Michigan 
State would have an intensity 
unlike anything it has seen this 
season.

On top of the storied in-state 

rivalry, the Wolverines sought 
to 
break 
their 
attendance 

record 
at 
Crisler 
Center. 

Michigan fulfilled that goal 
and then some, more than 
doubling its previous record 
of 5,991 fans set in 2011, with 
12,707 attendees on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the energy 

from the crowd wasn’t enough 
for the Wolverines (10-4 Big 
Ten, 21-7 overall), as they 
ultimately couldn’t keep up 
with 
the 
Spartans’ 
potent 

offense, falling 86-68. The 
loss to Michigan State (8-6, 
18-9) ended Michigan’s perfect 
home record — the team had 
won its previous 13 contests 
in Ann Arbor this season. It 
was also the Wolverines’ worst 

3-point shooting performance 
of the season, going a paltry 
3-for-17 
behind 
the 
arc, 

with usual 3-point specialist 
Katelynn Flaherty scoring just 
four points.

“We’re trying not to live 

and die by the three because 
we have an inside presence 
with Hallie (Thome),” said 
sophomore 
guard 
Nicole 

Munger. “Today we weren’t 
making them and they were, 
but we can’t let that control 
our effort on defense and other 
facets of the game.”

In 
the 
first 
quarter, 

Michigan’s 
defense 
was 

attacked 
early 
and 
often. 

Despite 
Thome 
scoring 

the Wolverines’ first eight 
points, 
the 
Spartans 
were 

nearly 
indefensible, 
hitting 

six of their first seven shots. 
Michigan State forward Tori 
Jankoska, in particular, shot a 
perfect 5-for-5 from the floor 
to tally 13 points — 28 for the 
game — and put her team up, 
26-18, at the end of the quarter.

“To be able to set the tone 

for defense and offense, I think 
that starts with me,” Jankoska 
said. “I like to be able to do that 
for the team in the first quarter 
especially.”

Added Michigan State coach 

Suzy Merchant: “To come out 
with that intensity with Tori 
- she’s our energy guy. When 
she’s making shots good things 
are going to happen.”

Freshman 
forward 
Kayla 

Robbins, 
who 
has 
played 

sparingly in Big Ten play, was 
a welcome sight in the first 
frame for Michigan, as she 
scored eight straight points 
after Thome’s run for the 
Wolverines. The two were the 
only Michigan players to score 
in the opening quarter.

Eager to right the ship in 

front of the team’s largest home 
crowd ever, the Wolverines 
began the second quarter with 
a 3-pointer and a breakaway 
layup courtesy of sophomore 
guard 
Nicole 
Munger 
and 

freshman 
guard 
Kysre 

Gondrezick, respectively.

The 
Spartans 
continued 

their torrid scoring pace, but 

were unable to generate any 
offense in the paint. Low post 
pressure forced a number of 
turnovers and off-balance shots 
inside, and the Wolverines 
capitalized. Gondrezick went 
off for 13 points and two steals 
to spark Michigan’s comeback 
effort. The Wolverines hit six 
of their final eight field goals 
to retake the lead, 43-42, going 
into halftime.

But the real story at the 

half was Michigan’s defense. 
The Wolverines were winning 
the turnover battle, 11-4, and 
held Jankoska scoreless in the 
second quarter to make up for 
her outburst in the first.

The game of runs wasn’t 

over, though. After trading 
baskets to begin the second 
half, the Spartans used a 10-0 
swing to take a nine-point lead 
that would quickly balloon to a 
13-point deficit for Michigan. 
Baskets by Munger and Thome 
ate 
into 
Michigan 
State’s 

advantage, but seven third-
quarter turnovers ultimately 
plagued the Wolverines, as 
they were down by nine going 
into the final frame.

“Once they went back to 

full strength at the start of the 
third, we didn’t adjust well 
and they got the lead,” said 
Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico. “At this stage of the 
game, people are (going to) 
know what you’re gonna do 
and we’ve gotta execute.”

From there, the Spartans’ 

offensive onslaught continued, 
and Michigan shot just 3-for-
14 to compensate. Despite the 
record number of Wolverine 
fans 
in 
attendance, 
the 

Michigan 
State 
contigent 

overpowered Crisler Center 
with chants of “Go Green! Go 
White!” early in the quarter 
with the Spartans up by a 
decisive margin.

The 
loss 
exposed 
the 

Wolverines’ vulnerability to 
talented Big Ten foes, and 
they now have just two games 
remaining 
in 
the 
regular 

season to get back on track 
after dropping back-to-back 
games for the first time this 
season.

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick and Michigan lost to the Spartans on Sunday.

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer

OHIO STATE
MICHIGAN 

86
68

SYLVANNA GROSS

Daily Sports Editor

