8A — Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Sophomore running back Chris Evans has taken advantage of the offseason to gain more strength and knowledge.

Evans builds stronger physique 

Chris 
Evans 
strolled 
into 

the lobby of Towsley Family 
Museum, clad in a grey cut-off 
t-shirt and a pair of flip-flops. 
The customary flattop hairstyle 
— a trait which he became known 
for last year — was still there.

What 
was 
different 
was 

Evans’ physique. The sophomore 
running back has made upper-
body gains — significant enough 
that it was hard to believe that 
the 
difference 
between 
his 

weight Tuesday and last season 
was just seven pounds, up from 
205 to 212.

However striking his physical 

difference may have been, it 
probably should not have been 
a surprise. After all, Evans 
simply followed through with a 
plan that he told to many near 
the end of a breakout freshman 
campaign, one that saw him 
average seven yards per carry 
en route to 614 total rushing 
yards.

As the season wound down, 

Evans had said he wanted to 
put on more weight so he could 
run with a more bruising style 
similar to last year’s starter, 
De’Veon 
Smith, 
while 
also 

improving 
his 
pass-blocking 

ability and knowledge of the 
offense’s concepts.

“Basically last year, I was 

just going out there and I had 
one job,” Evans said Tuesday. 
“(Former running backs coach 
Tyrone) Wheatley just made 
sure I had one job, because once 
you get two jobs and you’ve got 
to check this and check that, it 
gets crazy.

“Most of the plays that I ran 

(last year) were like, ‘Okay, run 
to this gap,’ and that’s it. During 
(pass) protection, you have to 
look coast to coast and all that, 
so it’s really hard.”

In short, he wanted to develop 

the traits of a complete back 
— the type of back who would 
earn more than the 10 combined 
carries Evans received against 
Michigan State and Ohio State.

While the jury is still out on 

whether Evans will be able to 
dole out more punishment to 

opposing defenses and whether 
he has a better grasp of the 
offensive scheme, he claims he 
has already seen improvement in 
his pass blocking.

It was also evident in the 

results from Michigan’s Spring 
Combine that he has retained 
the speed, agility and overall 
athleticism 
that 
made 
him 

a home run threat last year, 
earning recognition as the top 
offensive 
performer 
for 
his 

standing within his position 
group.

Evans finished first amongst 

running backs in seven out of 
eight tests, each designed to 
measure athleticism. He had the 
highest vertical, the best shuttle 
times, the farthest broad jump, 
and the fastest 40-yard dash 
time at 4.64 seconds.

While 4.64 is still plenty fast, 

the time may have seemed slow 
to many, especially given Evans’ 
pedigree as a high school track 
star. Plus, he had flashed what 
certainly looked like 4.4 or 4.5 
speed plenty of times last year.

Evans was adamant that — 

even with the weight gain — 
he has maintained his speed, 
mentioning with a slight chuckle 
just when exactly the 4.64 time 
had been recorded — “It was 
6:00 in the morning.”

His physical change has come 

during what could have been 
a tumultuous offseason, given 
that his former position coach 
Wheatley left Michigan for the 
same position with the NFL’s 
Jacksonville Jaguars. Evans and 
Wheatley were close, and still 
are, with the former saying he 
still calls his old mentor nearly 
every other day.

“I talk to him a lot and he just 

tells me his side,” Evans said. 

“We just have long talks and 
stuff. ... I’ll send him clips of 
stuff I couldn’t do last year just 
to be like, ‘Hey coach, I’m getting 
better.’ ”

The Wolverines ended up 

finding an in-house solution for 
Wheatley’s vacancy, moving Jay 
Harbaugh from the tight ends 
to running backs, which eased 
the transition. Evans said the 
younger Harbaugh’s preparation, 
from 
having 
meetings 
and 

slideshows on the first day back, 
“really blew him away”.

And Evans, a speed and 

“finesse” 
back, 
as 
fifth-year 

senior center Patrick Kugler 
described, 
has 
enjoyed 
the 

change 
in 
philosophy 
that 

Harbaugh has brought to the 
position group as well.

“It’s a different perspective 

because Coach Wheatley, he had 
the perspective of a big back and 
I’m not a big back,” Evans said. 
“So the technique and things 
he was teaching me, I really 
couldn’t get all the way because 
I couldn’t relate to them. Coach 
Jay, he didn’t play running back, 
but he’s looking outside in, so he 
gives a different perspective of 
the game.”

It has been quite the eventful 

offseason for Evans, from the 
weight gain to the coaching 
change to the terminology that 
new assistant head coach and 
passing game coordinator Pep 
Hamilton has installed into the 
offense.

What has sustained Evans 

through all of the work and the 
grueling 
four-hour 
practices 

is the knowledge that slowing 
down could result in getting 
passed by any of the other backs 
on the roster.

“All the competition in the 

room just makes you compete 
at a higher level,” Evans said. 
“You have to come to practice 
knowing your stuff, or somebody 
will know more and he’ll expose 
you.

“You’re not gonna be like, ‘Oh, 

I’ve got to make sure I do better 
than him.’ No one’s saying that, 
that’s just in everyone’s head. … 
Having that competition in the 
room is just going to make you go 
that much harder.”

WOMEN’S LACROSSE
With full team effort, 
Michigan tops Niagara

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

lacrosse team (4-9) had no 
shortage of firepower on their 
way to a 20-10 victory over 
Niagara University (4-7) on 
Tuesday. 
In a well-
rounded 
team 
effort, 
the 
Purple 
Eagles 

just couldn’t seem to find 
the answers to anyone in the 
Wolverines’ lineup. 

The first half began with 

four unanswered goals for 
Michigan. Senior midfielder 
Ann Schueler had a standout 
performance as she scored 
two unassisted goals to start 
the game. Ten minutes later, 
senior Natalie Carti ended 
the scoreless drought off an 
assist from senior attacker 
Tess Korten. Korten went on 
to pick up a goal herself just 30 
seconds later. There were still 
about 15 minutes left to play in 
the first half.

Niagara 
began 
to 
build 

momentum 
three 
minutes 

later, 
scoring 
three 

unanswered points, but the 
Purple Eagles faltered shortly 
afterward, and failed to come 
any closer.

Schueler 
responded 

immediately, picking up a goal 
just 15 seconds after Niagara 
had scored.

“They made a push,” said 

Michigan 
coach 
Jennifer 

Ulehla. 
“We 
pushed 
back. 

We pushed back before the 
first half. And that makes a 
difference.”

With 41 seconds remaining 

in the first half, Korten scored 
her second goal. And with just 
two seconds left on the clock, 
freshman Sydney Whitaker 
broke through off an assist 
from Shueler. This put the 

Wolverines up, 7-3, at halftime.

Michigan blew open its lead 

halfway through the second 
half. 
Senior 
attacker 
Jess 

Angerman tallied three of 
her own, and goals also came 
from redshirt junior attacker 
Bianca 
Brueckner, 
junior 

attacker Mae Tarr and senior 
midfielder/attacker 
Lauren 

Olbermann.

Up 
until 
that 
point, 

upperclassmen had dominated 
the play for the Wolverines, but 
with a comfortable lead, Ulehla 
decided to give her younger 
players a chance to compete.

“It was great to be able to 

put in a lot of younger ones, 
freshmen and sophomores,” 
Ulehla said. “It was great to 
showcase our depth. So it was a 
great day for the youth and the 
future of Michigan lacrosse.”

Redshirt freshman attacker 

Adriana Pendino notched a hat 
trick, and freshmen midfielder 
Chandler Kirby and attacker 
Lilly Grass would pick up 
a 
goal 
apiece. 
Sophomore 

Grace Hemmer would also 
contribute a goal to wrap up 
the 20-10 win.

As the team gets ready to 

head into the last three games 
of their tough season, Ulehla 
explained the importance of 
Tuesday’s win.

“It’s good for us from a 

momentum 
standpoint,” 

Ulehla said. “We really did 
really well on the draw. We had 
nine 
draw-controls 
against 

Niagara, which just shows 
consistency. We’re going to 
carry that on into our game 
against (Johns) Hopkins.”

Michigan has just three 

games left to capitalize on 
its momentum, but if they 
continue to succeed as they did 
against the Purple Eagles, they 
might be able to pull together 
a great finish to a difficult 
season.

2016-17 Season in Review: Women’s Basketball 

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team overcame many 
hardships this season, despite 
having 
the 
most 
successful 

year in the program’s history. 
The 
Wolverines 
totaled 
28 

wins, smashing their record for 
victories in a season by six. They 
also finished in third place in the 
Big Ten — their best finish since 
the 2010-11 season.

Regardless 
of 
Michigan’s 

success, the selection committee 
opted to leave the Wolverines 
out of the NCAA Tournament, 
much to the team’s surprise. 
Michigan (11-5 Big Ten, 28-9 
overall), however, responded in 
the best way possible by finishing 
its season with six straight wins 
to claim its first-ever tournament 
championship.

The 
Daily 
recaps 
the 

highlights and lowlights of the 
2016-17 season.

Best 
game: 
WNIT 

Championship — Michigan 89, 
Georgia Tech 79

The most important game also 

happened to be the best game of 
the year. Down six points in the 
final 1:23 of regulation of the 
WNIT championship against the 
Yellow Jackets, the Wolverines 
clawed their way back to an 
improbable victory. Michigan 
can thank junior guard Katelynn 
Flaherty for that, as she hit two 
triples in those final 83 seconds 
to tie the game. It can also thank 
divine intervention, as Georgia 
Tech missed two free throws 
with 0.6 seconds left to send the 
game to overtime.

The Wolverines and Yellow 

Jackets battled back and forth in 
the extra periods, until Michigan 
finally broke away in the third 
overtime to give the Wolverines 
their first banner to hang in 
Crisler Center.

Worst game: Michigan State 

86, Michigan 68

All signs pointed toward a 

Wolverine victory headed into 
their in-state rivalry game with 

the Spartans on Feb. 19. Michigan 
was 21-6 entering the contest — 
13-0 at home — and prepared for 
its biggest home crowd ever for 
its “break the attendance record” 
game.

The Wolverines accomplished 

the feat with an attendance 
of 12,707, but suffered their 
second-worst 
defeat 
of 
the 

season. While Michigan lost 
the previous game to Indiana in 
Bloomington, its first and only 
home loss to Michigan State 
exposed a lot of the Wolverines’ 
flaws and marked their descent 
out of the Associated Press top-
25 poll and eventually the NCAA 
Tournament.

Best 
individual 

performance: 
Katelynn 

Flaherty in the WNIT

The junior guard’s scoring 

prowess — Flaherty averaged 
20.2 points per game this season 
— is a mainstay for Michigan, 
making her appearance in this 
category unsurprising. Even on 
the biggest stage she has ever 
played on, Flaherty still managed 
to shine on offense with 21.3 
points per contest in the six 
WNIT games.

Her biggest impact came in the 

WNIT championship, though. 
Flaherty didn’t make any of her 
first-quarter field goal attempts, 
but rebounded strongly with 
those two game-tying 3-pointers 
and 27 total points to re-energize 
her team.

Most important game: Penn 

State 76, Michigan 75

Even with losses down the 

stretch to Indiana and Michigan 
State, 
the 
Wolverines 
still 

appeared to be a lock for the 
Tournament before their regular 
season finale against the Nittany 
Lions. But tied at 75 with five 
seconds remaining, a shooting 
foul committed by sophomore 
center Hallie Thome put Penn 
State on the free throw line. 
The Nittany Lions only hit one 
of two attempts, but it was all 
they needed to top Michigan and 
seemingly seal the Wolverines’ 
fate out of the Big Dance, as they 

lost three of their final four Big 
Ten contests.

Most 
improved 
player: 

Jillian Dunston

The 
junior 
forward, 
who 

started just nine games and 
played 19.6 minutes per game in 
the 2015-16 season, started all 37 
games for Michigan this season 
and bumped her playing time up 
to 28.9 minutes per game. Her 
point total increased marginally 
from 4.4 to 5.8 points per game, 
but her efforts on the glass — 
7.7 rebounds a game — were the 
best on the team. Dunston’s most 
valuable contribution, though, 
has been her newfound role as 
the Wolverines’ emotional leader. 
She is often the most animated 
player on the court, and has 
become a vocal representative 
for Michigan during games. 
According to Flaherty, Dunston 
even guaranteed a 10-point win 
during a team huddle before 
the third overtime of the WNIT 

championship.

Most valuable player: Hallie 

Thome

It wouldn’t be wrong to put 

Katelynn Flaherty here as WNIT 
MVP and first team All-Big Ten 
honoree, but the Wolverines 
relied most heavily on Thome, 
their best frontcourt big. The 
sophomore center averaged 16.2 
points and 7.1 rebounds per game, 
and had her second consecutive 
season in the nation’s top-10 
for field goal percentage at 61.3. 
Thome was also a first team All-
Big Ten honoree.

Thome’s 
achilles’ 
heel 
— 

foul trouble — also makes her 
Michigan’s most valuable player. 
In seven of the Wolverines’ nine 
losses, Thome either had four 
fouls or fouled out, and had 
three fouls in the other two. 
With Thome off the court, it 
was exponentially harder for 
Michigan to win, a conviction 
that came to fruition.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

The Michigan women’s basketball team captured the WNIT Championship.

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

“Last year, I 
was just going 
out there and I 
had one job.”

ALEX SAYLOR

For the Daily

NIAGARA
MICHIGAN 

10
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