The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 — 7

‘M’ takes down Detroit Mercy

DETROIT — The Michigan 

women’s 
basketball 
team’s 

game against Detroit Mercy 
started off in dramatic fashion 
on Monday night. The Titans 
drilled 
four 
consecutive 

3-pointers to take the lead 
within the first few minutes. 

Detroit 
Mercy’s 
bench 

carried all the energy in the 
gym and got louder with every 
basket 
as 
the 
Wolverines 

slowly fell behind. At the six-
minute mark, the Titans hit 
their fifth 3-pointer of the first 
quarter to take a 10-point lead.

Michigan found its footing 

quickly, though, and finished 
the 
contest 
in 
dominant 

fashion to come away with a 
86-50 win.

“They came out of the gates 

locked in and focused and 
jumped on us right away, but 
we responded once we settled 
in,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 

Kim Barnes-Arico. “But they 
scored 17 points in the first 
four minutes — which was 
incredible — but I thought we 
did a better job defensively, 
and then they missed some 
shots later in the game.”

The Wolverines had eight 

turnovers in the first quarter, 
which senior guard Katelyn 
Flaherty said contributed to 
the Titans’ early run.

“I think our turnovers in the 

beginning really hurt us, and 
it really helped their offense,” 
Flaherty said. “So I think once 
we settled down and really 
locked in defensively, that 
gave us a lot of momentum 
on offense. And we knew that 
they really couldn’t guard us 
in the post with Hallie down 
there, so we got her a lot of 
early looks.”

Slowly 
but 
surely, 
the 

Wolverines closed the gap and 
took the lead by one point with 
40 seconds remaining the first 
quarter.

Michigan finished the first 

quarter in a tie at 20, and then 
came out more aggressive in 
the second quarter. Once the 
Wolverines took 
the 
lead, 
they 

never 
looked 

back, 
finishing 

the 
first 
half 

with 
a 
47-28 

advantage.

The 

Wolverines 
started strongly 
again in the third 
quarter, going on 
an 8-0 stretch 
midway through 
the frame.

While the Titans were able 

to narrow a 35-point deficit 
to 23 at one point in the third 
quarter, they still ended the 
frame down by 30. And when 
Michigan started the fourth 

quarter with four unanswered 
points, it slowly began to 
empty its bench — a sign that 
the game was all but over. 

For 
the 

Wolverines, 
Monday 
was 
another 

memorable 
moment 
at 
Calihan 

Hall, 
where 

Michigan won 
the 
WNIT 

Championship 
game 
last 

season.

“I love this 

place, it’s like our second home 
in 
Michigan,” 
Barnes-Arico 

said. “This university was so 
incredible for allowing us to 
host that WNIT championship. 
This place will always hold a 
special place in my heart.”

Flaherty puts on clinic in win

DETROIT 
— 
Katelynn 

Flaherty opened the second 
half with a pullup 3, the type 
of shot you take when you’re 
feeling 
it. 
When 
Flaherty 

released it from a few feet 
beyond 
the 
line, 
Detroit 

Mercy’s 
Brittney 
Jackson 

yelled 
an 
expletive 
loud 

enough to hear from press 
row. The shot rattled out. 
The sentiment, however, was 
warranted.

On the Wolverines’ next 

possession, the Titans let her 
shoot again, leaving a crease 
for Flaherty to drive through. 
She took it happily, then hit 
the shot to boot.

“I think it’s just funny,” 

Flaherty said, smiling. “I hear 
(expletives) a lot, especially 
when people are trying to 
guard me.”

The 
senior 
point 
guard 

finished the night with 26 
points, 22 of them in the first 

half. Coming into the game, 
her season average was 23.7. 
She was 11-of-14 from the field 
in the first half, dotting her 
shot chart with runners, elbow 
pullups, transition layups, and 
two 3-pointers. In the second, 
she barely needed to play, 
having done her work early.

“When I come out and hit 

my first couple shots, I know 
I’m pretty much gonna have 
a good night,” Flaherty said. 
“I still think that even when I 
miss, but obviously when you 
make it, it just gives you a lot 
of confidence.”

Of course, this wasn’t her 

first rodeo at Calihan Hall. 
Flaherty scored 27 points, 
including two late 3-pointers 
to 
tie 
the 
game, 
against 

Georgia Tech in the WNIT 
Championship game last year.

“We 
had 
shootaround 

today and it was incredible,” 
said coach Kim Barnes Arico. 
“Even pulling up, just the 
memories flooding back as to 
what that meant last year. So it 
was special.”

Unlike other games this year 

where the focus has been more 
on distributing 
the ball from 
the 
point 

guard position, 
Flaherty was a 
pure scorer on 
Monday. She led 
Michigan with 
19 shot attempts 
despite playing 
sparingly — just 
six minutes — in 
the second half. 
Not that anyone 
minded.

“She’s the best scorer in the 

country, we need her to take 19 
shots,” Barnes Arico said. “So 
if she’s not taking shots, I’m 
probably on her to take a few 
more. She needs to shoot the 
basketball every single time 
that she’s open, because she 
doesn’t really miss.”

A month into the season, 

Flaherty’s adjustment to point 
guard hasn’t hindered her 
scoring. Her points per game, 
field-goal 
percentage, 
and 

3-point percentage numbers 

have all gone up this year.

That doesn’t mean things 

have been seamless, however. 
At the start of the year, the 
Wolverines liked going to a 
side pick-and-roll set with 
Flaherty and junior center 
Hallie Thome. They’ve largely 
ditched that now, and have yet 
to find go-to plays that involve 
Flaherty distributing.

“We have a lot of sets, we’ll 

go back to it I’m sure,” Barnes 
Arico said. “Offense seemed 
to be working, I dunno, we 
scored 80-something points, 
so maybe we didn’t need it. I 
always have something in my 
pocket, though, if we need it.”

Michigan 
tried 
some 

HORNS sets early in the 
Detroit game. Those could 
serve that purpose in the 
future — one of them opened 
up a corner 3 for junior guard 
Nicole Munger, though she 
missed.

The team is still trying to 

find the right actions and 
sets for Flaherty as a passer, 
according to Barnes Arico.

“We put in a lot of new stuff,” 

she said. “We didn’t have 

(Flaherty) 
go 

through to the 
side 
pick-and-

roll 
(against 

Detroit) in the 
first half, and 
we were going 
to go to it in the 
second half, but 
we didn’t need 
to.

“Everybody 

watches 
every 
film 
of 

everything 
we 

play, so in games like this, we 
don’t go through our playbook. 
We try to keep it as simple 
as possible. But we put in a 
bunch of different actions to 
try and get Hallie and Kate on 
the same side, because that’s a 
difficult matchup.”

On 
nights 
like 
Monday, 

however, scheme ceases to 
matter. Flaherty could hit from 
any place, at any time, against 
anyone. The only defensive 
solution: don’t let her shoot.

Just ask Brittany Jackson.

Two Michigan commits catch first glimpse of future team

PLYMOUTH, Mich. — True 

to the variance in experience 
levels, Saturday night’s exhibition 
between the Michigan hockey 
team and the U-18 U.S. National 
Team 
Development 
Program 

ended in a lopsided victory for the 
Wolverines.

In front of 3,715 fans — the 

largest home crowd for a USNTDP 
game ever — the college students 
handily put the high schoolers in 
their place with a dominant 7-3 
victory.

Despite 
the 
unfortunate 

outcome for the youngsters, two 
USNTDP players — defensemen 
Bode 
Wilde 
and 
Mattias 

Samuelsson — got their first taste 
of the program they will play for 
next season.

Saturday night, both skaters 

saw 
what 
will 
follow 
the 

completion of their two-year 
stints with the developmental 
program based just 20 minutes 
away from Ann Arbor.

“It 
was 
interesting,” 

Samuelsson said. “Playing them 
in our rink instead of Yost was 
definitely pretty cool. A lot of 
people came out to play, and just 
to see the way they play and what 
they can bring was a pretty good 
experience.”

Added Wilde: “It was pretty 

exciting. I don’t know too many 
of those guys, so I got my first 
impressions of a lot of them on the 
ice, which was great.”

Born 
and 
raised 
in 

Birmingham, 
Mich., 
Wilde 

always had the Wolverines on his 
radar.

As a child, Wilde watched his 

first college hockey game from 
the stands of Yost Ice Arena. 
Years later, he’ll have the chance 
to lace up his skates and play 
on that same ice — donning the 
maize and blue.

“I’ve had a relationship with 

(Michigan assistant coach Brian 
Wiseman) for a while and when 
(coach Mel Pearson) came in, I 
had an opportunity to meet him,” 
Wilde said. “After that, it was a 
no-brainer for me.

“Pearson just explained to me 

the style and way the team played. 
And I think it really suits how I 
play as a player, so it’s a good fit.”

In 23 games this season, Wilde 

ranks third on the USNTDP in 
assists and points with 11 and 
15, respectively. Almost half his 
points — two goals and five assists 
— have come against nine NCAA 
teams, many of which he may face 
again as a Wolverine.

Wilde attributes his success to 

the daily — and intense — regimen 
of the USNTDP over the past year 
and a half, particularly noting the 
importance of facing a plethora of 
Division I and III opponents.

“I think my play has grown 

in all areas,” Wilde said. “I’ve 
become a lot sounder defensively 
and just learning how to create 
offense without the puck rather 
than with it.”

Samuelsson 
has 
also 
put 

up 
impressive 

numbers, 
notching 
four 

goals and seven 
assists 
in 
22 

games, including 
two 
helpers 

Saturday night.

Unlike Wilde, 

the 
Voorhees, 

N.J. native heard 
about 
Michigan 

through 
word-

of-mouth before 
ultimately committing.

“Ann Arbor is a great college 

town and then on top of that, 
it’s a great hockey program,” 
Samuelsson said. “I’ve heard a 

lot about it from guys that I know 
there, and they have nothing 
but good things to say, so it just 
seemed like a great move.”

Samuelsson hails from a hockey 

family. His father, Kjell, played 

in the NHL for 
14 years and is 
currently 
the 

Director of Player 
Development for 
the Philadelphia 
Flyers. 
His 

brother, 
Lukas, 

plays at Western 
Michigan 
University.

The 
six-foot-

four 
blueliner 

came 
into 
the 

USNTDP needing to put on some 
body weight. Through daily gym 
exercises, Samuelsson built his 
frame, and now the 217-pounder 
is a regular in the rotation, 

competing against some of the 
nation’s best young players. 

But even after making strides 

in 
the 
program, 
Samuelsson 

knows there is still room for 
improvement in his play, as 
evidenced by his takeaways from 
facing the Wolverines.

“They win a lot of battles, and 

you could tell that when they have 
opportunities to score, they don’t 
mess up,” Samuelsson said. “You 
can’t take a shift off. These guys 
are older, stronger and they’ll 
take advantage of you if you’re 
slacking.”

Wilde believes winning at the 

college level starts with keeping 
pace with other skaters and 
upping the tempo on the ice.

“Just focusing on playing fast, 

that’s a big one,” Wilde said. 
“College players are big and 
strong, so I need to make sure 
I’m really focusing on what I do 

in the weight room and work on 
my defensive game. That’s going 
to be big next year.”

Wilde and Samuelsson will 

come to Michigan well-traveled, 
with 
impressive 
international 

resumes. As members of the 
USNTDP, the defensemen won 
the 
2016 
U17 
Four 
Nations 

Tournament and 2017 U17 Five 
Nations Tournament.

Wilde also secured the 2016 

World Under-17 Challenge and 
Samuelsson received a gold medal 
in the 2016 Youth Olympic Games.

Many Wolverines have similar 

achievements to their names. 
Ten icemen on its current roster 
— and 47 to date — played for the 
USNTDP. Over the past 18 years, 
many matched up against their 
future team in the annual contest 
before ultimately finding a home 
at Yost the next season.

Coming into the weekend, 

Pearson admitted his gaze may 
wander during the exhibition 
to a handful of players in red, 
white and blue sweaters — like 
Wilde and Samuelsson, though 
he couldn’t comment any further.

“I can’t talk about specific 

guys obviously, but there’s no 
question about it,” Pearson said 
last Tuesday. “Every year we play 
them, you’re always anxious and 
hope your guys play well against 
you. No question about it, you’ll 
have an eye on your team, but 
you’ll be wondering how player A, 
B, C does too.”

After Saturday’s exhibition, 

Pearson had a similar response 
when asked how a certain few 
USNTDP players performed.

“We know who they are, we 

know all the good players. They’ve 
got a roster full of players,” 
Pearson said. “But it’s hard to 
just focus on your team and try to 
judge our team as the game goes, 
so it was a good experience for 
us to watch our guys, but also to 
watch their team a little bit.

“And I noticed some guys.”

SARAH HURST
Daily Sports Writer

USNTDP defensemen Bode Wilde and Mattias Samuelsson played against the Wolverines in Saturday’s game

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Michigan coach Mel Pearson admitted that he paid attention to the players that will join him in Ann Arbor next season during the exhibition game Saturday. 

BENJAMIN KATZ

Daily Sports Writer

We know who 
they are, we 
know all the 
good players

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Senior guard Katelynn Flaherty had her way against Detroit Mercy, racking up 22 points in the first half alone Monday.

They came out 

of the gates 
locked in and 

focused

The Titans started off on top, but the Wolverines came 
back in full force to eventually blow out the home team

She’s the best 
scorer in the 
country ... she 
doesn’t really 

miss

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

