8 — Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
It’s the Friday before the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team will learn its fate, and
Kim Barnes Arico is playing the
waiting game. The coach knows
her team will make the NCAA
Tournament
on
the
coming
Monday, but she doesn’t know.
She’ll never feel comfortable
knowing again, because she knew
last year and was wrong.
The Wolverines were left out
of the NCAA Tournament then,
and nothing else matters. They
made the most of their situation,
winning the Women’s National
Invitational
Tournament.
It
didn’t heal the wound.
“Especially now with waiting
for Monday, I think it’s at the top
of my mind,” Barnes Arico says,
a conversational tone suddenly
turning serious. “I think I will
forever be scarred because of
that.”
When you spend time around
this team, you see those scars.
The goal has been stated time
and time again, sometimes with a
measure of defiance. Barnes Arico
declared Michigan was robbed
last season during a postgame
press conference in late January.
Others take a more diplomatic
tact — We felt we did enough — but
the sentiment is still the same.
The Wolverines were told after
last season they were left out of
the Tournament due to a lack of
quality wins, something they took
measures to correct. Between
home wins over Marquette and
Maryland and a victory over Ohio
State on the road, Michigan has
three top-25 wins by RPI, where
last season it had none.
Despite this, Barnes Arico
refuses to let herself express
certainty.
“For us it will always be a reality
of, ‘Okay, you’re never guaranteed,’
” she says. “You always gotta
continue to work and continue to
improve and continue to get better.
Because you never know what the
committee is gonna be looking for
at any given time.”
With its season on the line,
Michigan pulled an upset victory
out of its hat against then-No. 13
Maryland in the final game of
the regular season. At the Big
Ten Tournament, the Wolverines
added the cherry on top with a
win over Penn State. That adds
a measure of confidence to the
wait, but a degree of worry is still
there.
After
all,
Michigan
spent
most of February losing. Beating
the Terrapins was as close to an
all-or-nothing proposition the
Wolverines have had all year for
just that reason.
Barnes Arico didn’t stress the
must-win nature of that game
before it happened because she
feels Michigan plays worse under
that kind of pressure. But she
knew it, and so did everyone else.
After that win, there was
a palpable relief in the air.
It has carried over into this
conversation, where Barnes Arico
jokes about potential locations
for the first two rounds. But relief
isn’t certainty, and Barnes Arico
won’t be caught mistaking one for
the other.
***
Michigan has read the same
book for two years in a row
as a team, Joshua Medcalf’s
Chop Wood Carry Water. It’s a
motivational book, the type of
thing you read as a team, and one
part of the story sticks out.
The main character is an
architect, and a good one at that.
He’s getting old and is asked to
build one last house, a task he
finishes halfheartedly. When the
job is done, his client gives him
the key as a gift. The house, one
of the architect’s worst-ever jobs,
belongs to him.
“It
kind
of
goes
with
basketball,” said junior center
Hallie Thome at the beginning
of the season. “You know, like
building your own house. Each
and every day you’re building your
own player on the court, you’re
building your own confidence,
and we’re building a team each
and every practice.”
The book was then-senior,
now-graduate assistant Danielle
Williams’ suggestion last year,
and the Wolverines learned the
lesson firsthand. They built their
house, the Selection Show came,
and then there was no choice but
to live there.
When Michigan started to look
lost this year, struggling under the
weight of expectation that came
with being ranked as highly as
13th in the country, Barnes Arico
turned to the same message.
“When we started to get
tight and we stopped thinking
— we started to worry about the
outcome and not the process — I
thought that (the book) would be
a reminder to us, as to why we’re
doing this and what’s important,”
Barnes Arico said. “And to bring
us back to who we are and our
core values and what our program
stands for. And it’s just a constant
reminder of that and just another
way and another voice other than
my voice or my assistant coaches’
voices — or Jillian (Dunston’s)
voice.”
Last year, it was Dunston
who rallied the Wolverines at
practice the morning after the
Selection Show, telling them in no
uncertain terms they would win
the WNIT and hang a banner.
On Tuesday, that won’t be
necessary.
***
The Wolverines watched the
Selection Show at Revel and Roll
bowling alley last season, renting
out a suite and inviting media to
witness an impending celebration
that never was. This year, they
took a quieter tack, watching the
show at Barnes Arico’s house, a
more open space for catharsis.
The first region came and went
without Michigan’s name being
called. When the second did as
well, the nerves started creeping
in. Barnes Arico had felt confident
coming in — there was no reason
not to — but the tone in the room
was changing from lighthearted
to stoic.
“I could see Jilly starting to put
her hand over her face,” Barnes
Arico said. “My own children
were like, ‘We can’t watch
anymore,’ so I think everyone was
getting a little stressed.
“... My little one came and sat
on on my lap and said, ‘Mommy,
I don’t like this,’ and then my son
is like, ‘Ah, I don’t feel so good.’ …
The longer it went, the tighter we
became.”
Finally, their name was called
and a year’s worth of emotions
spilled out of the Wolverines.
Dunston jumped out of her chair,
then leapt up and down a few
more times, turning to Katelynn
Flaherty, a fellow senior, who
bounced into her arms to share
the moment.
“The most devastating part
for me as a coach last year was
(seniors) Danielle Williams and
Siera Thompson didn’t get to
experience it and what they had
given to our program through
the years,” Barnes Arico said. “... I
didn’t want to leave that hole and
that emptiness there again with
Jillian and Katelynn.”
Assistant coach Wesley Brooks
jumped into the middle of the
room and let out a roar, turning
to the ceiling to punctuate his
exuberance. The entire room
flew upwards at the same time,
because what else is there to do
when you’ve just accomplished
your goal?
“We didn’t really hear much
after that,” Barnes Arico said.
“Thank goodness we recorded
the show.”
The Wolverines, the seventh
seed
in
the
Lexington,
Ky.
regional,
will
play
No.
10
Northern Colorado in Waco, TX.
on Friday (5 pm, ESPN2). If they
get by the Bears, No. 2 Baylor
will likely await, and with it, the
almost-certain end of Michigan’s
season.
But that doesn’t matter.
The Wolverines wanted one
thing from this season: an NCAA
Tournament
bid.
They
built
a house big enough to earn it.
Everything else is just window
dressing.
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
The Michigan women’s basketball team made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 on Monday.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico will be in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in her coaching career.
FINALLY
After just missing out last
season, the Michigan women’s
basketball team has made the
2018 NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines gathered at
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico’s house to watch the
Selection Show on Monday
evening and waited patiently
for their name to be announced.
Seniors Katelyn Flaherty and
Jillian Dunston sat together
on a big chair. The mood was
upbeat as Barnes Arico walked
around and asked everyone
their predictions.
“I was going around the
room asking different players
different questions, and the
mood was really light,” Barnes
Arico
said.
“Everyone
was
laughing and having a good
time.”
Barnes Arico wanted to add
levity to a tense situation. After
all, the Wolverines were almost
guaranteed a spot last year,
but the show ended without
Michigan’s name mentioned.
However, as the show went on
Monday, the Wolverines began
to get a little bit nervous. The
memory of waiting hopefully for
their name to be called last year
hung in the back of the team’s
minds.
“By the time bracket two
was called and we weren’t
mentioned, no one was really
talking anymore and everyone
was a little quiet,” Barnes Arico
said. “You could see the beads of
sweat starting to form on some
of their heads. It was a little
nerve-racking at that point.”
But then Michigan’s moment
came.
The Wolverines were finally
added to the field, and the
suspense was lifted.
“We were getting a stomach
ache because it was a while
through. ... Everyone was getting
a little stressed,” Barnes Arico
said. “And then it was Michigan.
We just jumped up and were
screaming.
We
didn’t really hear
much after that,
thank goodness
we
recorded
the show so we
can go back and
watch again.”
The
bid
is
Michigan’s first
since 2013. It’s a
new experience
for
everyone
on the team, even for seasoned
veterans Flaherty and Dunston.
Barnes Arico noted how great
the moment was for the pair
after putting in four years of
hard work, including a Women’s
National Invitation Tournament
championship last season.
“Anytime you can get invited
to the NCAA Tournament is
a tremendous honor,” Barnes
Arico said. “The players in
our program now have never
experienced that before and
they’re so deserving. Katelyn
and
Jillian
deserve
to
be
watched on the national screen.
This is a great opportunity for
everyone in the country to see
our team.”
The
Wolverines
were
awarded the No. 7 seed in the
Lexington
region
and
will
face the No. 10 seed, Northern
Colorado, in Waco, Texas on
March 16.
The Bears are currently on
a 13-game winning streak that
included a 91-69 win over Idaho
to claim the Big Sky Conference
Tournament Championship.
If Michigan beats Northern
Colorado then it is likely to face
the No. 2 seed, Baylor.
The Bears are known as one
of
the
most
dominant
programs in the
nation. They are
31-1 overall this
season and went
undefeated
in
the Big 12 and
are a legitimate
title contender.
Barnes Arico
is ready for the
challenge ahead
of her team, though. She’s aware
of the caliber of the teams they
are about to play but believes
the Wolverines will rise to the
occasion.
“Every team in the field of 64
is a great basketball program
and every team is fighting to
survive and advance. Starting
with
Northern
Colorado
...
they’re a great program,” Barnes
Arico said. “Every team is a
tremendous program so it’ll be
just fun to have the opportunity
to play in that environment and
to survive and advance.
“And then if we’re fortunate
enough to get through Friday
then we’ll have an opportunity
to test ourselves against one
of the best programs in the
country.”
The stage is set, and Michigan
is ready for redemption.
Michigan makes its first NCAA Tournament since 2013
Wolverines earn vindication with their Tournament bid
ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer
SARAH HURST
Daily Sports Writer
“Everyone was
laughing and
having a good
time.”