The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
November 11, 2019 — 3B

In the second game of the season, 
the Michigan women’s basketball 
team showed again that it has many 
weapons on the roster that can step 
up and score.
The Wolverines got off to a fast 
start in their 77-57 win against 
Bradley on Sunday, going on a 7-0 
run to start the game. Sophomore 
forward Naz Hillmon led the way in 
this stretch with four points and two 
offensive rebounds, and Michigan 
made three of its first five shots.
“I thought Naz just had a different 
mentality altogether today,” said 
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. 
“She came out from the tip just being 
super aggressive. I don’t even mean 
if that was her getting touches with 
the basketball, I just mean from a 
rebounding perspective, she was all 
over the place from the beginning of 
the game.”
A Braves timeout two minutes 
into the quarter slowed Michigan’s 
momentum, and a bucket was hard 
to come by for the rest of the quarter 
for the Wolverines. Michigan made 
just two of its last 15 shots, and only 
led Bradley by seven after the first 
quarter.
The Wolverines continued to 
struggle offensively early in the 
second quarter, but with 6:45 left, 
sophomore guard Amy Dilk hit a 
jump shot in the paint that sparked 
a 7-0 run for Michigan over a two-
minute span. While Dilk carried the 
load offensively, scoring all seven 
points, the Wolverines’ entire lineup 
played stingy defense, forcing three 
turnovers.
Michigan closed out the half 
with strong shooting, highlighted by 
3-pointers from Dilk, junior guard 

Priscilla Smeenge, freshman center 
Izabel Varejão and sophomore 
forward Emily Kiser. The team 
took a 38-21 lead into the half, and 
after shooting just 25 percent from 
the floor in the first quarter, the 
Wolverines made 50 percent of their 
shots in the second, and shot five-
for-seven from 3-point range.
The beginning of the third 
quarter saw Hillmon take over. 
She scored eight of Michigan’s first 
10 points, six of which were in the 
paint. Hillmon finished with 16 
points and 12 rebounds.
But three minutes into the 
quarter, Bradley showed life. The 
Braves were able to outscore the 
Wolverines in the third quarter due 
to stellar 3-point shooting, making 
six and cutting the deficit to 14.
The 
shift 
in 
momentum 
continued into the fourth quarter. 
Bradley guard Gabi Haack drew a 
foul on a made shot under the basket 
and hit her free throw, narrowing 
Michigan’s lead to 11. Hillmon 
picked up her third foul on the next 
possession, giving the Braves an 
opportunity to cut the lead to single 
digits on the next possession.
But 
the 
Wolverines 
quickly 
quieted any chance of a comeback. 
They forced a turnover on the 
ensuing possession and freshman 
guard Michelle Sidor drained a 
3-point shot, catalyzing a 12-2 run 
that gave Michigan a 21-point lead 
and put Bradley away. 
“It was nice to see us have to 
rally and have to get a stop on the 
defensive end, and … have to be 
able to execute some plays down 
on the offensive end,” Barnes Arico 
said. “We don’t have a tremendous 
amount of experience in terms of 
senior minutes played or junior 
minutes played, so a lot of these kids 
are going through stuff for their first 

time, and I thought they responded 
really well tonight.”
Sidor accounted for eight points 
during this period after shooting 
one-for-four in the first half and 
spending an extended period of 
time on the bench — finishing with 
11 points in just 17 minutes.
“The confidence … that she has, 
to not hesitate after missing a couple 
shots, being out, and then having to 
come in and boom, you got a touch, 
now you gotta make a play,” Barnes 
Arico said. “For a freshman to 
have the confidence in themselves 
to be able to do that I think is just 
tremendous.”
Added Dilk: “She can obviously 
shoot the ball but also she works 
off of the bounce as well. So just 
having those two options, it puts 
the defense in a threat, so you don’t 

really know what way her scoring is 
coming from.”
While early shooting woes hurt 
the Wolverines, their ability to catch 
fire at any moment meant the result 
was never in doubt.

After jumping to a nine-
point lead early in the second 
quarter, the Michigan women’s 
basketball team’s offense hit a 
rough patch. 
The 
Wolverines 
endured 
three 
scoreless 
minutes, 
marked by unforced errors and 
turnovers. So naturally, they 
turned to one of their leaders 
— sophomore guard Amy Dilk 
— for a spark. She responded.
In a span of less than two 
minutes, she hit a mid-range 
jumper, a layup and a 3-pointer, 
stretching 
Michigan’s 
lead 
to 12 and putting the Braves’ 
run to bed en route to a 77-57 

victory on Sunday. 
In 
a 
game 
with 
strong 
performances 
across 
the 
board, Dilk and sophomore 
forward Naz Hillmon led the 
team with 13 and 16 points, 

respectively. 
For Dilk, Sunday’s game was 
mostly a continuation of her 
play from Friday night against 
Western Michigan, where she 
registered 12 points and 11 
rebounds.
But for Hillmon, a big game 
Sunday was crucial to her 
confidence, as she was mostly 
limited Friday because of foul 
trouble. 
“It feels really good just to 
be able to get 
my feet wet,” 
Hillmon said. 
“Sometimes 
when you’re in 
foul 
trouble, 
it messes up 
your rhythm a 
little bit. You 
have to figure 
out a couple 
of things from 
the 
bench, 
but it was definitely a great 
opportunity for me in the 
beginning of the season to 
actually get in the rhythm of 
things.”
Dilk 
and 
Hillmon’s 
contributions on the glass were 
just as crucial to the victory as 
their scoring. Hillmon led the 
team with 12 rebounds — eight 
of which came off the offensive 
glass — earning her first of 
likely 
many 
double-doubles 
this season. Dilk followed suit 
on the defensive side, picking 
up nine rebounds, falling one 
short of her second consecutive 
double-double. 
While 
putting 
up 
big 
numbers 
off 
the 
glass 
is 
nothing 
new 
for 
Hillmon, 
Dilk has drastically improved 
her rebounding thus far after 

averaging 3.7 rebounds per 
game last season. If she can 
continue to pick up boards 
at this rate, it could open 
up 
opportunities 
for 
her 
teammates to run in transition 
and lead to some personal 
accolades for Dilk. 
“I think the challenge for 
(Dilk) is ‘Hey, you could be 
a triple double. You can get 
a triple double every night,’ 
” said Michigan coach Kim 
Barnes 
Arico. 
“ 
… 
Defensive 
rebounding 
is 
effort. You gotta 
go in there, you 
gotta mix it up, 
and you gotta get 
the effort to go to 
the ball, and she 
has made great 
effort the last two 
games of being 
able to do that.” 
The effort was certainly 
there 
for 
both 
Dilk 
and 
Hillmon, even beyond their 
rebounding 
numbers. 
A 
number of times throughout 
the game, Dilk was the first 
down the floor on the fast 
break or off a Bradley turnover 
to pick up an easy bucket in 
transition. 
Meanwhile, Hillmon led a 
punishing interior on defense, 
one that held the Braves to 
just 18 points in the paint 
— a number dwarfed by the 
Wolverines’ 34. This trend 
will need to continue for 
Michigan to improve on its No. 
148 ranking in scoring defense 
from last year. 
But for now, the Wolverines 
at least know they can count on 
these two in tough situations.

Cruising
Led by Dilk, Hillmon, Michigan weathers third-quarter comeback to beat Bradley, 77-57, move to 2-0

JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer

BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Freshman guard Michelle Sidor made an impact off the bench with outside 
shooting in Michigan’s win on Sunday.

Hey, you could 
be a triple 
double every 
night.

‘M’ drops heartbreaker to Penn State

A hard-fought scoreless battle 
going into the second half put the 
third-seeded Michigan women’s 
soccer team in a familiar position.
Sunday’s 
match 
against 
fourth-seeded Penn State (15-6-1 
overall, 8-3-0 Big Ten) mirrored 
the Wolverines’ (15-5-1, 8-2-1) 
semifinal win two days earlier. In 
an overtime battle, the narrative 
was similar but the result was 
not, as the Wolverines fell to 
Penn State, 2-1, in the Big Ten 
Championship game. 
The elation of an overtime 
outcome was for Penn State to 
enjoy.
The 82nd minute alone made 
up for 81 minutes of a lackluster 
game. The 0-0 deadlock changed 
within the span of 40 seconds. In a 
somewhat controversial call, Penn 
State committed an own goal when 
sophomore 
midfielder 
Raleigh 
Loughman passed from the left 
side into the middle. Intended 
for redshirt senior defender Sura 
Yekka, the pass ricocheted off 
midfielder 
Payton 
Linnehan’s 
foot into the goal. The goal was 
initially called back for offsides, 
but after review, Michigan was on 
the board.
The Wolverines did not hold the 
1-0 lead for long when, 40 seconds 
later, 
sophomore 
midfielder 
Skylar Anderson was called for 
a foul. This set up a penalty kick 
for midfielder Sam Coffey. The 
outstretched hands of junior 
goalkeeper 
Hillary 
Beal 
just 
missed the ball. 
Michigan’s lead was gone, and 
the game was, once again, tied. 
For the second time in three 
days, Michigan was headed to 
overtime tied 1-1. Once again, 
all the action happened within 
a few seconds. In a beautifully 
developed play, Loughman passed 
the ball into the middle, putting 
junior midfielder Sarah Stratigakis 
in perfect position for a header — 
landing just wide of the goal.
The Nittany Lions took this 

miss immediately down the field, 
where Linnehan looked to avenge 
her own goal, finding herself 
alone in front of the net. Beal 
was aggressive and came out of 
the goal to try and steal the ball. 
Linnehan chipped the ball over 
Beal’s head for the game-winner.
“(It was) two very good teams 
very organized and disciplined,” 
said Michigan coach Jennifer 
Klein. “You just got to handle the 
ebbs and flows of the game, and I 
thought the team handled it well. 
Towards the end of regulation, I 
thought we got a little bit flustered. 
We regained our composure and 
they just got an opportunity and 
they took advantage of it.”
Playing 
overtime 
in 
two 
consecutive games is no easy feat, 
but Klein believes her team was 
not overworked.
During the first half, neither 
team could take advantage as they 
shared the time of possession and 
were even with seven shots. 
The Wolverines then came out 
of halftime strong and controlled 
the ball for the beginning of 
the half. The defense helped by 
making a few big stops. Klein made 
a personnel change to help her 
defense, shifting junior midfielder 
Nicki Hernandez to center back. 
Hernandez made an impact in all 
facets of the game, taking two of 
the team’s 14 shots.
“One of the best qualities about 
Nicki is her work rate on both sides 
of the ball,” Klein said. “She has a 

great defensive presence so we 
made the switch.” 
Beal’s play was pivotal in 
making the game as close as it 
was. The goals were tied for the 
most she has allowed this season, 
but her five incredible saves bailed 
the Wolverines out on multiple 
occasions. 
“I think she really made some 
unbelievable saves and was just a 
bit unfortunate for the goal at the 
end,” Klein said. “I’ve just been 
so proud of her throughout the 
season and the growth that she’s 
had at her time here at Michigan.”
The Wolverines suffered a 
minor set back in the 28th minute 
when 
sophomore 
midfielder 
Meredith Haakenson was subbed 
out after an apparent ankle injury. 
Haakenson returned in the 75th 
minute. 
Their inclusion in the NCAA 
Tournament is all but guaranteed, 
merely awaiting their location 
and opponent. The Wolverines 
will find out their postseason 
fate during the selection show on 
Monday. 
If you look back as little as two 
years ago, Michigan was in a very 
different place. 
“This year I asked them what 
makes it Michigan,” Klein said. 
“They established the habits of 
what we want this culture and 
program to be. They’ve done the 
work to be a team that is competing 
for championships. Hopefully, it 
will carry through the NCAAs.”

Set piece dominance paves way

Does ‘the hot hand’ exist?
Apparently it does – if only on 
the field hockey turf. All signs 
of this statistical question mark 
were confirmed as Penn State 
(8-12 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) – a team 
that opened the season with seven 
straight losses – came within an 
overtime goal of stealing the Big 
Ten Tournament championship 
from the likes of top-seeded 
Maryland and Iowa.
The first stop of this improbable 
march was a 2-1 victory last 
Thursday against Michigan (13-6, 
5-3) a team which has experienced 
nearly the opposite trajectory of 
the Nittany Lions. 
The Wolverines endured one 
of the toughest regular season 
schedules in the country. Victories 
against Connecticut, Maryland 
and Iowa were Michigan’s most 
notable notches on the rifle. Less 
surprising was a 3-1 victory at 
home against a seemingly hapless 
Penn State squad a few weeks 
ago, marked by four periods of 
consistent possession and even 
scoring.
The Nittany Lions returned 
the favor with a home win of their 
own, knocking the Wolverines out 
of the conference tournament and 
threatening to abort the remainder 
of their 2019 campaign. But after 

four uneasy days, Michigan found 
itself a beneficiary of an at-large 
bid for the NCAA tournament. The 
team will travel to Trager Stadium 
in Kentucky to take on Louisville 
in their first round match this 
weekend.
The Michigan field hockey 
program declined to make coach 
Marcia 
Pankratz 
or 
players 
available to The Daily for this story.
The 
Wolverines’ 
aggressive 
tactics made them a tough out. 
Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz 
began making substitutions just six 
minutes into the contest and would 
continue to do so throughout – in 
total, 18 players received minutes. 
The numerical results were 
similar to those from the meeting 
of these two teams a few weeks 
ago: Michigan recorded consistent 
quantities of shots on target and 
penalty corners every quarter, 
no doubt thanks to the fresh 
legs created by frequent player 
replacement. On the defensive 
side of the ball, the Wolverines 
managed to stymie the Nittany 
Lions for 57 out of 60 minutes. 
The three-minute lapse was all 
Penn State would need, forcing a 
pair of penalty corners in the third 
quarter’s first minutes. The danger 
of the first was mitigated by the 
Wolverines’ defensive five before 
a shot on target was recorded, but 
Michigan could not drive the ball 
out of its defensive third before the 

second penalty corner was created.
This 
one 
would 
prove 
troublesome. 
Sophomore 
goalkeeper Anna Spieker saved 
the first shot, but not the following 
attempt by Paityn Wirth. Minutes 
later, off another penalty corner, 
Meghan Reese scored on a one-
touch volley well within the circle. 
The Wolverines struck back late 
in the third quarter thanks to a 
penalty corner of their own. Junior 
defender Halle O’Neill notched 
her second goal of the season 
thanks to her direct receipt of the 
corner from sophomore midfielder 
Kathryn Peterson. 
Michigan’s control of the game, 
the two penalty corner episodes 
notwithstanding, 
propounded 
the frustration of a close loss 
in an important context. The 
Wolverines outshot the Nittany 
Lions nine to four, racking up at 
least one shot per quarter. Penn 
State goalkeeper Brie Barraco 
made eight saves, keeping the 
Nittany Lions afloat despite the 
apparent incompetence of their 
back line. 
With four minutes to play, 
Pankratz called Spieker out of 
goal in a last ditch effort to tie the 
game. The decision failed to move 
the needle offensively, and the 
Wolverines ducked out of State 
College – and the conference 
tournament – as the first victims of 
Penn State’s hot hand. 

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Junior midfielder Nikki Hernandez impacted all facets of the game.

LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior defender Halle O’Neill notched her second goal of the season as Michigan lost to Penn State on Thursday.

JACK WHITTEN
Daily Sports Writer

The first goal of the game 
went 
against 
Michigan 
and 
was scored from a drive by 
Minnesota forward Ben Meyers. 
He took a shot but it was blocked 
by freshman defenseman Cam 
York, who sprawled on the ice 
to prevent the shot or pass. The 

puck leaked away from the net, 
but 
redshirt 
junior 
forward 
Luke Morgan, who had also 
instinctively laid out on the ice, 
accidentally kicked the puck 
toward the net and to a waiting 
Gopher, unguarded and ready. 
Brannon McManus tapped the 
puck in for an easy redirect goal.
And the second goal was one 
unlike anything Pearson had 
seen in his 30 years at Michigan. 

On a dump-in, the puck hit the 
boards but bounced off in an 
awkward fashion. Strauss Mann 
had been waiting behind the net 
for the puck to curl around as 
it normally does. But the puck 
instead bounced in front of the 
net — an empty net — and allowed 
for an easy scoring opportunity 
for the Gophers.
The third period saw an 
offensive-zone 
dominance 
by 

the Wolverines. Nineteen shots 
on net, and midway through 
the period, one finally found its 
intended target, a much-needed 
break.
Beecher corralled the puck 
off the boards and cut around 
the net. He created separation 
between 
and 
the 
pursuing 
defenders and surveyed the ice. 
A quick pass to an open Emil 
Ohrwall resulted the Wolverines’ 

first and only goal of the night.
The barrage of attacks that 
followed, 
and 
the 
pressure 
created, 
would 
be 
ruled 
meaningless as an empty-net goal 
in the dying seconds of the game 
ended any chances of a comeback 
and the words of Pearson and the 
players after the game rang clear.
“We’re doing so many things 
well right now,” Martin said. 
“And just have to keep our focus 

on those and trying to — because 
the 
tide’s 
gonna 
turn. 
The 
floodgates are gonna open.”
Added Pearson: “The offense 
will come.”
The shared sentiment was 
that as long as they continue 
to play defense the way they 
did, the goals will come — and 
presumably, the wins will as 
well. 
But on Saturday, neither did.

HOCKEY
From Page 1B

