The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, January 15, 2020 — 7A
‘M’ held back by bench struggles
Entering
the
season,
the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team felt confident.
Confident
that
seniors
Akienreh Johnson and Kayla
Robbins could step into the
starting lineup for the first time
and play at a high level. Confident
that sophomores Naz Hillmon
and Amy Dilk would continue
to grow into program building
blocks. Confident that a bench
lacking in-game experience could
supplement its starters enough to
take down top opponents.
In non-conference play, the
Wolverines’ bench looked up
to the task, scoring 21.5 points
per game. While many of those
games were against unranked,
mid-major opponents, the bench
contributed
when
the
team
needed it most.
Freshman
center
Izabel
Varejão scored 5.3 points per
game against Syracuse, Notre
Dame and Florida State and led
the team with 11 points against
Eastern Michigan, a game when
no starters finished in double
figures. Freshman guard Michelle
Sidor scored eight points against
Notre Dame and seven against
Syracuse, and was Michigan’s
biggest threat from 3-point range
in non-conference play, shooting
34.2 percent. Sophomore forward
Emily Kiser scored 10 against
Appalachian State with junior
forward Hailey Brown injured.
In these first 11 games, the
Wolverines’ bench by no means
took over games. But with five
starters that could control a game
on any given night, Michigan’s
performances from the bench
seemed
to
be
enough.
The
Wolverines looked like a true Big
Ten contender.
But just five games later,
Michigan’s bench looks like the
inexperienced group that was its
biggest question mark entering
the season. Outside of a blowout
win against Penn State in which
reserves played the majority of
the fourth quarter, the bench has
scored just seven points per game
in four Big Ten games.
“Now the people that we’re
playing
are
bigger,
faster,
stronger, and that’s a little bit
of an adjustment, especially for
our younger kids,” Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico said.
“The physicality is definitely
something that’s different, and
the teams that we’ve played
against, such as Maryland and
Ohio State, are big and strong.”
The
Varejão
from
the
beginning of the season who
looked like a valuable scorer
has had difficulty finding the
basket in Big Ten play — she has
been held to two points or less
in four of five games. Sidor has
struggled from deep — making
just 4-of-15 and 1-of-12 outside
of the Penn State game — and
has seen her minutes decrease
as a result. Kiser leads all bench
players, averaging just 3.4 points
per game.
“Our freshmen are getting
accustomed to that change of
strength and speed and size,”
Barnes Arico said. “So I think that
adjustment is gonna take a little
bit of time. They’re working on it.
(It’s) definitely a place where we
need to see more production.”
While
Barnes
Arico
may
feel
confident
that
all
of
the
Wolverines’
reserves
can contribute if given the
opportunity, it can take time
for players to adjust to new
roles. Consistently changing the
rotation shows the difficulty
Barnes Arico has had finding
contributors
off
the
bench.
Freshman guard Maddie Nolan,
who has played sparingly all
season and mostly in blowouts,
was the first guard off the bench
on Sunday.
Sunday
against
Maryland
— Michigan’s worst loss of the
season — showed the Wolverines
just how important having a
good bench is. None of their
starters could get going early,
and as the Terrapins jumped out
to a big lead, Michigan looked for
someone to come off the bench
and stop the bleeding, to no avail.
Maryland, on the other hand,
also struggled to get points from
their stars, but its bench was
more than capable of carrying
the load — scoring 15 of the
Terrapins’ 21 first-quarter points,
and 35 total. Maryland’s ability
to get points from its bench, and
the Wolverines’ inability to do so,
made the difference.
Michigan is 2-3 in Big Ten
play — far from the top of
the standings. But with both
Maryland games in the rearview
mirror and 13 games remaining,
its goals are still well within
reach. As good as the Wolverines’
starters can be, this five-game
stretch has shown that they can
only reach their goals if they can
rely on the bench to score.
In conference play, that hasn’t
happened yet.
Michigan field athletes impress
Most
track
and
field
spectators look forward to the
fast-paced 200-meter dash or
the competitive 4x400-meter
relay. However, on Saturday,
the athletes on the inside of the
track were the ones to watch.
For
Michigan,
several
athletes
broke
personal
records in the men’s shot put,
weight throw and pole vault,
in addition to women’s shot
put and high jump. At women’s
weight throw, two throwers
achieved their career bests and
broke the school record.
As the only field event not
inside the ring of the track,
the weight throw event often
feels isolated from the rest
of the meet. That didn’t stop
fifth-year Briana Nelson and
senior Courtney Jacobsen from
breaking the school record four
separate times. However, when
the event ended, Jacobsen
emerged as the record-holder
with a throw of 20.15 meters.
“It’s been a year and a half
since I’ve competed,” Jacobsen
said. “I think it was just
getting back into the swing
of things and mentally being
able to come back from injury
and contain my excitement,
because I was so excited to get
back out there.”
The other throwing event,
the shot put, featured two first-
place finishes and two career
bests by both the men’s and
women’s
teams.
Sophomore
Amanda Schaare threw 15.22
meters, beating her previous
best by over one and a half
meters.
Sophomore
John
Meyer threw 18.79 meters,
edging out his previous best by
just 0.04 meters.
The
Wolverines
earned
another
first
place
finish
from sophomore Eric Harris
in the pole vault. Harris beat
his career indoor best by 0.6
meters with a height of 4.75
meters.
At
women’s
high
jump,
two senior jumpers — Jada
Wimberly
and
Katt
Miner
— beat their career bests.
Wimberly jumped a height of
1.75 meters and Miner jumped
a height of 1.8 meters, which
also beat the meet record by
0.02 meters.
“(Miner)
certainly
has
shown signs of being ready
to jump well and this was a
great opener for her, for sure,”
jumping coach Jenny Ashcroft
said. “Jada has
had
a
couple
years
off
of
competition so
for her to come
out in her first
competitive
meet in a while
was
really
spectacular.
We’re
really
excited for her
to be able to do
that.”
Added Miner: “Me and Jada
wanted to be really relaxed
today and not stressed about
anything. Our goal was just
to make bar and just try to be
consistent. And it just went
way better than we both
expected, but I think that’s just
because we weren’t stressed
about height or anything at all
today.”
Wimberly
and
Miner
finished
third
and
first,
respectively. In between jumps
they continued to look to
each other and their coaching
staff
for
reassurance
and
encouragement.
“I think a lot of it was that
we were doing well so just kind
of like ‘keep doing that, keep
the bar up, keep your shoulder
away from the bar,’ ” Miner
said of her coach’s support.
“Normally,
when
we’re
doing well she
doesn’t try to
tweak
a
lot,
but
just
gave
us
positive
reinforcement
and
tried
to
keep our heads
level.”
Saturday’s
meet
was
a
non-scored
event, but the results of the
field events are good signs for
the future meets of the indoor
season. Although what’s going
on in the middle of the track is
not always the most glamorous
to
watch,
Michigan’s
field
event athletes on Saturday
showed just how exciting they
can be.
Hoosiers sunk
With Michigan reeling from
back-to-back wins by Indiana
swimmers, it needed a boost.
Senior
Tommy
Cope
gave
the Wolverines a win and a
momentum shift in the 200-
yard breaststroke. Cope nudged
the Hoosiers’ Mohamed Samy
Hassan by 0.93 seconds and
helped narrow the deficit to only
one point, 104-103.
The win helped spur the No. 3
Michigan men’s swimming team
(4-1 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) to a 160-
140 victory over No. 5 Indiana
(6-3, 2-1) on Saturday morning.
“I knew that I couldn’t slip
up or make any mistakes,”
Cope said. “Because it’s a pretty
crucial turning point in the meet.
I knew that the other Michigan
guys would be right there with
me so you have to relax going
into it. We just relaxed going into
it and didn’t freak out too much.
We knew how to do it and kind
of started the ball rolling again
for us.”
Michigan
jumped
out
to
an early lead with wins in the
200-yard medley relay and the
1000-yard freestyle, but Indiana
started to chip away beginning
with the 200-yard freestyle,
which Hassan won by a matter
of millimeters — touching the
wall just 0.03 seconds before
sophomore Patrick Callan did.
The Wolverines responded
in the chaotic 50-yard freestyle.
Junior Luiz Gustavo Borges
edged two Hoosiers’ swimmers
to
momentarily
stop
the
bleeding.
But
Indiana
kept
fighting back, winning the 100-
yard freestyle and 200-yard
backstroke to take its first lead,
before Cope’s performance in the
200-yard breaststroke changed
the momentum.
Cope got some help from
his teammates in the 500-yard
freestyle, where Michigan swept
the top three spots in the race
and retook the lead, 119-107, in
a sequence that electrified the
crowd.
Senior
Miles
Smachlo
continued the hot streak with
a win in the 100-yard butterfly
over
the
Hoosiers’
Brendan
Burns, avenging an earlier loss to
Burns in the 200-yard butterfly.
“Seeing
everyone else on
the team step up I
really bought into
that
mentality.”
Smachlo
said,
“You see people
like
Tommy
(Cope) overcome
Mohamed
Samy
in the (200) IM
after losing to him
earlier in the year.
You see Patrick (Callan) stepping
up. You see Eric Storms stepping
up. I wanted to also kinda step up
so I had a lot more energy to fight
for that one and get my hand on
the wall for the team.”
Indiana was able to come in
first in the last event, a 400-
yard relay. However, the gap still
widened because the Wolverines
placed in three out of the top five
positions. The comeback victory
was even more noteworthy after
a loss earlier in the season in
Bloomington.
“We
wanted to win
absolutely,”
Michigan
coach
Mike
Bottom
said.
“But even going
into the meet
my take was,
‘Look these two
teams are really
good
right,
they’re really good and if we
don’t win it’s OK, but we need to
get better, we need improvement,
we need to fight all the way
through.’ So we fought all the
way through and we won, which
is a bonus.”
Teams can be made up in
many different ways. Some
are led by stars; others are
driven by their depth, getting
contributions from many.
The
Michigan
women’s
swimming and diving team
(4-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten)
demonstrated it has elements
of both, as it defeated the
15th-ranked
Hoosiers
(3-4,
0-1), 186-114, in a dual meet on
Saturday.
Sophomore Olivia Carter led
the way for the Wolverines,
making her second competitive
appearance for Michigan after
recently
becoming
eligible.
Carter won all three individual
events she took part in, and was
a member of the medley relay
team that took first.
The stands were packed,
and the energy in Canham
Natatorium was overwhelming.
The environment and support
helped
several
Wolverines
compete at maximum intensity,
something that is sometimes
missing
from
a
midseason
meet.
“The energy was amazing,”
Carter said. “It was loud, and I
was so happy to be there. … The
stands were packed, which I’ve
never really experienced that
before, and it was awesome. I
felt really supported, everyone
was so happy and encouraging,
and it helped me be the best
swimmer I could be for the
team.”
Michigan coach Mike Bottom
noticed the impact Carter had
made after the meet as well,
emphasizing what a boost the
All-American and former SEC
Freshman of the Year will add
for the Wolverines throughout
the rest of the season.
“Olivia was awesome today,”
Bottom said. “We’re lucky to
have her, and you can see she’s
embraced the Michigan way.”
Sophomore
backstroker
Maggie MacNeil had a strong
performance,
winning
the
100-yard backstroke by over
three seconds and the 100-
yard freestyle by over a second.
MacNeil was a member of the
medley relay with Carter, along
with senior Miranda Tucker
and junior Daria Pyshnenko.
Michigan
also
got
contributions from freshman
Kaitlynn Sims, who won the
two distance events, and junior
Sierra Schmidt, who finished
second behind her in both
events, and several seconds
ahead of the chasing Indiana
swimmers.
The Wolverines swept both
the 100-yard and 200-yard
butterfly,
with
sophomore
Victoria
Kwan
and
senior
Vanessa Krause finishing a few
seconds behind Carter in the
200-yard race. Carter also was
joined by Krause and freshman
Megan Glass in sweeping the
100-yard butterfly.
“We had some people that
were down,” Bottom said, “and
they fought. Whether they
swim really great, or not so
much, they still step into the
team and help it keep moving
forward.”
The
diving
team
helped
Michigan
as
well,
with
freshman
Lucy
Hogan,
sophomore
Camryn
McPherson,
junior
Nikki
Canale and freshman Lauren
Cheetham
claiming
first,
second,
third
and
fourth,
respectively,
in
3-meter
springboard.
Hogan
scored
311.93 points in the win. Canale
won the 1-meter as well, scoring
279.97 points.
“I’m really confident now,”
MacNeil
said.
“I’m
really
excited
to
have
(Carter)
because she’s such a great asset
to the team, and just the extra
confidence there will help the
team.”
Wolverines beat Indiana in both men’s and women’s swim and dive Sunday, giving both teams a top-15 win
AVI RAJENDRA-NICOLUCCI
Daily Sports Writer
STEEL HURLEY
For The Daily
JAMES HILL
Daily Sports Writer
JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan coach Mike Bottom led both the men’s and women’s swim and dive teams to wins over Indiana over the weekend, giving both teams an early-season boost.
We fought
all the way
through and we
won.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan coach James Henry saw career bests from many jumpers Saturday.
It was just
getting back
into the swing
of things.
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
After impressing early in the season, Michigan’s bench has struggled as of late.