The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
February 24, 2020 — 3B
EAST LANSING — Three
minutes and 32 seconds remained
when junior forward Hailey
Brown had just committed an
offensive foul — her fifth, ending
her night.
A minute passed, and senior
guard
Akienreh
Johnson
committed her fifth. She shook
her head as she walked off,
knowing she’d have to watch
her teammates try to hold onto
a five-point lead that had once
been as high as 18. The Breslin
Center pulsed.
On
the
ensuing
inbound,
Michigan
State
guard
Tory
Ozment lost the ball. On the
other end, her fellow guard
Taryn
McCutcheon
fouled
Michigan guard Amy Dilk.
Dilk made both free throws.
In the few minutes of basketball
that remained, she made six
more, helping the Wolverines
escape East Lansing with a 65-57
victory over the Spartans.
“(My) mentality going in there
is once I made both two, I got the
feel for it, I got the confidence,
and I wanted them to foul me,”
Dilk said. “I wanted to step up
and I wanted to make those
shots.”
Early on, both teams came out
sluggish offensively, combining
for five missed field goals and
three turnovers in a scoreless
first three minutes. Naturally,
it was sophomore guard Naz
Hillmon who ended the drought
for Michigan, drawing a foul in
the post and sinking one of two
free throws.
From there, the floodgates
opened for Hillmon. Michigan
State’s defense had no answer
for her, as she continued to
dominate in the paint en route
to a 17-point first half on 7-for-9
shooting.
“There’s not really kids in
the country that can play with
that kind of motor and that kind
of enthusiasm and that kind
of toughness,” Michigan State
coach Suzy Merchant said. “I
just have always been respectful
of what she has been able to do.
For us to give her 17 points in the
first half, that was just absolutely
ridiculous. Unacceptable on our
part, on all of our part. We just
did a bad job.”
Strong
play
from
the
Wolverines’ bigs allowed them
to extend the lead in the second
quarter. After Brown committed
her second foul and checked out
with seven minutes remaining,
freshman center Izabel Varejão
picked up two offensive rebounds
and five points, helping to extend
Michigan’s lead to 15 at halftime.
But in the third quarter, the
Wolverines’ offense stagnated.
While bad passes, travels and
offensive fouls led to only one
Michigan field goal the entire
third quarter, Michigan State
found its own rhythm on the
other end, largely due to the
Wolverines’
10
third-quarter
fouls.
Though the Spartans shot
just 5-for-9 from the free throw
line in the third quarter, Brown,
Varejão and Johnson all had to sit
with foul trouble for an extended
period. This opened up the floor
for Michigan State’s scorers and
extended Michigan’s offensive
woes into the fourth, where the
Wolverines missed every field
goal attempt in the first three
minutes. The Spartans took full
advantage, gaining the lead on a
layup from guard Nia Clouden.
But
after
that
make,
Michigan
finally
woke
up.
About a minute later, Hillmon
converted a three-point play
— the Wolverines’ first real
offense in the second half. From
there, they locked down on the
defensive end, allowing just two
field goals the rest of the game
and providing the much-needed
spark to sustain their lead.
“That
run
there
was
something
that
we
weren’t
looking forward to,” Hillmon
said. “But I think it was our
defense that really fueled us and
we wanted to say just, ‘Stop after
stop. Let’s get a stop and then we
can figure out our offense.’ ”
For a team still fighting for
an
NCAA
Tournament
bid,
any win — especially on the
road in the Big Ten — is worth
celebrating. But that narrative
took a backseat on Sunday,
where Michigan completed its
first season sweep of Michigan
State since 2015.
“Obviously, being from the
East coast and the Big Eas,t I
always followed Michigan State
because they had such rich
tradition and had been such
a great program,” Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “I
knew that that was going to be
a measuring stick when I first
got to Michigan and that’s kind
of been my goal, our team’s goal,
since I’ve been here.
“... This is tremendous for our
university, and it’s tremendous
for our players.”
EAST LANSING — Amy
Dilk, while sinking another
free throw, looked over to the
bench and smirked. It was her
game, her court, her win.
The sophomore guard scored
nine of the last 10 points for the
Michigan women’s basketball
team, all from the charity
stripe, on her way to lead the
Wolverines to a 65-57 victory
over Michigan State.
“I’ve been struggling from
the line this year in the Big
Ten conference,” Dilk said.
“They probably wanted to foul
me, and at that point, I wanted
them to foul me. So seeing the
ball go in twice about two or
three times in a row as a player
just feels good, knowing that
you’ve kind of gotten over that
slump.”
The beginning of the game
told a much different story,
though.
Just
two
minutes
in,
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico stood, speechless — her
mouth agape, arms to the side.
She had just spoken with Dilk
to try and jumpstart her after
a dismal first three minutes
that saw two turnovers and no
points.
And there, directly in front
of Barnes Arico, Dilk turned
the ball over in the backcourt,
giving the Spartans two easy
points.
Barnes
Arico,
normally
animated
on
the
sideline,
barely moved as she watched
the guard move up the court
a second time. The rest of the
quarter crept by, with neither
team
finding
its
footing
offensively, and every time a
Michigan player went to the
foul line, Barnes Arico waved
Dilk
and
freshman
guard
Maddie Nolan over.
“I think it’s just a little bit
of jitters, and once we got that
first bucket in, it was fine,”
Dilk said. “(Barnes Arico) was
just talking to me about what
she sees out there to relate
to my team, whether that’s
(sophomore
forward
Naz
Hillmon) slipping. The biggest
thing was the two-man game.
They couldn’t guard it in the
first half, and that’s what we
kept going back to.”
In the second quarter, Dilk
finally dissected the defense,
and
along
with
Hillmon,
spurred
on
the
Wolverine
offense to an explosive second
quarter. Finishing the first
half, Dilk was halfway to a
triple-double — tallying five
points, five rebounds and five
assists.
But when the second half
started, the offensive troubles
returned and none of the
Michigan players managed to
find success, with Dilk turning
the ball over four times and
getting into foul trouble. Even
when she got to the line, she
would always go 1-for-2, a
perpetual 50-percent shooter.
So as the time wound down,
the Spartans focused their
efforts on fouling Dilk.
“That’s a lot of growth, in
a period of three quarters to
the fourth quarter,” Hillmon
said. “I think she knew what
she needed to do. She really
locked in on that. Her being
our primary ballhandler, she
knew that she had to get us into
something. … She knew it was
crunch time, and she flipped
the switch.”
Outside of Dilk’s fourth-
quarter
numbers,
Michigan
shot an abysmal 55 percent
from the free throw line. Dilk —
all the momentum on Michigan
State’s side, the crowd smelling
a
collapse,
the
Wolverines
fearing one — shot 9-for-10.
Despite
earlier
struggles,
despite
a
stop-and-go
game with 54 fouls, despite
teammates fouling out, it was
Amy Dilk’s game.
In the last five minutes, Dilk
had ice in her veins.
Sweeping State
Michigan beats Michigan State, 65-57, in East Lansing to secure season sweep of Spartans
‘M’ suffers first losses of season
Michigan
softball’s
perfect
record is gone.
Offensive
inconsistency
plagued
the
Wolverines
all
weekend
at
the
Gamecock
Invitational resulting in Michigan
dropping three of four games. In
the first game of the series, against
Liberty, the Wolverines’ snuck by
with a 1-0 win.
Sophomore right-hander Alex
Storako and junior left-hander
Meghan
Beaubien
tag-teamed
it for the win. Storako had 13
strikeouts against the Flames —
her third game of the season with
double-digit strikeouts. Beaubien
came in to close in the top of the
sixth inning, and finished the
game with the final four outs.
On Saturday, Michigan’s perfect
record came to a screeching halt
against Iowa State, losing 5-1.
On both sides of the plate, the
Wolverines couldn’t execute. With
just seven team hits equating to
only one run, Michigan left eight
runners on base.
“We’re trying to find something
to spark our offense,” Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins said.
Pitching-wise, the Wolverines
also struggled, having to throw
all three of their pitchers against
the Cyclones. In her first relief
opportunity,
freshman
right-
hander Chandler Dennis finished
out the game with one strikeout.
Beaubien was credited with the
loss.
The Wolverines were again
unable to capitalize on their
offense against South Carolina.
Michigan lost, 3-0 — the first time
they haven’t scored in a game all
season. Multiple lineup shifts
occurred throughout the game.
Senior infielder Madison Uden and
freshman utility player Lauren
Esman were given pinch-hitting
opportunities, but ultimately, the
Wolverines
couldn’t
overcome
their offensive struggles. There
were just two hits, but with five
runners left on base, Michigan
relinquished many opportunities
to score.
“When the offense isn’t clicking,
it’s pretty difficult to know who to
put where,” Hutchins said. “And
eventually, and we saw this last
year, we will settle in and I look
forward to that.”
Rounding out the weekend,
on Sunday, the Wolverines faced
Liberty again. After their 1-0 win,
Michigan came out hot against
the Flames. Scoring twice in
the first inning, the Wolverines
started almost the same way as
Friday’s game against Liberty. The
Wolverines looked like they came
ready to play.
In
the
second
inning,
sophomore
catcher
Hannah
Carson homered to right-center.
With a 5-1 score, it seemed like
Michigan would end the weekend
with a win. But, that reality
slipped away.
In a relief effort, Storako
entered the game in the middle
of the bottom of the sixth. Facing
her first batter, Liberty infielder
Autumn Bishop hit a home run,
and with two runners on base, the
Wolverines’ four-run lead was cut
to 5-4.
The wheels finally came off in
the last inning when a single to
right tied the game for the Flames.
The final nail in the coffin came in
the bottom of the seventh, when
Bishop hit a walk-off homer to end
the game, 6-5.
Going
into
the
weekend
Michigan was 9-0, and No. 8 in
the country. Coming out of the
weekend the Wolverines are 10-3,
with their future ranking up in
the air after losses to unranked
Liberty and Iowa State, and
then-No. 22 South Carolina. Still,
Michigan is unconcerned.
“We have a lot of trust in each
other,” Jimenez said. “We have
full faith that we can bounce back
from this and it’s only a matter of
one-pitch softball. So just taking
the game one pitch at a time and
we come back as a team together
and we focus on what we have
to get done and I feel that we’re
gonna get that done.”
Wolverines drop series to UConn, 2-1
It was a weekend of a few highs
and many lows for the Michigan
baseball team.
There was disappointment on
Friday in Port St. Lucie, Fla., as
the Wolverines’ (4-3) early 6-0
lead over UConn (3-3) crumbled
away over the last four innings
into an 8-7 loss.
There
was
jubilation
on
Saturday, when freshman third
baseman Ted Burton hit his first
career home run to drive in three.
The shot brought Michigan’s
lead to 13-2 and helped facilitate
an explosive 14-2 win.
On
Sunday,
frustration
returned, as the Wolverines
fell behind early and never
recovered, falling, 9-2, to the
Huskies.
Michigan’s
mindset
going
into its weekend series was
already affected by its 7-1 loss
to UConn last week during the
MLB4 Collegiate Tournament
in Scottsdale, Ariz. After this
weekend, it’s clear the Huskies
have been effective in tempering
the Wolverines’ momentum after
three high-caliber wins against
Vanderbilt, Cal Poly and Arizona
State.
Michigan came fast out of the
gate in Friday’s game with five
runs in the first inning, sending
UConn’s starter Will Lucas out
of the game early. Strangely
enough, the five runs came off
only one hit due to a string of
walks, a sac fly and a UConn
error.
After junior Jordan Nwogu’s
first home run of the season
brought Michigan’s lead to 6-2
in the second inning, it seemed
like the Wolverines would find
redemption after last Sunday’s
loss. But the Huskies’ four runs
in the top of the sixth –– two
off
junior
right-hander
Jeff
Criswell and two off freshman
right-hander Cameron Weston
–– began to turn the tide.
“Normally when you knock
a starter out after two-thirds
of an inning and put a five-spot
up in the first inning, that’s a
pretty good recipe for winning
the game,” Michigan coach Erik
Bakich said. “The big four-spot
in the sixth inning was when
they got all the momentum back
… so, they kind of blew it in the
first inning, and we blew it in the
sixth.”
Friday’s result was still of
relatively
little
concern
for
Bakich.
“I think that was a game that
would’ve
continued
to
have
multiple lead changes the way it
was going,” he added. “They just
happened to be the ones with the
one-run lead after the ninth.”
Saturday was a different story.
A similar 6-2 lead by the end of
the second inning held this time
around and was compounded by
seven-run fourth inning, which
included
Burton’s
inaugural
home run, bringing the score to
13-2.
Redshirt
freshman
Steven
Hajjar started and secured the
win in his five innings of pitching.
Freshman
left-hander
Jacob
Denner,
meanwhile,
attained
his first career save after four
scoreless innings, maintaining
the Wolverines’ 14-2 lead.
“I’m glad we showed what
we could do on Day 2,” Denner
said. “I was glad because it’s
definitely different transitioning
from high school. … I’ve been
hanging around (redshirt senior)
Ben Keizer, Jeff Criswell and
(redshirt
sophomore)
Isaiah
Page a lot, and they’ve done a
great job in getting me ready for
these moments.”
Sunday’s rubber match looked
more like Michigan’s 7-1 loss
back in Scottsdale, though. After
a slow start of three scoreless
innings for both teams, UConn
rallied at two outs in the fifth
inning to extend its 2-0 lead into
an insurmountable 8-0 edge.
Save for one run in the
bottom
of
the
sixth,
the
Wolverines stalled until the
ninth inning which started off
with a promising four at-bats.
Sophomore infielder Cam Hart
managed to reach home off a
single from Nwogu. With the
bases loaded and still no outs,
there was a glimmer of hope
that the Huskies’ lead could
shrink. But three strikeouts in
a row quickly extinguished that
chance to end the game and
the Wolverines’ roller coaster
weekend.
“The way we competed in
those first four at-bats in the
ninth –– if we had done it every
at-bat of the weekend, we’d have
had a different result,” Bakich
said.
Despite
their
offensive
dominance on Saturday, the
team’s woes ultimately seemed
to lie with an inability to respond
with runs. In both the first and
third games, one or two breakout
innings from UConn thwarted
Michigan’s offensive momentum.
“I’m disappointed that our
at-bats weren’t as competitive as
they could’ve been in the first and
third game,” Bakich said. “We
need to do a better job hitting
good pitches with less than two
strikes and battling with two
strikes to string quality at-bats
together. … The lack of success
this weekend is us pointing the
thumb at some of our lack of
execution, and that’s really it.
“We’ve got a clear plan for the
week ahead of what we need to
get better at.”
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan coach Erik Bakich was disappointed in his team’s 9-2 loss Sunday.
AIDAN WOUTAS
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan softball team lost three of four games over the weekend to drop its record to 10-3 on the season.
ABBIE TELGENHOF
Daily Sports Writer
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Sophomore guard Amy Dilk had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Michigan’s win Sunday evening.
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer
KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer