Friday, February 29, 2008

Wisconsin Game

I should have posted something sooner, but I wanted to avoid thinking about the game. As many of you know by now, Coach Borseth's press appearance after the game was rather animated, to say the least:

Nobody had time to ask a question.

Kevin Borseth, the University of Michigan women's basketball coach, made it from the interview door to the podium in seemingly three strides, smashed the stat sheet from the Wolverines' 69-67 loss to Wisconsin down with such force that everybody jumped and started shouting.

"Twenty-five offensive rebounds!?!"

Then the podium again.

Whack!

Borseth's behavior was noted by a couple of bloggers who don't typically cover the women's team a great deal - umhoops.com, michigansportscenter and gobluemichiganwolverine.

From what I saw last night, the officiating was rather inconsistent, but I didn't think it particularly favored one side or another. Michigan certainly had their chances to win the game.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Wisconsin 69 Michigan 67

That was disappointing. After a strong first half where Michigan led 36-18, Wisconsin came back and won a close game. Michigan had plenty of chances, but too many turnovers, missed shots and missed rebounds. Wisconsin deserves plenty of credit for hitting plenty of big shots, especially 3 pointers in the second half. After scoring only 18 points in the first half, the Badgers had 51 in the second for their fifth straight win.

Coach Borseth's Coaching Style

Today's Ann Arbor News has an article about Coach Borseth and his rather "animated" behavior during games:

Kevin Borseth is a kinesiologist's dream personified.

His arms flail. His feet stomp. His face contorts, producing an assortment of purposeful expressions.

In moments of enthusiastic over-exuberance, the University of Michigan women's basketball coach will occasionally lose his balance, falling awkwardly backward into the laps of players who have learned to remain on the ready.

Borseth is a case study in constant movement - a collection of anatomical oohs and ahs - each tied to a correlating therapeutic release of emotion.

All of which is routinely put into the open by Borseth for all to see. Not for show, but rather out of competitive necessity.

"When I coach, I live -

every play, every second of every play,'' Borseth says.

Next: Wisconsin

Michigan hosts the Wisconsin Badgers tonight at 8pm. Michigan won the first game of the season in overtime, after Krista Phillips hit a very long 3point shot to tie the score. Both teams have been playing well - Michigan has won four of five, while Wisconsin has won four straight games. Wisconsin is led by Jolene Anderson (20.3 points/game) and Janese Banks (13.8 points/game).

A preview from the Wisconsin web site:

The Badger (15-11, 8-8) buzz saw keeps a hummin’ towards the Big Ten Tournament after taking down three opponents in six days last week. UW has four-straight wins as it heads to Michigan (16-10, 9-7) Thursday for a game broadcast live on the Big Ten Network at 7 p.m. CT. The Badgers are 3-5 in Big Ten road games, one win more than last year's 2-6 record and the most conference roads wins since 2002-03.

Last week’s trifecta of games started with a win on Monday at Northwestern, 79-65. UW beat Indiana Wednesday at the Kohl Center in one of its most complete games of the season, 81-51. The Badgers concluded the week at Minnesota on Saturday with a Border Battle victory at “The Barn”, 59-57.

After struggling with a 1-6 record to open the conference season, the Badgers have won seven of their last nine conference games and perhaps have turned the corner on expectations. Picked to finish among the top three in preseason predictions, the Badgers had some tough luck in the season’s early going and are 3-5 in games decided by six points or less, and lost three overtime games.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Wisconsin Green Bay

The Green Bay Press Gazette has a column about Wisconsin-Green Bay's first year under new coach Matt Bollant. It touches on the difficulty of evaluating a coaches first year, particularly if they follow someone who had long term success:
Borseth, who began his UWGB coaching career by losing eight of his first 11 games, was intent on ingraining his way into his players even though he took over a highly successful team with returning players. Bollant largely went the other way, giving in to a group that was used to playing Borseth's way. It's been a healthy move for the short term, but if at some point he wants his philosophies to come through, it might be tougher because his foundation hasn't been completely built.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Williams takes leave from Penn State

Mashea Williams is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Penn State team. Her last game was last Thursday - she missed the game Sunday against Northwestern. I expect this will hurt the Nitany Lions, who are already struggling in the second half of the season.

New column up at umgoblue.com

Vince Prygoski has a new column up over at umgoblue.com, covering the last few weeks of the season:

Michigan has been especially impressive on defense this season. They are allowing the fewest average points per game in the Big Ten both in all games and in conference games, with averages of 57.7 in all games and an even lower 56.8 in the conference. As the late, great Coach Bo Schembechler used to like to emphasize...Defense Wins Championships!

And so Coach Borseth's team heads into the final stretch of the season with a winning record and with the potential for so much more. After all the years of suffering, it is so very nice indeed to see Michigan women's basketball having some success again.

Attendance

A bit of hyperbole, or is this true? From todays Detroit Free Press:

McCormick recalled plenty of empty seats during the late '80s and early '90s when the team made three Final Fours in five years. But it was nothing like this season, as the women's team has consistently outdrawn the men.

"It's surprising," said athletic director Bill Martin, who hired Beilein last year to revive the downtrodden program. "I mean, we had 6,500 at a women's game this year."

I'll have to do some checking, but except for the Michigan State game, which drew 5596 fans (not 6500 as claimed in the article), I rather doubt this.

Update:

Checking mgoblue.com's figures - reported attendance for Men's is 130530, with an average of 10041/game, the women 18878 with an average of 1761/game. Even if the men report tickets sold and women actual attendance I can't imagine Free Press is correct.

Average attendance is up a bit from last year (1716 vs. 1556), but lower than the three previous years (1744, 2170, 2303).

Monday, February 25, 2008

Interview with Amber Moore, 2009 Prospect

MichLadyBallers.com has a brief interview with Amber Moore, one of the top 2009 Michigan prospects. She mentions Michigan as one of the schools recruiting her:
MLB: How's your recruiting going?

AM: It's going good, I'm getting a lot of letters.

MLB: Is there a top list of schools?

AM: Not in any order - Michigan, Michigan State, West Virginia, Connecticut, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Depaul

MLB: What are you looking for in a school?

AM: A good academic program, good environment, and team tradition is important.

More on the Illinois Victory

Mgoblue.com:
The University of Michigan women's basketball team earned a thrilling 55-52 victory over Illinois Sunday (Feb. 24) in Assembly Hall. The Wolverines (16-10, 9-7 Big Ten) erased an eight-point deficit midway through the second half behind the heroic play of junior Jessica Minnfield (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic HS), who scored 18 of the team's final 21 points, including four free throws in the closing 20 seconds, to guide U-M to its first win over the Fighting Illini (15-12, 7-9 Big Ten) in nearly four years.
Michigan Daily:
The Michigan women's basketball team was desperate.

Without a field goal halfway through the second half, the Wolverines saw their six-point lead gradually transform into their largest deficit (eight).

But then sophomore Jessica Minnfield took the spotlight.

Scoring 18 of her 25 points in the final seven minutes of the contest, Minnfield led Michigan to an important 55-52 road victory over Illinois Sunday night.

The 25 points was a career high.

"I told Jess after the game, 'It's a good thing somebody stepped up,' " Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Michigan 55 Illinois 52

Jessica Minnfield was huge for Michigan in the win - 25 points including 5 triples and 4 key free throws to seal the victory.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Next: Illinois

Michigan goes back on the road to visit Illinois. The Illini are the one blemish on Michigan's home record this year, winning the first meeting between the two teams 66-61. Illinois is led by Jenna Smith, who is averaging 19.5 points/game and 9.8 rebounds/game. It will be interesting to see which Michigan team shows up Sunday - the one that struggled against Northwestern and Indiana on the road, or the one that dominated Purdue on Thursday night.

Friday, February 22, 2008

More Purdue Coverage

The Michigan Daily live blogged the game. Also, articles in the Indianapolis Star, Mlive.com, Detroit Free Press and Journal Courier Online.

From the Daily's live blog:
No one saw this coming. Purdue is probably having its worst game of the year (confirmed by the Purdue student paper). Michigan has done a great job on the defensive end, preventing the Boilermakers from having their way. Seven different Wolverines have contributed to the 19 point lead. That’s right, a 19 point lead. They have not limited a team to 15 points or less since November 25, 2007 against Belmont. Michigan has been looking into the paint much more often that it seems in the past, with Jones and Phillips being key factors in that. It has taken 19 shots inside and is faring just better than 50 percent. The Wolverines have 17 points off turnovers compared to Purdue’s none. Considering that Purdue has just 12 turnovers, that’s about .667 for Michigan following a Purdue miscue. But now we enter the second half, and the Boilermakers should be making a run right out of the locker room.

Coverage of Purdue Game

Mgoblue had an official account:
The University of Michigan women's basketball team earned one of its biggest victories of the season in dominating fashion Thursday evening (Feb. 21), as the Wolverines cruised to a 72-36 win over Purdue to improve their season record in Crisler Arena to 10-1. U-M (15-10, 8-7 Big Ten) put forth a spirited effort right from the opening tip, using a 14-0 run early in the first half to blow the game wide open. With the win, Michigan broke an eight-year, 18-game losing streak to the Boilermakers (14-13, 10-6 Big Ten) dating back to the 2000 season.
The Michigan Daily had two articles. The first focused on the game itself:

Michigan (8-7 Big Ten, 15-10 overall) set the defensive tone early. Purdue didn't score for almost the first five minutes and followed that drought with an eight-minute one. Michigan scored 17 points off Purdue's 12 first-half turnovers to take the advantage.

"We came out to play today," sophomore center Krista Phillips said. "We were set on winning this game."

The second was more about the contributions of the bench, including Ashley Jones:

For the first three quarters of the season, the Michigan bench had little impact on games.

But now Ashley Jones and the Wolverines are finally answering the call.

The Wolverine reserves have played 60 minutes in each of the last two games compared with the season average of 46 minutes. The bench picked up 24 points last night's 72-36 win.

Junior Ashley Jones led the bench in scoring with eight points in 21 minutes. She also contributed five rebounds.

"(Jones) brings a lot of diversity to our team," Michigan center Krista Phillips said. "She's a big person. she can rebound, but she can also handle the ball. She earned her opportunity, and she's doing really well."

The Southfield native has seen a large boost in her playing time, seeing the floor for 26 minutes against Indiana Sunday. Borseth praises her for being a patient player, one who waited her turn on the bench. She is an athletic player and one of the reasons why the Wolverines played much more aggressively against the Boilermakers.

Finally, from the Purdue Exponent:
According to Purdue's coach, the Wolverines attacked her team from tipoff.

During the game, which Michigan won 72-36, the Boilers never were able to attack back and get the win. During the second half, the Boilers didn't even come closer than the 19-point halftime deficit. Coach Sharon Versyp said her team couldn't find an answer to the Michigan attack.

"They came out and attacked us immediately," Versyp said.

"I can't really give you an answer, except that we really got our butts waxed."

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Michigan 72 Purdue 36

Wow. Michigan must really like being at home. After struggling on the road, they picked up a huge win tonight. It was pretty much a total team effort: good defense, rebounding, good shooting, turnover margin all contributed. Purdue shot very poorly - how much of that was Michigan's defense and how much of it was Purdue is tough to say. I thought Michigan stood a reasonably good chance of winning this game, but I didn't expect it to be by this big of a margin.

This not only helps in the Big 10 standings, but it assures Michigan of finishing at least .500 for the first time in several seasons. (They are currently 15-10 with 3 games left, plus the Big 10 tourney and a possible post season game.)

Purdue Preview in the Daily

From the Michigan Daily:

It's make or break time for the Michigan women's basketball team.

Win the next four and there is a good chance the Wolverines will earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

Lose the next four and it's the NIT - or maybe no tournament at all.

"Everything that we've accomplished so far goes right down the drain if we don't do well in the last four games," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. "That's the good news - we're motivated to do that. The bad news is the teams we play are very good. It's not going to be easy."

The Wolverines (7-7 Big Ten, 14-10 overall) play four tough games in the next 11 days against Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Michigan is 1-2 against those teams this season.

Update: Here's a preview from the Purdue Exponent, focusing on the two Michigan players on Purdue's roster:

Two former Michigan high school women's basketball stars will return to the state where they once played at 7 tonight.

When the Boilers (14-12, 10-5 Big Ten) face the Michigan Wolverines (14-10, 7-7), junior forward Ki-Ki Freeman and freshman forward Keshia Mosley have an extra incentive to win.

Both were once finalists for Michigan Miss Basketball, but the two have different feelings about the return home.

Carmen Reynolds update

Carmen Reynolds, who will be joining the Wolverines in the fall, scored 25 points (18 in the first half) in a sectional win against the Lancaster Gales.

She was also named to the Central All-District first team.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Rachel Sheffer Article

Mick McCabe has an article in the Detroit Free Press about Rachel Sheffer, a 2009 prospect Michigan is recruiting:

"We really didn't get to practice for Bangor," said Watervliet coach Jim Winter. "We spent a half-hour watching tape and said: 'OK, here we go.' "

And there went Rachel Sheffer.

Sheffer, 6-foot-1 junior, recorded her second triple-double of the week to lead the Panthers to a 46-39 win. .

After 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds Monday, Sheffer scored 14 points, grabbed 17 boards and blocked a school-record 14 shots Thursday.

"Those stats are all real," insisted Winter. "She had a great game."

Sheffer has had a terrific season, topping 1,000 points for her career in Wednesday's 36-10 victory over Eau Claire when she had eight points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks.

"Rachel's line is as good as you'll see," Winter said. "She was all over the place blocking shots. We hadn't given up 40 points this season, and Rachel's been Rachel."

Courtney Boylan Update

From girlsbasketballrecruit blog - Courtney Boylan, a 2008 commit for Michigan, reached the 2000 point milestone for her high school career:
2000
Courtney Boylan of Chaska topped the 2000 mark with 16 in a 50-47 loss to Lakeville North yesterday. She is only the 2nd player in Lake conference history to achieve this feat, the other being Liz Podominick of Lakeville.
Boylan is the 6th Minnesota player to make the mark this year.

Stacey Thomas

The Big 10 website (bigten.org) is posting profiles of African American athletes from the Big 10, one per day in February in honor of Black History Month. The profile from February 14th is of Stacey Thomas, who played for Michigan from 1996/7 through 1999/2000 season. She later played professionally in the WNBA and overseas.

If you aren't familiar with her, go read the article. If you are, read it anyway...

Next: Purdue

Michigan returns home Thursday to face Purdue, who is 14-12, but 10-5 and in third place in the Big 10. Michigan hung tough with the Boilermakers earlier in the season in West Lafayette, but lost 56-51. Purdue is lead by Kiki Freeman (13.0 points per game/6.2 rebounds per game) and Danielle Freeman (12.5 points per game/7.6 rebounds per game).

It will be interesting to see if Michigan can continue to play tough at home - certainly Purdue struggles on the road as well, having lost four out of their last five road games.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Ashley Jones

The Michigan Daily had a nice article about Ashley Jones and the Indiana game:

Krista Phillips took an early seat with two fouls. Without their center, the Wolverines repeatedly let the Hoosiers come through the lane, but Jones provided a much-needed body to stop the damage.

"We needed to add some athleticism to our lineup," Borseth said. "AJ gives us a lot of it."

Entering eight minutes into the game, the 6-foot-1 forward was able to provide some one-on one pressure on the post.

And while she was called in primarily for defensive purposes, Jones sparked the struggling Michigan offense.

After Indiana stretched its lead to 11, Jones delivered a crisp bounce pass to sophomore Stephany Skrba waiting at the block for an easy two.

It didn't just happen once, but three times in four trips down the floor.

"I just hit the high post and I just hit the open gap," Jones said. "And when you hit the open gap, you find a teammate open."

The baskets were part of an 8-0 run that narrowed the gap to three, but that was the closest the Wolverines could get.

Jones finished with a respectable six points, four assists and no turnovers.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Coverage of the Indiana Game

The "official" recap can be found on mgoblue.com. Articles in the Detroit Free Press and mlive.com. Also, the Michigan Daily:
Before yesterday's game against Michigan, Indiana coach Felisha Legette-Jack told her starters they'd be subbed out right away if they didn't attack the basket.

They did, and Legette-Jack didn't have to go to her bench much.

Indiana took the lead early in the game and never let up, beating the Wolverines 74-65 yesterday at Assembly Hall.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Indiana 74 Michigan 65

Michigan was down 10 at half time, and couldn't really make up much ground in the second half. Carly Benson and Janelle Cooper lead the Wolverines with 13 points and Krista Phillips and Stephany Skrba added 10 points each. Ashley Jones got quite a few minutes and played well. Michigan was out rebounded 40-27.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Next: Indiana

Michigan stays on the road and visits Indiana (14-11) tomorrow. The two teams are tied for 5th place in the Big 10 with 7-6 conference records. The winner will have an advantage for seeding in the conference tournament. The conference tourney is over four straight days this year, and the top 5 teams get a first round bye - it would be a tough for a team to make run for the title having to play four days in a row.

Michigan won the first meeting between the teams in Ann Arbor, 65-54. Let's hope for another series sweep.

Friday, February 15, 2008

More on the Northestern Game

Jessica Minnfield (19 points/6 rebounds) and Carly Benson (16 points/7 rebounds) had big games for Michigan. The team really struggled with their shooting (27.9% for the game, 14.3% from 3pt range), but offensive rebounds, Northwestern turnovers (Michigan had 16 more shots than Northwestern) and free throw shooting down the stretch made the difference.

From the Michigan Daily:
Just awful.

Michigan was awful. Northwestern was awful.

But the result was acceptable.

Despite a terrible performance by both teams, the Michigan women's basketball team picked up its second conference road win of the season, beating Northwestern, 47-40.

Michigan won the game despite shooting an abysmal 27.9% from the court and worse 14.8% from beyond the three-point line.

"We just were awful shooting from the arc," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. "Just not good at all. It was terrible - unbelievably terrible."
Accounts of the game can be found on mgoblue.com , in the Detroit Free Press, and on Mlive.com. The Daily Northwestern has two reports - here and here.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Michigan 47 Northwestern 40

Michigan escapes Evanston with a win - an ugly game, with plenty of poor shooting and turnovers, but a win is a win. With Indiana's loss, Michigan is tied with Indiana for 5th place - both teams are 7-6.

next: Northwestern (at Evanston)

The Michigan Daily has a preview of tonight's game against Northwestern:

Michigan can't let Thursday's contest sneak up, either. The Wolverines could easily look past Northwestern, especially because they play Sunday at Indiana, a team just above Michigan in the Big Ten standings.

But with the postseason a possibility, the Wolverines are going to come out hungry - especially seniors Krista Clement and Janelle Cooper, who haven't played postseason basketball since high school.

"They are hunting for us," said Queen, reiterating Borseth's thoughts on Northwestern. "They know that we have trouble on road games. They know what to expect. And we know what to expect, too."

Over the final three weeks, the Wolverines will go through uncharted territory for Michigan women's basketball team.

And it all starts tonight at Northwestern.

Given Northwestern's struggles this season, this is a game Michigan should win. On the other hand, Michigan has struggled on the road and Northwestern gave them some difficulties when they played earlier this season.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Michigan Daily on Coach Borseth

Today's Michigan Daily has a profile on coach Borseth, focusing on his rather animated and passionate coaching style:

Imagine a nicer, but not tamer, version of legendary basketball coach Bob Knight, and you might begin to understand Michigan coach Kevin Borseth.

The first-year Michigan coach has brought excitement back to the women's basketball program, not just because the Wolverines are enjoying their first winning season in six years, but also because of Borseth's intense sideline antics.

Borseth can be found on the Michigan bench breaking clipboards, jumping up and down or barking commands to his players.

Against Indiana Jan. 24, Borseth fell to the floor and pretended to have passed out in reaction to an official's call.

"I sell the farm on every possession," Borseth said. "Sometimes I see a call I don't like and I'm animated about that."

Taylor Wurtz (2009 prospect)

Here's a profile on Taylor Wurtz, a junior guard at Ripon high school. She was named Athlete of the Week by WBAY-TV in Green Bay. Wurtz is being recruited by Michigan for the 2009 class:

Taylor is rewriting the Ripon record books. She became the all-time leading scorer just ten games into her junior year.

She was already the steals and assists leader as a sophomore.

"I like to get the ball up and down the court, and I like to have fun," Taylor says, "and I've had great teammates -- that helps."

"It was more shocking when I looked at the records initially and noticed she was close after her freshman year. We knew she'd have a shot at the scoring record if she stayed healthy," Ripon head coach Bill Peters said.

A six-foot guard with NBA range who can do it all, Taylor is averaging 20 points, eight boards, four assists, and four steals per game -- making her one of the highly-recruited juniors in the state.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Victory Hoops Club

The Women's team recently sent out a brochure about the Victory Hoops Club, the booster club for the women's basketball team. There are three levels of membership - Blue, Maize and Victors. The Blue level ($35.00) include a media guide, team photo, newsletters and a post-season banquet invitation. The Maize level ($100.00) also includes a women's basketball polo shirt (the media guide & team photo are autographed). The Victors level ($300.00) also includes a senior day invitation and honorary coach 9first come, first serve, for the current season).

I couldn't find a link on mgoblue.com, but for more information email whoops@umich.edu or phone 734-647-2918.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Rest of the Season

Today's Michigan Daily takes a look at the remaining games on the schedule, the Big 10 tournament and the teams chances for the NIT/NCAA:

But the Wolverines are just three wins out of first place, and yet they are ranked sixth in the standings. The win against Penn State on Thursday, along with losses from Illinois and Michigan State have solidified their position, but they can’t get too comfortable as one of those teams are bound to win this weekend.

In addition to the risk of dipping down, Michigan should think about climbing up before the season ends in six games. Unlike previous seasons, the Big Ten tournament will not have a day off between the quarterfinals and semifinals. So what exactly does this mean? Those in the top five begin play on Friday, while teams below that mark start on Thursday. For a team on Thursday to make a serious title run, it will need to play for four straight days.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Coverage of Penn State Game

The Michigan daily has two articles on yesterdays game - one here, the other here. Also the Detroit Free Press, Mlive.com and the Daily Collegian (in Pennsylvania).

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Michigan 68 Penn State 53

A big win for Michigan after several tough games. Carly Benson (18pts) and Krista Phillips (16pts) led the wolverines in scoring. Janelle Cooper added 12 points. After a lackluster first half (Michigan was down by 8 at one point), Michigan dominated the second half - the took the lead early on and never relinquished it.

next: Penn State

The Michigan Daily has a preview :

That has to change tonight, when the Wolverines tip off against Penn State for the second time this season. Penn State picked up some signature wins against No. 10 Duke and No. 20 Pittsburgh in the middle of non-conference play.

In a 68-57 win over Michigan on January 20, the Lady Lions did an effective job scoring with their explosive transition offense. Penn State had four players reach double digits in scoring.

"They had a lot of (baskets) in transition," Borseth said. "It's very much a part of their game, they're a very aggressive team at both ends of the court, we'll have to play well."

The Wolverines need to focus on Lady Lion guards Tyra Grant and Brianne O'Rourke, who manage Penn State's transition offense and dominated Michigan down the stretch last game, scoring 26 combined points.

The biggest advantage for the Wolverines is their biggest player. At 6-foot-6, center Krista Phillips towers over the Penn State starters. However, the Lady Lions shut her down by bringing 6-foot-3 center Janessa Wolff off the bench to frustrate Phillips and get her into foul trouble.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Monday, February 4, 2008

Illinois 66 Michigan 61

A disappointing loss - they had any number of chances down the stretch, but couldn't convert when they had to. Stephany Skrba had another good game (14 pts on 6/9 shooting), as did Krista Phillips. Turnovers, more Illini shots and rebounding in the second half all contributed to the loss.

Rachel Sheffer

A brief update on Rachel Sheffer, a 2009 prospect I posted about earlier. She scored 15 points and had 15 rebounds in a 50-39 overtime against Lawton, including the first basket in OT:

LAWTON -- It's no secret who the Watervliet girls' basketball team turns to when the game's on the line.

And more often than not, Rachel Sheffer delivers.

The senior post player hit the first basket of overtime Thursday night, sparking Watervliet to a 7-0 run on its way to a 50-39 victory against Lawton in a battle of two of the Southwestern Athletic Conference's top teams.

Sheffer finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds as Watervliet, ranked No. 5 in the latest Class C state poll, improved to 15-0 overall and 8-0 in the SAC's South Division.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Next: Illinois

Illinois visits Crisler Arena Monday night. Illinois is 12-9, 4-6 in the Big 10. They have lost 4 out of 5 and 6 of 8, but their last game was an upset victory over 19th ranked Ohio State, 68-64. Much like Michigan, Illinois has struggled on the road in conference play - their only win coming against last place Northwestern.

Illinois is led by Jenna Smith, who is averaging 18.6 points and 10 rebounds a game and Danyel Crutcher who is averaging 10.2 points a game.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Women's Basketball Coaches Show

On mgoblue.com they've announced the dates for the Women's Basketball Coaches show on WTKA (AM 1050) - the first two have passed (Jan 23 & Jan 30), but the remaining shows will be Feb 6th, Feb 20th and Feb 27th. The show will air from 6-7pm.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Samantha Arnold

Over on the umgoblue.com women's basketball forum, user windows4 has posted some updates on Samantha Arnold, who is the first verbal commitment for the 2009 class. She scored 36 and 33 points in a couple of recent games. Windows4 also posted a link to an interview with her on WBBM, a Chicago radio station.

More on MSU loss

Articles from the Michigan Daily, mgoblue.com, mlive.com, Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.
From the Michigan Daily article:

Another road game.

Another nail-biter.

Another loss.

The Michigan women's basketball team suffered its second-straight road defeat last night, falling 61-58 at Michigan State.

Down three points with 7.6 seconds remaining, the Wolverines had a chance to tie. Junior Jessica Minnfield drove through the lane and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Janelle Cooper on the perimeter. But the senior missed in the closing seconds.

"We didn't even plan (it)," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. "We just get it down the court, pitch it to someone and shoot it. … It was a good shot that gave us a chance to tie it."

Rachel Sheffer

One player Michigan is apparently recruiting for their 2009 class is 6'1" Rachel Sheffer who plays for Watervliet (that's over in Western Michigan, for those who might not know). An article on mlive mentions of Dawn Plitzuweit visiting one of her games:

Sheffer had only six points, but was an intimidator in the paint. The Division I college prospect had six blocks and 13 rebounds, as the University of Michigan's Dawn Plitzuweit and Michigan State University's Cathy George watched from the stands. Plitzuweit is the associate head coach for U-M's women's basketball team, and George is the head coach for MSU's volleyball squad.

and from an article in the Free Press last fall:

The girls basketball season is off and running, and a player you might not know about is Rachel Sheffer, a 6-foot-1 junior at Watervliet. She began the season Tuesday with 17 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, five rebounds and three steals in a 44-14 victory over Coloma. Although basketball people are just learning about her, Sheffer is already well-known in the volleyball and softball realms. By the time March rolls around, everyone will know about her.