1/27/06- In Search of A Conference Win

And so began what was considered to be the “easier,” or at least “less terribly difficult” part of the Michigan women’s basketball Big Ten slate for 2005-06. This being a four game run of games at Indiana, at home against Northwestern and Wisconsin, and at Penn State. We are now halfway through this series of contests, and alas the women in Maize and Blue remain stuck at el zippo Big Ten victories with eight defeats. Might as well get the basic, awful truth out of the way and then proceed to the gory details.

First, the fiasco in Bloomington. The Hoosiers jumped out to a 5-0 lead, then Michigan responded to go ahead 7-6. This sort of brief, often early in the game lead seems to have become a trademark of this season’s team. Sadly, another trademark seems to be the tendency to lose said leads quite quickly and decisively. The Wolverines were right on cue against Indiana, going on an extended offensive cold spell that eventually put the Hoosiers ahead 27-9. Carly Benson and Melinda Queen made good on three point shots, but still Michigan trailed 31-15 at halftime. A major reason for this was ice cold field goal shooting of just 23 percent, and also a lot of good free throws for Indiana.

Stephany Skrba got the Wolverines off to a good start after the break, but yet another scoring drought allowed Indiana to boost their lead to 21 points. The Fear and Loathing was setting in, and in the end it was the Hoosiers 69-the Wolverines an anemic 44.

Michigan improved their field goal shooting somewhat in the final 20 minutes, but still ended up with a not-too-impressive 30 percent for the game. Turnovers were again a factor, with Michigan coughing it up 19 times to only 10 for the opposition.

Skrba was Michigan’s top scorer with 14 points and also led in rebounds with eight and blocks with three. Janelle Cooper scored nine points and Jessica Minnfield had six assists.

Perhaps things would be better back home in Ann Arbor, against Northwestern? The Wildcats arrived with a slightly worse overall record than Michigan and an identical 0-7 conference mark. So this appeared to be a game that Michigan should win.

As has seemed to be their custom, Michigan started strong and held leads of 6-4 and 27-22. The fans were happy, the team was happy, everything seemed to be going just fine. With a minute and change left on the first half clock, Carly Benson put the Maize and Blue up 32-30 with a three pointer. Even when Northwestern scored six straight to claim the lead at halftime, the chances of a Michigan victory looked good.

Those chances looked even better when Stephany Skrba tallied the first points after the break to bring her team to within two points. It was then that the proverbial bottom began to fall out, as Northwestern went on a run to lead by eleven. Katie Dierdorf led a rally that got Michigan to within ten, but that was as good as it got the rest of the way for the Wolverines. Northwestern went on a scoring spree and despite the best efforts of Skrba in particular it was loss number eight in the Big Ten for Michigan, with still no conference wins and now an overall record of 6-14.

Skrba once again led Michigan in scoring, this time with 16 points. Dierdorf added eight points, five rebounds and a block. Krista Clement also had eight points, and tied with Janelle Cooper and Jessica Minnfield with three assists. Minnfield led in rebounds with seven, which is not what one would expect considering she is the shortest player on the Michigan roster.

The next two games, at home against Wisconsin and at Penn State, are likely the best remaining chances Michigan has to get more wins. The way they have been playing, they will have trouble beating anyone. It hurts to say that about my favorite team, but at this point it is the plain, objective reality of the situation. This team needs to make some serious improvements and play much better for a full 40 minutes if they hope to have any success.

A great place to start a turnaround would be with a win against Wisconsin. So let’s go Michigan women…Beat the Badgers and get some confidence and momentum!

Vince Prygoski
prygoski@umflint.edu

Vince Prygoski, is the Women's basketball columnist for UMGoBlue.com. He's been a fan of Michigan sports for as long as he can remember.
He has written a book on the history of Michigan women's basketball that will be published soon.

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