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11/22/05-
Notre Dame and Miami of Ohio
And November is drawing
to a close and with it comes the transition from fall to winter
sports. The Michigan women’s basketball team had already played two
regular season games as they journeyed to South Bend, Indiana to
face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is a perennial
national contender and brought a #15 ranking into the game against
Michigan.
Coach Burnett’s 2005-06 squad has more experience and size than last
year’s team, and so even though they are still somewhat young they
are better able to compete this season. The Wolverines proved this
in the game against Notre Dame as they gave the highly touted Irish
all they could handle.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well in this game as the
defenses dominated. Notre Dame led 10-7, then Jessica Minnfield and
Krista Clement gave the Maize and Blue a 14-10 advantage. Michigan
then went cold on offense and this allowed the Irish to retake the
lead. At the half it was Notre Dame 26-Michigan 20.
Michigan grabbed the momentum at the start of the second frame, as
Minnfield, Ta’Shia Walker, and Melinda Queen led the way to a 33-28
Michigan lead.
Back came Notre Dame to go ahead 42-38 as the clock ticked under
eight minutes. Michigan got to within one point on baskets by Walker
and Carly Benson, but then ran into another offensive dry spell that
doomed them to an eventual 55-45 setback.
As was mentioned earlier, both teams struggled to hit their field
goals and actually Michigan did slightly better at this task at 32
percent to 30 percent for the Fighting Irish. A big difference was
in free throws, where Notre Dame made 19 of 29 to just three of six
for Michigan. Notre Dame also had more rebounds and fewer turnovers,
both things that usually mean the difference between victory and
defeat.
While moral victories are never as satisfying as actual ones, at
least Michigan could say that they gave a highly ranked team a good
challenge.
Ta’Shia Walker was the top scorer with 16 and rebounder with nine.
Stephany Skrba added eight boards to the Wolverine ledger and also
blocked a pair of shots.
Jessica Minnfield showed her playmaking skills with five assists.
And so at last Cheryl’s Crew returned to the Friendly Confines of
Crisler Arena for the 2005-06 regular season home opener against
Miami of Ohio. On the Miami bench was a familiar face, former
Michigan player Heather Oesterle who is now an assistant coach at
The School That Gave Us Bo Schembechler.
Michigan started slowly, and Miami had the early 8-2 edge. Krista
Clement, Kelly Helvey, and Janelle Cooper keyed a rally that put the
home team ahead by three. Minnfield made it 17-13, then Miami went
up by one.
The Wolverine defense kicked it up a notch and the offense scored
the points to regain the lead at 25-23. Miami then got hot from
three point range and when the smoke cleared it was halftime and the
Redhawks were ahead 45-38.
Walker and Benson led the charge out of the locker room as Michigan
went up 54-53. After a brief lead for Miami, the Wolverines exploded
on an 11-1 run to go up by nine.
Still Miami refused to give up, and they cut into the lead slightly.
It was then that Michigan’s most seasoned veteran, junior Kelly
Helvey, took command. She scored two baskets as part of a game
ending 10-0 run as Michigan put the wraps on a 75-58 win and evened
their record at two wins and two losses.
Ta’Shia Walker once again topped Michigan in points with 20, and
also had eight rebounds.
Janelle Cooper finished with 12 points.
Ten was the number on this day for Kelly Helvey, as she had that
many points and rebounds. She also had four blocked shots, three
assists, and two steals…in other words another great all around game
for Kelly!
Jessica Minnfield looked great at the point again, handing out seven
assists.
Michigan’s defense totally stifled Miami in the second half, holding
the Redhawks to a mere 13 points. If only certain other Michigan
teams could do this well on defense in crunch time. Jim Herrmann,
I’m looking at you and your football defense!
One number that I am not too happy with is 1429 which was the
attendance for the Miami game. I have said it many times and will
say it again…get your tickets for women’s basketball and get to
Crisler Arena! Next game is this coming Saturday, November 26. Tip
off time is 7 pm and the opponent is the University of Toledo. I’d
like to see that 1429 multiplied several times.
After four games, there is much to be optimistic about and also much
to be worked on. Michigan’s defense has been consistently good, but
the offense has been hot and cold. All eleven players are getting
playing time and making statistical contributions, which is a very
good thing. All in all this looks to be a team on the rise that will
improve as the season goes on and will make significant progress
over last season. Which is exactly why you want to get your tickets
now, before the bandwagon fills up.
Vince Prygoski
prygoski@umflint.edu
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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.
Full Bio
Read More
of Vince's Columns
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