12/14/05- Sadness in Seattle, Happiness at Home

Michigan women’s basketball took their two game winning streak to the Pacific Northwest on December 9 to face a University of Washington team that was looking for payback for last season’s Michigan win in Ann Arbor. Michigan had a lot to feel good about, with the emergence of Kelly Helvey as a serious offensive force being perhaps the most obvious good thing. Against Maryland-Eastern Shore, Michigan’s hard working junior scored 30 points which is a career high for her.

But sometimes, as the Grateful Dead cautioned in their song “Uncle John’s Band.” “…when life looks like easy street, there is danger at the door.” Said danger reared its ugly head early in the first half of the Washington game. It was not quite four minutes into the game when it happened…Kelly Helvey suffered a leg injury and was not able to return to the game. At this point it is not clear when she will be back. She was on the bench for the following game against Fordham, out of uniform and on crutches. The thoughts of all Wolverine fans are with Kelly as we hope for a quick and full recovery. Given her toughness and work ethic, I am confident that this will happen and probably a lot sooner than anyone might think.

Back to the Washington game for now…without Kelly, the Wolverines had a rough time of it on the road against a quality opponent. Good defense and a lot of scoring from Ta’Shia Walker gave the Maize and Blue an early 13-9 lead, but Washington surged ahead and by halftime it was the Huskies by a 37-23 margin.

Michigan was hot on offense early in the second half, but alas so was Washington and so the deficit did not decrease much. Then, the Wolverines went cold at the same time that the Huskies got going, and soon the game was out of Michigan’s reach. The final score was Washington 82-Michigan 60, and Cheryl’s Crew returned to Ann Arbor needing to find a way to win without their most experienced player.

There were some encouraging things in the boxscore of the Washington game. Ta’Shia Walker led Michigan in scoring with 17 points and also had eight rebounds. Krista Clement had six assists. Janelle Cooper had 13 points, while Stephany Skrba scored 11 and added a pair of blocks.

And so the Fordham Rams arrived at Crisler Arena looking to take advantage of a team that would be composed entirely of sophomores and freshmen. The Wolverine youngsters needed to step up and get the job done.

Michigan’s players responded in extremely impressive fashion right from the beginning of the game. Krista Clement led the way with three three point baskets in the opening minutes, but she was not alone as Stephany Skrba, Ashley Jones, and Carly Benson also scored points to build a 24-11 lead.

Ta’Shia Walker also joined in the fun, as she and Benson pushed the Michigan lead to over 20 points. Katie Dierdorf tallied the final points of the half as the Wolverines took a 47-23 advantage into the halftime break. Some stats that stood out from the first 20 minutes were 57 percent field goal shooting for Michigan, four of seven three pointers (for an identical 57 percent) and 19 Fordham turnovers.

The pain and suffering did not cease for Fordham in the second half, if anything it got worse. Michigan’s defense clamped down even tighter, holding the Rams to a mere one field goal in the first five minutes of the second half. Meanwhile on the other end of the court, Jessica Minnfield and Janelle Cooper joined Benson in the three pointer fiesta. Walker also made good on a triple, then Skrba converted a two point shot to boost the Michigan lead to a whopping 40 points.

In the end, Coach Burnett cleared the bench and Michigan cruised to a 98-55 win, with the only drama at the end being whether the Wolverine women could crack the century mark. They fell two points short, but this was the highest scoring total for Michigan since a 1998 win over Central Michigan when Michigan put 103 on the board.

The stars of this game were many, as seven (yes, SEVEN!) Michigan players reached the coveted double digit level in points scored. Skrba was the leader with 16 and she also had eight rebounds.

Just behind Stephany in the scoring column was Jessica Minnfield with 15 points. She also had four each of assists and steals.

Krista Clement and Janelle Cooper had 14 points each, with Clement adding a team high six assists and three steals while Cooper posted three assists.

Carly Benson had 12 points and led the team in steals with five.

Ta’Shia Walker had 11 points and four boards, while Katie Dierdorf finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Ashley Jones was second in assists with five.

From these numbers, it is clear that Michigan has a lot of good players who are capable of making various contributions. This was a great “gut check” performance for the team, as they had to overcome not having Kelly Helvey in action. This will give them much needed confidence and momentum with the non-conference part of the schedule winding down and the Big Ten slate approaching.

Most importantly, the team has evened their record at five wins and five losses. For those who were not following the team last season, that five wins is as many as last season’s team managed in the entire campaign. Now they need to focus on getting more and more wins and moving on to greater things.

Next up is a home game against Nebraska, which means that two of Michigan’s teams will be facing the Cornhuskers this month. The other, of course, being the football team who will play Nebraska in their bowl game. After that is the non-conference finale at St. Bonaventure, then the conference games begin.

The sky is the limit for Coach Burnett and her team, and I see them making ever greater strides and making their mark on the basketball world, starting right now!

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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