1/10/06- Big Ten Blues Again

It has been a while since this reporter checked in on the State of Women’s Basketball at the University of Michigan. This being due to the fact that he was away on vacation in the Caribbean and did not have ready access to a computer and the internet. Having returned to the Frozen Tundra of the Wolverine State, here then is a rundown of what has transpired since the December 13 game against Fordham.

First of all, some Bad News regarding Michigan’s most experienced player. Junior Kelly Helvey will miss the rest of this season with a knee injury suffered in the game at Washington. This will not be an easy thing for the team to overcome, as the remaining roster is entirely sophomores and frosh.

More recently, it became one sophomore less as Jessica Starling either quit or was thrown off the team, which of these it is Not Clear At This Point. This leaves Cheryl’s Crew with only nine healthy players for the remainder of the campaign.

December 17 brought the Cornhuskers of Nebraska to Crisler Arena. The first half was close with both teams going on scoring runs. Actually there was a comparative lack of points for both teams and at the half it was the visiting Cornhuskers by a 28-24 margin.

Michigan played hard the rest of the way, but was unable to find any offensive consistency and so Nebraska pulled further ahead, leading by as many as 20 points. Which was exactly the margin they would eventually win by, 69-49.

Janelle Cooper was Michigan’s only double digit scorer with 11, while Carly Benson and Jessica Minnfield had nine apiece. The top rebounder with seven was Stephany Skrba. Nebraska shot 47 percent from the field to only 37 percent for Michigan, this being a Key Stat in this game.

The Wolverines’ final non-conference game took them to New York State to face St. Bonaventure, whose Not-So-Creative nickname is, you guessed it, the Bonnies. Michigan broke open a close game late in the first half to lead 32-19 at intermission. Field goal shooting was critical to this outcome, with Michigan shooting 52 percent to just 21 percent for the Bonnies.

St. Bonaventure rallied to take the lead early in the second half, then the Wolverines stormed back to claim a 68-60 win and end the non-conference slate with an encouraging mark of six wins and six losses.

Michigan’s second half shooting was an incredible 14 of 18 for 77 percent, which gave them 62 percent shooting for the game. Ta’Shia Walker was the top scorer with 32 points, and Katie Dierdorf added 19. Walker had nine rebounds, and Krista Clement six assists.
And so it was time to begin Big Ten competition, with Michigan heading to Champaign-Urbana (actually, Champaign is specifically where the basketball arena is) to face Illinois.

The Wolverines struggled to score points all throughout this game, shooting under 30 percent in both halves and ending the game with 26 percent shooting and a paucity of points…48 to be exact. This was 19 fewer than the Illini managed, and so Michigan dropped to a game below .500 in the Big Ten and overall.

Janelle Cooper’s 11 points topped the anemic Michigan offense, while Katie Dierdorf had the most rebounds.

A trip to East Lansing was next, and a date with the number 10 in the nation Spartans of Michigan State. While the Wolverine women have floundered in recent seasons, the women of Sparta have become one of the top teams in Big Time Women’s College Hoops.

Early in the first half, Janelle Cooper led the way to an 11-10 Michigan lead. This was as good as it would get for the women in Maize and Blue. An 11 point MSU run put the Green and White in charge, and Michigan would get no closer than four points for the rest of the opening half.

The final 20 minutes were a complete disaster for Michigan, as they were outscored by 20 points. The final margin was 33 points as MSU claimed a convincing 77-44 victory.

Cooper’s 15 points were tops for Michigan, while Walker led in rebounds with eight. Ashley Jones had her best game so far as a collegian, with eight points, six rebounds and three assists. Jessica Minnfield had four assists to lead in that category.

Michigan’s Big Ten home opener matched them against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Ta’Shia Walker was a force in the first half with 13 points, but still Michigan trailed by ten at the break.

Jessica Minnfield hit a three point shot early in the second half to bring Michigan within three points, but it was Iowa the rest of the way as the Hawkeyes returned to their home state with a 77-63 win.

Walker led Michigan with 24 points and shared the rebounding lead with Janelle Cooper with eight boards each. Minnfield added 11 points and Katie Dierdorf recorded 10. Krista Clement had six assists and Stephany Skrba a pair of blocks.

Sunday, January 8 brought another nationally ranked team to Ann Arbor, this being the number 14 Purdue Boilermakers.

Stephany Skrba gave Michigan the initial lead at 2-0. but then a dreaded offensive dry spell left the Wolverines trailing. Michigan’s defense kept them in the game as they allowed only 27 points in the first half. The trouble being that they shot an ice cold 21 percent and scored a meager 16 points in the same time frame.

Purdue again came out strong in the second half, leading by as many as 14. Michigan may be lacking in experience, but they showed a lot of guts and poise in refusing to give up. With a minute and 41 seconds left in regulation, the youthful Wolverines had rallied to trail by only two points. Could a major upset be in the making? It was not to be, as the Boilermakers scored the last six points to win 51-43.

Katie Dierdorf was Michigan’s top scorer and rebounder with 10 points and six boards. Krista Clement had three assists, Jessica Minnfield three steals, and Carly Benson three blocked shots.

Michigan has lost their first four Big Ten games and now is 6-10 overall and 0-4 in the conference. Their relative lack of college experience is likely a factor in their struggles, as is the general strength of Big Ten teams. It is clear that Michigan’s players are giving it their best effort, and so it is mostly a matter of getting better results. As has been the case at times in recent seasons, scoring has all too often been a problem. In three of their first four league contests they have scored less than 50 points which is usually not going to be enough for victory.

It will not get any easier at least in the next two games, at Ohio State and at home against Minnesota. Both of these teams are Big Ten title contenders.

Stay tuned for the further adventures of Cheryl’s Crew!

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.

Full Bio

Read More of Vince's Columns