The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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shot is deadly. Jenny Ryan Settles Into Scoring Role As effective as the inside-outside game with Sheffer and Thompson has been, the Wolverines still needed Ryan to produce, in order to have a consistent and varied offense. In her three previous seasons, in which she tallied 96 career starts, Ryan scored in double figures just 18 times. She scored 15 or more just twice, with a career high of 16 versus Indiana State as a sophomore. "We knew we were going to need her to score," Barnes Arico said. "And watching her in practice — I don't know if it was always this way with her — it looked like she was a capable scorer. She has a great shot and a good feel for the game." Ryan has certainly stepped up to the plate. As a senior this year, she has al‑ ready notched 10 double-digit per‑ formances in Michigan's first 17 games and scored a career-high 19 points in a 54-43 win over Wisconsin Jan. 13. She has scored fewer than six points just once so far, going score‑ less at Eastern Michigan Dec. 11. "It does take some getting used to, changing your scoring mentality from a facilitator to a scorer," Ryan said. "I think being older, more ex‑ perienced helps. I am getting shots that are comfortable for me and that I know I can knock down." Through 17 games, she was aver‑ aging 11.4 points per game. Ryan had scored 193 points, just 25 fewer than she did all of last year. She has never scored more than 219 points in a sea‑ son (2010-11). But just because Ryan's scoring re‑ sponsibilities have increased doesn't mean her other responsibilities have dwindled. Ryan was also averaging 5.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. "She does everything," Barnes Arico said. "I have never seen more of a complete player." Surrounding Cast Evolving In the early going, if the Wolver‑ ines were scoring, the production was almost surely coming from one of the big three. In the Wolverines' first nine games, there was just one instance in which a player not named Thompson, Sheffer or Ryan scored double-digit points in a single game. Sophomore point guard Brenae Harris scored 11 points in the season-opening 70-62 win over Detroit Nov. 9. In the next eight games, however, Michigan enjoyed seven double-digit games from bench players. In that span, Harris scored 11 points in a 60-41 win over Western Michigan Dec. 15; senior center Sam Arnold scored 11 points in a 55‑43 win over Eastern Michigan and 10 points in a 73-32 win over Valparaiso Dec. 20; and senior forward Nya Jor‑ dan scored 17 points in an 82-44 win over Niagara Dec. 29 and 12 points in a 67‑53 win at Northwestern Jan. 17. In a 68-64 win over Indiana Jan. 3, both Arnold (17) and Jordan (14) fin‑ ished in double figures. "It's important to get people in‑