The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/246097
women's basketball ball has always been a powerhouse," Barnes Arico said. "It is where kids in the state want to go to school. Now, we have to make them want to come to Michigan. The gap is definitely changing. There were a ton of potential student-athletes in the stands today, and everyone knows we did what we did today with freshmen, sophomores and inexperienced kids. Michigan State has an experienced program. They have a great program, and all their kids play extremely hard. "They're a really good team, and tonight, we showed we're right there with a bunch of young kids. That is exciting for us, because we know in years to come, it's going to be a battle. It's going to be a battle of who's going to win Big Ten championships." Both programs are excited to see the bar raised for women's basketball within the state of Michigan. "For us, it's always good to have that great rivalry," Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant said. "To have a crowd like that, it helps our sport in general, and it helps our state. It helps kids get interested in it, and talk about it. Kim has done a nice job here. In the last seven, nine years, you have seen Michigan make a concerted effort to put women's basketball on the map, and they have done a good job." The two teams will not face each other again in the regular season, with no return trip to East Lansing scheduled. But the Wolverines could land a bigger blow than a victory. After a 4-1 start in conference play, a regularseason Big Ten title is not out of the realm of possibility. "It's a fun game to play in," junior Nicole Elmblad said. "We got a huge crowd today, and there's always a huge crowd when we play there. They enjoy this rivalry as much as we do. Unfortunately, they have the rivalry right now. We're working to even things out. It's going to take a lot of work, because Michigan State is always a great team. "Hopefully, as we go down the road, Michigan basketball is winning as much as Michigan State is. That's the goal. Tonight, we played right with them, and we're striving to get better every day." Wolverines Have Success Going Big Heading into the 2013-14 season, size was a big concern for the Wolverines. With a small lineup, Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico was not sure how her team would match up physically, especially when Big Ten season rolled around. Fortunately, Michigan has nothing to worry about. Junior forward Cyesha Goree and fifth-year senior center Val Driscoll have developed into a serious onetwo punch inside that has given Big Ten teams fits in the paint. Driscoll, who missed the entire 2012-13 season with a torn ACL, had appeared in just 22 total games in her entire career. With just one season left with the Wolverines, she made huge advancements this summer, earning