The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PROFILE this program become what we want it to be." Barnes Arico and her coaching staff track every statistic from every practice. At the end of the week, the numbers are tallied up, and the player with the most points is rewarded with a day off from running drills. After the first week of practice in the preseason, Barnes Arico thought there must have been a mistake. In all the years she has tracked practice stats, she had never seen a player win a week by 50 points. And it was Goree at the top of the list. "I was shocked," Barnes Arico said. "I didn't think she could sustain that, but week after week she wins the thing. She challenges herself every day to win. She really buys into that. "We have a bunch of new kids. None of them were really sure if we would have any inside presence. They knew we graduated our post kids. The first time they had an opportunity to play with Cyesha, they were like, 'Whoa, this girl really runs the floor.' They were excited about what she was doing in the transition game, but even I wasn't sure if she would come back that way. She was getting up and down, and now she is in such great shape, she was rebounding all the time. The kids were saying, 'Coach, we have a big. You said you weren't sure if we would.'" As Barnes Arico talked, she held that day's practice stat sheet. Goree had finished with 48 points. The next closest, junior Nicole Elmblad, had 27. Goree's production didn't stop on the practice courts. In the Wolverines' first game of the season, she played 26 minutes and recorded eight points and seven rebounds. The next time on the court, against Arizona, Goree called for the ball in the waning seconds and drained a fadeaway jumper as time expired, sending the game to overtime, where Michigan won 73-71. And the next game, she recorded her first-career double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds versus Xavier. "I am proud, especially if our team comes out with a win," Goree said. "It is nice to see that the hard work is paying off. I try not to focus on those kinds of things, though. I just want to play my hardest. Even when I get a doubledouble, I'm thinking about what else I could have done to help out the team. "I'm still working on being able to post up more in our half-court offense. I am pretty good at running in transition, and my teammates know how to find me in transition. I would like to get stronger on the block and execute in the half-court offense." Through Jan. 18, Goree was averaging 11.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. In the process, she had posted six double-doubles to help the Wolverines jump out to a 13-5 start, including a 4-1 record in Big Ten play. Her eight points and 14 boards were instrumental in Michigan's 65-49 upset win at No. 22 Purdue Jan. 15. "It's amazing to see where our team is right now and how hard we're playing together," Goree said. "My teammates are actually looking for me, which is helping me get experience and be a better player on the court." — Andy Reid