The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (1999-2002) on the school all-time three-poiners list, Reynolds has been on a hot streak. She went a combined 10 of 15 from downtown against Northwestern, Michigan State Feb. 5 and Nebraska Feb. 9, adding a team- high 16 points in the upset of the Cornhuskers. As of Feb. 14, Reynolds had made 193 career three-pointers. Since surpassing Alayne Ingram slim half-game lead in the standings over Ohio State (22-3, 9-3) and Purdue (19-6, 9-3), with Nebraska (19-4, 8-3) and Iowa (16-10, 8-5) rounding out the top five. In Creme's latest projections Feb. 13, 7-5 Big Ten) were tied with Michi- gan State (15-10, 7-5) for sixth place in the conference, though the Spartans held the tiebreaker over the Wolver- ines after winning both head-to-head matchups. Penn State (20-5 overall, 10-3) had a bracketologist Charlie Creme said of Michigan: "The Wolverines got the weekend off after [their] biggest road win of the year at Nebraska. How- ever, fifth place in the Big Ten is likely the best Michigan can do." As of Feb. 14, the Wolverines (18-7, ESPN.com women's basketball GOING DANCING? Michigan Women's Basketball Rewind Covering Jan. 18-Feb. 14 NCAA Tournament bubble might burst yet again following a 1-3 stretch from Jan. 26-Feb. 5, they came through with, arguably, their best win of the season, and placed themselves firmly back in the postseason conversation. Junior forward Nya Jordan, who has been a huge contributor for the Wolverines Record: 4-3 (Overall: 18-7, Big Ten: 7-5) National Ranking: None. RPI Ranking: No. 31. Best Win — Michigan 63, Nebraska 52: Just when it appeared the Wolverines' since reasserting her place in the starting lineup Jan. 7 post-injury, notched a double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds) to hold a furious Nebraska come- back attempt at bay. Worst Loss — Michigan State 65, Michigan 63: The Wolverines had their sights set on their first win over the Spartans in 11 tries. With less than two minutes to go in the game, Michigan held a slim four- point lead. Unfortunately, U-M was held off the score- board for the rest of the game, and Michigan State snuck out of Crisler Arena with yet another win. With 3.9 ticks left, Porche Poole hit the game-win- ning shot, and an exclama- tion point to her dominat- ing 23-point performance on the night. MVP — Rachel Sheffer: the Nittany Lions were a No. 4 seed, Ohio State was a No. 3 seed, Purdue was a No. 5 seed and Nebraska was a No. 6 seed. In addition, the Wolver- ines were a No. 9 seed, Iowa was a No. 11 seed and Michigan State occu- pied one of the "next four out" slots. Michigan gets the nod over the Spartans and Hawkeyes, right now, because of quality wins; the Wolver- ines have four wins over teams that are currently projected into the tour- nament: Florida, Iowa State, Ohio State and Nebraska, two of which came on the road. The Spartans, on the other hand, are hanging their hats on two wins over Penn State, but are currently on the outside looking in. A poor non-con- ference season led to Michigan State's 15-10 record — which is just pedes- trian enough to allow the Wolverines to leapfrog them. Of the three bubble teams, the Wol- verines probably have the most dif- ficult road ahead. Michigan and Iowa meet in Ann Arbor Feb. 16 and again 10 days later in Iowa City, plus Pur- due comes to Ann Arbor Feb. 23. ❑ For the majority of the first half of the season, Michi- gan relied too heavily on Courtney Boylan for of- fensive production. Head coach Kevin Borseth talked about it nearly every week, the amount of pressure put squarely on his senior point guard's shoulders. But the Wolverines are diversifying, and it starts with Sheffer, who has been magnificent in the paint. The junior center/forward has actually surpassed Boylan as the team's leading scoring this season, contributing 13.9 points per game. She also led the team in rebounds (5.3 per game) and blocked shots (15). On The Rise — Sam Arnold: The junior forward has slowly demanded more Through Feb. 14, junior center/forward Rachel Sheffer was U-M's leading scorer (13.9 points per game), rebounder (5.3 caroms per contest) and shot blocker (15). PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN and more playing time this season. Arnold contributed 12 points in the Wolver- ines' home loss to Penn State Jan. 26 and six more in their win over Northwestern Feb. 2. Arnold was averaging 5.6 points per game throughout the conference season. Game To Watch — at Iowa, Feb. 26: The Wolverines' and Hawkeyes' postsea- son dreams may rest on this game, fortuitously scheduled for the final weekend of the regular season. Both teams are precariously perched on the NCAA Tourna- ment bubble. Beating the Hawkeyes, simultaneously bolstering its conference record and knocking Iowa's tournament chances, would be a huge step in the right direction for Michigan. — Andy Reid MARCH 2012 THE WOLVERINE 103