The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/888498
NOVEMBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 61 The mentor said she learned a lot about the character and perseverance of her team in the WNIT, and that those extra games and practices were monumental in the continued devel- opment of the squad. "Anytime you have the opportunity to practice more, you gain more con- fidence, you gain more experience, and I think those games allowed some our younger kids that didn't get a lot of minutes during the course of the season to play some minutes, to get that experience," Barnes Arico said. "We used the WNIT as motivation." Now the team is focused on this season. Barnes Arico said she be- lieves this is a top-25 team that could end up in the top 10. Flaherty will team up with junior center Hallie Thome to form one of the top scoring duos in the country. Thome averaged 16.2 points, 7.1 re- bounds and 2.0 blocks per game last season. "I think they might be one of the best inside-outside scoring combos in the country," Barnes Arico said. "I think they demonstrated that last year and I expect them to continue on with that this season." Flaherty is just 58 points away from becoming Michigan's all-time leading scorer. She finished last sea- son with 2,019 career points and is only the second player in school his- tory to eclipse the 2,000-point mark, and became the fastest to reach the milestone. She has been named consensus first-team All-Big Ten and WBCA All-American honorable mention each of the past two seasons. The Point Pleasant, N.J., native was also dubbed the Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year in 2014-15, made the Big-Ten All-Freshman team that year as well and was named the 2017 WNIT MVP. The 5-7 scorer is missing one ac- complishment, however. "Since I've stepped foot on cam- pus, [my goal] has been to win the Big Ten," Flaherty said. "Whether it's overall or the tournament, that's something I definitely want to do be- fore I leave — and make the NCAA Tournament and win a game or two." Diane Dietz (1979-82) is Michigan's current all-time scoring leader. She finished her career with 2,076 points. "I feel very spoiled having a person like Katelynn," Thome said. "Com- ing in freshman year, and seeing her my senior year of high school, I said I couldn't wait to play with her. "It's fun to play with her because she makes people have to play on the perimeter, so being on the same side as her, they can't really help much or double team. Just her ability to help people around her improve and her ability to score the ball is unlike any- one I've ever seen in women's college basketball and in men's, too." Barnes Arico raved about Fla- herty's impact on the team as well, saying she's watched her since about the third grade and that she's always been a special player. "It's incredible coaching her," Barnes Arico said. "Her ability to put the ball in the basket in uncanny. It's different than most other people out there. What she's been able to do as a small guard in her time here has been incredible. "Everybody every day puts their best defender on her and tries to stop her, and she still manages to do what she has individually and for the program." Flaherty has played on the wing for much of her career at Michigan, but with the loss of graduating point guard Siera Thompson she'll be counted on the handle the ball more often. 2017-18 BASKETBALL PREVIEW The women's basketball team used its exclusion from the NCAA Tournament to go on a six- game run to win the WNIT championship, outscoring opponents 432-368 for an average point differential of 10.7 per game. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS