Michigan offense comes up empty against Zips
Ryan Kartje
Daily Sports WriterNovember 17th, 2008
Michigan freshman guard Courtney Boylan looked like she could be an offensive force for the Wolverines after an 18-point performance against Kentucky in the season opener.
She refused to play like her age. She looked like she’d done this before.
But for almost 37 minutes against Akron, Boylan looked like a freshman again. And the rest of the Wolverines followed suit.
Boylan was held without a field goal until a late three-pointer dropped for the former Minnesota Ms. Basketball as the Wolverines (1-1 overall) shot 29% from the floor in a 58-49 loss to the Zips.
Michigan coach Kevin Borseth called the Wolverines’ offensive performance “atrocious”.
“We aren’t good offensively,” Borseth said. “We can’t score. That’s our problem, plain and simple.”
With Boylan no longer a surprise, the Zips put a hand in her face and took her out of the game completely. Her lack of offense paved the way for another freshman to make the difference.
Akron freshman center Kyle Baumgartner dominated the Wolverines in the low post to finish with a double-double.
With 6-foot-6 junior Krista Phillips shut down under the basket, Baumgartner and teammate Jolene Tambouie racked up ten rebounds apiece.
Phillips, Michigan’s leading scorer and rebounder from last season, finished with just one point and three rebounds.
“Every time I put her in, we never got anything under the basket,” Borseth said. “We weren’t creating opportunities, so we had to take her out.”
The Wolverines held the lead for most of the first half as both teams struggled from the field.
Unable to get into an offensive rhythm, it was the defense that gave Michigan the halftime lead, as they showed flashes of the hardnosed play that gave them a season-opening victory against Kentucky last Saturday.
But the defense couldn’t make up for the overwhelming offensive woes, or the lack of intensity on the glass.
“They’re getting offensive rebounds and they keep shooting, and we just sit there and watch,” Borseth said. “The ball’s on the floor and we just sit there and watch it.”
After halftime, the Zips came out with offensive force while the Wolverines shot 25 percent from the field for the first five minutes of the second half.
And it only got worse from there as Michigan hit only seven of its 30 shots in the second half.
“We were getting a lot of good shots,” senior forward Carly Benson said. “They just weren’t falling.”
Michigan had its chances. After an aggressive layup from sophomore guard Veronica Hicks the Wolverines took the lead back with 12 minutes remaining. But Michigan was held scoreless for over six minutes, a drought akin to the one in their exhibition game against Division II Northwood.
The Wolverines’ 22 turnovers against Akron gives them 43 total in their first two games, a problem that will have to stop if Michigan hopes to stay competitive in its next two matchups — both of them against ranked opponents.
Borseth said without a scoring threat he was “almost scared” for his team’s upcoming run against powerhouses Texas A&M and Vanderbilt at Crisler Arena this week.
“I hope we can score,” Borseth said. “We may not score a point. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:36:44 -0400