Text by Jack Herman, Matt Singer, Matt Venegoni and Stephanie Wright
- Janna Hutz
Page Design by Ellen McGarrity
Photos by David Tuman
Graphics by Jacob Nathan
With just three returning players, the Michigan women’s basketball team needs its seven freshmen to grow up fast.
#11 Sierrah Moore
Guard 5’8’’ Long Beach, Calif.
Hidden Talent: Songwriting
Future Plans: Music Producer/Singer
Guilty Pleasure: Mrs. Fields Cookies
Favorite Part of Being a Michigan Student-athlete: When we travel, we sleep in hotel beds instead of dorm beds.
Best Basketball Moment: My sophomore year, when I was at Crenshaw High School, and we beat our all-time rival Dorsey High School.
Senior BreAnne McPhilamy on Moore: “She’s a great singer. She won that Michigan idol competition. She entertains us on bus rides and stuff.”
#12 Jessica Starling
Guard 6’0’’ Tallahassee, Fla.
Nickname: “J-Star”
Favorite Basketball Accessory: Headband
Future Plans: School Principal
Favorite Coach Burnett Saying: “It’s all arithmetic.”
Least Favorite Dorm Food: Everything
Favorite Basketball Movie: “Love and Basketball”
Favorite University Building: Michigan Union
Favorite Artist: R. Kelly
McPhilamy on Starling: “She’s crazy. She’s just a goofy kid, always laughing about something. She’s got a good shot. We’re looking for her to help us on offense.”
#21 Becky Flippin
Guard 5’5’’ Springfield, Mo.
Nickname: “Beck” or “Flip”
Favorite All-time Michigan Athlete: Dan Dierdorf
Future Plans: Katie (Dierdorf) and Krista (Clement)’s cooking show judge.
Favorite Michigan Football Wave: “The Split”
Favorite Dorm Food: Vanilla ice cream cone
Least Favorite Dorm Food: Tofu
On Facebook?: No! I have no clue what they’re talking about. They make fun of me because Facebook is strange to me.
McPhilamy on Flippin: “We make fun of Becky for her Southern lingo. She’s got like a different language that she speaks. She’s like a little sister because she’s so small.”
#24 Krista Clement
Guard 5’9’’ St. Ignace
Future Plans: Katie and I are going to have a cooking show just like Iron Chef. Becky’s the judge.
Favorite University Building: Coliseum … I love men’s gymnastics.
Been Lost on Campus?: Yes, I’m a Yooper — this is a big place.
Favorite Coach Burnett Saying: “Airball is not an option.”
On Facebook?: Yes! I hear there’s a sweet Becky Flippin Fan Club! I need to get in it.
Favorite Dorm Food: Chicken Broccoli Bake
McPhilamy on Clement: “Kind of in charge of the freshmen, I’d say she’s kind of the leader of that group. She’s a very hard worker — she was always in the gym this summer and always wanted to run more than we had to.”
#40 Janelle Cooper
Forward 5’10’’ Detroit
Future Plans: I see myself owning my own dental practice.
Strongest Part of Your Game: Driving to the basket
Favorite Coach Burnett Expression: The rolling of the eyes
Favorite Athlete: Michael Jordan
Favorite Michigan Cheer: The Victors
Guilty Pleasure: Candy
Favorite Basketball Movie: Love and Basketball
Favorite Basketball Accesory: Headband
Favorite Thing to Do Off the Court: Sleep
Senior Tabitha Pool on Cooper: “Hard worker on the defensive and offensive end. Great rebounder. Really talks a lot in practice.”
#42 Katie Dierdorf
Forward 6’2’’ St. Louis
Funniest Practice Moment: “J-Star” getting hit in the face by one of Becky’s passes and rolling her ankle as a result.
Least Favorite Dorm Food: BBQ “Rib” Sandwich
Future Plans: Orthopedic Surgeon
Favorite TV Show: “Friends” … but now “The O.C.”
Funniest Teammate: Kelly Helvey because she always has a funny comment for every situation.
On Facebook?: Yes I am! (I like) getting to see pictures of people (I) haven’t seen since middle school.
Favorite Coach Burnett Saying: “Turnover is not an option.”
Favorite Basketball Movie: “Hoosiers”
Favorite Board Game: Candyland
Sophomore Kelly Helvey on Dierdorf: “Energizer who comes in and plays hard every game.”
#44 Ta’Shia Walker
Forward 6’0’’ Lansing
Nickname: “Shia”, “Shiabia” or “T”
Best Basketball Moment: When my AAU team won its fourth state championship.
Favorite Dorm Food: Taco night
Least Favorite Dorm Food: Everything else
Future Plans: Married, with a job for Nike being a sales exec.
Best Part of Being a Michigan Student-athlete: The tradition
Strongest Part of Your Game: Posting up and going up strong.
Favorite TV Shows: “I Love Lucy, Will and Grace, Golden Girls”
McPhilamy on Walker: “You don’t want to get in her way on defense, she’s very tough to guard. She works really hard down low.”
Coach Cheryl Burnett
“Our coaching staff could not be more pleased with this group. We wanted this group to come in and impact Michigan women’s basketball. Their intangibles are incredible as academicians, as citizens, as ambassadors of the University. And then, every day at practice they’re competitive. They want to learn. They are the cornerstone of the program.”
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