Kornacki: Wolverines Use Selfless Attitude, Hustle to Beat Hoosiers
2/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan women's basketball forward Cyesha Goree gave chase for a ball headed out of bounds along the baseline. She reached it just in time, and while in mid-air she turned to find Katelynn Flaherty alone at the top of the key.
Goree fired the pass with authority to Flaherty, who didn't hesitate. She passed to Nicole Elmblad, the alert team captain who was cutting to the basket. Elmblad caught the ball and put in an uncontested layup.
That play came late in the first half of 68-52 win over Indiana on Wednesday night (Feb. 18) at Crisler Center, and was special for what it represented. It's the kind of hustle play a team makes when it remembers how to win.
The Wolverines (15-11, 7-8 Big Ten) had lost three consecutive games, sometimes appearing disjointed. But they got it together in this game for coach Kim Barnes Arico by finding one another and putting teammates above self.
Though, it took a while for Michigan to find itself and the rhythm needed to win again. It quickly fell behind, 6-0, and didn't take its first lead until 9:08 remained in the first half on a bucket by Flaherty, who led all scorers with 21 points.
But it was a shot Flaherty didn't take that was part of the most impressive play of the game.
"We were running in transition and I was trying to leak out for an easy layup," said Goree. "But it was a tough pass that Shannon (Smith) threw. So it's either I catch it and go out of bounds or try to save it and get it back to one of my teammates and hope that they catch it. So, fortunately I was able to get it back to Katelynn who was able to get it to Nicole."
Flaherty, making her first start since the third game of the season, said, "That play shows how good we can be and how good we are when we execute as coach has been saying: 'You need to execute and make the extra pass.' It shows how well we can share the ball, and how good things are when we share the ball. Sometimes, coach says we all think we need to score and we put it upon ourselves. But when we share it like that, then we really do score."
Elmblad made every shot she took -- three from the field and three from the free throw line -- to score nine points with her 12 rebounds.
"That play's just Michigan basketball," said Elmblad. "When we're really successful, we have a lot of assists (Michigan had 17), we're sharing a lot of balls and moving well without the basketball. It's not hesitating and finding the open person. It's going after these loose balls and coming up with them -- not just going for loose balls but coming up with them like 'Byrd' did on that play, and finishing. It's making things happen. That play is exactly how we want to play."
Goree, nicknamed "Byrd," said: "Those are the type of plays people do when they're really hungry for a win and strive to do something good.
"That was a hustle play, and hopefully I'll get a sticker on the block M on my locker."
Goree said Barnes Arico designates "hustle plays" after games and places basketball stickers for them on their wooden lockers.
"They are for the intangibles we talk about all the time," said Goree. "They are for diving for loose balls, saving balls, making big plays or taking charges. Nicole had the lead and was a whole sticker ahead of me, but somehow I caught up and I think now we might be tied. At the banquet, they reveal who won. Last year, I won. And it wasn't a race until recently, but now it's a race. Coach says that if everyone on the team totals 10 stickers I a game we are likely to win."
The stickers are positive reinforcement for the players, and the hustle of the team was reward for the coach.
"We talked about that actually before the game -- hustle plays that have been difference makers," said Barnes Arico. "In some of those tight games, when we look back, there were one or two plays that we didn't make that could've been a difference maker in that game.
"So, we really talk about the loose-ball plays and hustle. And Cyesha does a tremendous job, and so does Nicole, of doing that. Tonight, we did a great job of sharing the basketball and making the extra pass. Those are changing points."
Goree has 13 double-doubles this season and finished with four points and 12 rebounds. She's had bigger games statistically, but in this one she tied for the game high with four assists and stayed out of foul trouble for the first time in four games. She did the little things that bring wins.
Barnes Arico said Goree did the smart thing when double-teamed.
"That's going to open up things for her teammates," said Barnes Arico. "And it might not result in her numbers in the stat sheet being 20 points, but it resulted in Katelynn having (21) and Siera Thompson having open looks (and 15 points) and Nicole Elmblad cutting to the basket.
"We found open shots because of Cyesha's double teams."
Thompson hit six of eight shots, and was a prime benefactor of those double-teams. Flaherty and Shannon Smith (16 points) also shot over 50 percent, and the Wolverines made a season-high 55.8 percent.
"Our mentality was to just come out hard," said Thompson. "We haven't won in a while, and we just wanted to get this win tonight. It will help us from here."
• Board Advantage, Flaherty's 21-Point Effort Too Much for Indiana
