01/09/2007

McPherson nets career-high in win

By MARK URBAN

murban@record-eagle.com

Photo courtesy of U-M
Kayln McPherson played an instrumental role in U-M's first Big Ten win.

TRAVERSE CITY — It wasn't her most successful shooting game.

But University of Michigan freshman guard Kalyn McPherson (TC West) made up for it at the free-throw line.

McPherson drained eight of her 11 attempts from the free-throw line and finished with a career-high 12 points as the Wolverines' women's basketball team won its first Big Ten game of the season on Sunday, 55-41 over Penn State.

McPherson also had seven rebounds and one steal while playing 34 minutes for Michigan (8-9, 1-3 Big Ten).

A 5-foot-7 guard, McPherson was coming off a two-point, two-steal performance in the Wolverines' 70-51 loss to Illinois on Thursday.

• Lake Superior State University sophomore guard Mark Morse (Harbor Springs) was named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Association North Division player of the week on Jan. 2 for his accomplishments in the final weeks of the 2006.

Morse picked right up where he left off, helping lead the Lakers to a pair of road victories last week.

In a 71-63 triumph over Michigan Tech on Saturday, Morse hit all four of his 3-point attempts and finished with 18 points. It was the first win over Tech since 2001 for Lake Superior (5-8, 3-3 GLIAC)

Morse hit three of his five triple tries in a 77-75 triumph over Northern Michigan on Thursday. He finished with 22 points, six assists and three rebounds.

• Three former area cross country skiers returned to Michigan to compete in the U.S. National Championships, which concluded on Sunday in Houghton. The races are NCAA qualifiers.

Alaska-Fairbanks sophomore Julia Coulter (TC Central) was seventh in 29:49.1 while sister Anna Coulter, a red-shirt freshman at Fairbanks, was 11th in 30:24.2 in Thursday's 10-kilometer freestyle race. Middlebury College sophomore Cassidy Edwards (Glen Lake) was 13th in 30:36.2.

Edwards was 18th (16:33.8), Julia Colter 42nd (17:11.1) and Anna Coulter 55th (17:23.8) in Wednesday's 5K classic race.

In Saturday's 1.3K individual sprint, Julia Coulter was 49th (3:51.8), Anna Coulter 68th (3:55.8) and Edwards 76th (3:58.79).

Northern Michigan won the College Cup, which combines men's and women's results, with 790 points. Alaska-Fairbanks was third with 702 points while Middlebury was sixth.

• Hillsdale's women's basketball team won its third straight game with a 72-67 triumph over Ferris State University on Saturday.

Senior forward Lauren Fewins (St. Francis) had 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks for the Chargers (8-5, 3-2 GLIAC).

In a 74-51 romp over Saginaw Valley on Thursday, Fewins drained six 3-pointers, finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

• The Ferris State University hockey team split its first two games of 2007 against Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival Northern Michigan. The Bulldogs (3-13-3, 3-10-2 CCHA) won 5-3 on Saturday after falling 4-1 on Friday.

Sophomore forward Corey Couturier (TC Central) had a shot on goal in each contest.

• Sophomore Brandon McClary (Bellaire) came up with a couple of big performances as Muskegon Community College (8-6) split a pair of games last week.

McClary had 16 points and 16 rebounds in a 79-67 loss to Glen Oaks on Saturday. He had 22 points and nine rebounds in an 80-71 triumph over Ancilla College.

• The Hope College women's basketball team went 3-0 last week and got a big contribution from junior forward Lindsay Lange (Manistee).

Lange had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks in a 79-33 non-conference victory over Rochester (Mich.) on Saturday and 11 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal in an 82-47 romp over Adrian on Thursday. Lange had six points, three rebounds and two blocks in an 81-34 rout of Kalamazoo on Tuesday.

Senior guard Sarah Jurik (Mesick) had three points in the wins over Rochester and Kalamazoo for Hope, which is 13-0 overall and 5-0 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

Senior guard Meredith Blazejewski (Benzie Central) had five points for Adrian (7-6, 2-4) in its loss to Hope. She also had three points in a 65-56 win over Olivet on Saturday and three in a 70-47 loss to Calvin on Tuesday.

• Grand Valley junior forward Courtney Hammond (East Jordan) had two points and four rebounds in a 60-45 win over Northern Michigan.

The Lakers are12-3, 5-1 in the GLIAC. Junior guard Maria Kasza (Kalkaska) had three points and one assist for NMU (5-9, 2-4).

Hammond had two rebounds and one steal as Grand Valley lost 64-59 to Michigan Tech on Thursday.

Kasza had six points, four rebounds and one steal in Northern's 65-58 loss to Lake Superior State.

• Brown University dropped a 60-56 overtime decision to Southern Methodist University on Saturday, The Bears lost 49-47 to Cal-Davis on Tuesday on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Junior guard Damon Huffman (Petoskey) had 13 points, three rebounds and one assist for Brown (5-10) against SMU.

Sophomore forward Scott Friske (Charlevoix) had seven points and seven rebounds in the loss to UC-Davis. Huffman added six points.

• The Wayne State University women's basketball team began 2007 with an 84-62 loss to Northwood University.

Senior forward Bethany Mesko (TC Central) did go for 11 points and four rebounds in the loss by the Warriors (4-10, 2-2 GLIAC).

It was the first game in double figures since Dec. 9 against Hillsdale for Mesko. It was her fourth double digit performance of the season.

• The Wesleyan (Conn.) University basketball team fell to 4-7 with a 90-87 double overtime loss to Nichols College on Thursday.

Senior guard Jimmy Shepherd (Charlevoix) had 10 points, two rebounds, two blocks and one assist in the loss.

• Calvin College junior guard Nikki Zimmerman (TC West) had a hand in three victories by the Knights last week.

Zimmerman had three points, two assists, one block and one steal as Calvin (11-1, 5-0 MIAA) edged Saint Mary's 53-52 on Saturday. Zimmerman had 12 points — draining all four of her 3-point shots — three assists and two rebounds in an 84-60 triumph over Albion on Thursday and five assists in a 70-47 victory over Adrian on Tuesday.

• Despite a tough non-conference record, Madonna is undefeated in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference after wins over Indiana Tech (105-94) on Saturday and Davenport College (74-64) on Wednesday.

Senior guard Adam Kerfoot (Gaylord St Mary) had 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists against Indiana Tech and 14 points, five assists and two rebounds versus Davenport for Madonna.

• Davenport College won its 11th straight game with a 71-59 triumph against Concordia College.

Sophomore forward Lynne Blomberg (Harbor Springs) had 18 points, two steals, four rebounds and one assist to lead Davenport (14-4, 2-0 WHAC). She had 12 points, three assists and five rebounds in an 83-63 win over Madonna on Wednesday.

• Olivet College junior guard John Zenner (Kingsley) got a lot accomplished in a short amount of time.

Zenner had four assists, two steals and two rebounds while playing just 13 minutes of a 99-70 loss to Hope on Saturday. Zenner had five points and two rebounds in just eight minutes in an 86-70 victory over Alma. Olivet is 1-1 in the MIAA and 3-9 overall.

• The Alma College women's basketball team went 2-1 last week and freshman forward Megan Hoblet (Cadillac) had double digits in two of those games.

Hoblet had 10 points, two rebounds and two steals as the Scots (6-6, 2-3 MIAA) lost 66-58 to Kalamazoo on Saturday. She had 14 points, two rebounds, three assists and one steal in a 73-57 victory over Tri-State on Thursday and four points and a pair of boards in a 58-51 win over Albion on Tuesday.

• Junior Jeff Wierzbicki (Elk Rapids) had double-digit scoring games in a pair of wins for Aquinas College (10-8, 2-0 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference).

Wierzbicki had 10 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal in a 65-47 win over Cornerstone College on Saturday and 21 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 65-50 triumph over University of Michigan-Dearborn on Wednesday. Freshman guard Matt McDonald (Cadillac) had two assists and one steal against Cornerstone and five points, three assists and four rebounds versus Dearborn.

Senior forward Andy Bronkema (McBain) had eight points, four rebounds and one assist for Cornerstone (10-7, 1-1) against Aquinas. He also poured in 19 points and had nine rebounds and five assists in a 105-94 triumph over Indiana Tech on Wednesday.

• The Kirtland Community College women's basketball team snapped a three-game home losing streak with a 71-68 victory against Wayne County Community College on Wednesday. Freshman guard Trisha Peterson (Grayling) had seven points.

• The Lake Superior State University women's basketball team ran its win streak to four games with two road victories last week. The Lakers are 6-0 in the GLIAC ands 10-3 overall.

Freshman Jill Walton (Kingsley) had four points, three rebounds and two assists in just 11 minutes of action in a 73-64 win over Michigan Tech on Saturday.