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Women's basketball hosts Minnesota

Something has to give tonight at Crisler Arena.

When the Michigan women's basketball team (0-7 Big Ten, 6-11 overall) hosts Minnesota (0-7, 4-13) at 7:30 p.m. it's inevitable one of the teams will end their losing streak and finally capture that elusive first conference victory.

Michigan coach Trish Roberts knows that both teams will put up a good fight to fill their barren win columns.

"Similar to us, their record is not any indication of how good a team they are," Roberts said. "It's not going to be an easy game for us."

Also like Michigan, the Gophers have a very young and slightly banged-up roster.

The match-up to watch tonight will be in the paint between the two centers.

Junior center Cheri Stafford has been leading Minnesota this year with 12.5 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game after missing much of her first two seasons due to injuries.

The Wolverines counter with sophomore Pollyanna Johns who has been averaging a double-double with 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest. Her stats are even more impressive against Big Ten foes: 18.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.

Looking past the post, neither team has another player averaging over 10 points a game, which is a good indication of why both teams have struggled.

If the Wolverines are going to make a move in the conference, this weekend is their best chance. After facing Minnesota, with whom they are tied for 10th place, Michigan goes on the road to play ninth place Indiana (1-6, 10-7) Sunday at 2 p.m.

A victory in both games would likely boost the Wolverines out of the conference cellar and give them sole possession of ninth place.

"We feel good about these two games, personally I think we can win these two games," Roberts said. "But we've got to come ready to play."

Still fresh in the Wolverines' minds is last year's meeting with Indiana in Crisler.

The Hoosiers were down by one with the ball out of bounds and a mere 0.5 seconds left on the clock. The ball was in-bounded to Quacy Barnes who nailed the winning jumper from the middle of the key for the 78-77 victory.

"Losing that game was a heart-breaker to us and we just want to make sure that doesn't happen again," Roberts said.

Indiana was expected to finish in the middle of the conference but have not yet lived up to those expectations.

Even so, the Hoosiers possess four players averaging over 11 points, led by senior forward Lisa Furlin with 15.8 ppg.

And Johns will have her hands full again Sunday when she faces off with 6-foot-5 Barnes (13.2 ppg. and 2.8 blocks per game).

"We know we can play with them, we know we have the players to stay with them," Roberts said. "It's just a matter of whether our kids are going to show up to play or not."

There has to be some frustration involved with being 0-7 going into the halfway weekend of a round-robin conference schedule. But Roberts says her team won't throw in the towel.

"I don't think they're down on themselves because they know every game they've played they've been in the game," Roberts said. "We know we're capable of winning."