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The end may be near for Women's basketball- likely to conclude season at Big Tens

The Michigan women's basketball team is not giving up yet.

After a frustrating regular season that produced more knee injuries than conference victories, it would be hard to fault the Wolverines for calling it quits.

For all practical purposes, the regular season was long over before last Sunday's loss to Wisconsin made it official. But now, the second season -- the tournament season -- begins.

The Wolverines face Northwestern in Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse at 6 o'clock tonight in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. The winner will face Penn State, recipient of a first round bye, Saturday. Tonight's loser will go home and start preparing for next year.

The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

There is no better time than now for Michigan to spring a couple of upsets.

"Anything can happen in a (single-elimination) tournament like this," Michigan coach Trish Roberts said. "That's what makes the Big Ten Tournament so exciting. The whole slate is wiped clean, and everyone has a chance."

The Wolverines may have finished the season with just one conference win in 16 tries, but that doesn't mean the squad will head to Indianapolis waving a white flag.

Instead, Michigan will charge into the tournament hoping to exact a little revenge on its more-respected conference foes.

Enter Northwestern.

The Wolverines are happy to be facing the Wildcats in the first round, Roberts said.

At first glance, this may come as a surprise, since Northwestern beat Michigan twice in the regular season by a combined total of 34 points. But in the second of those two games -- an 11-point loss Feb. 16 -- the Wolverines had the Wildcats on the ropes, leading by a basket with just over two minutes to play.

"Even though we've lost to (Northwestern) both times, I think we're better-prepared mentally this time," Roberts said.

Michigan's mentality may have been soft in the last meeting between these two squads, but the team's defense during the last two minutes was softer.

Clinging to a 79-77 lead, the Wolverines allowed Wildcat freshman Megan Chawansky to get loose for three consecutive 3-pointers. The two-point advantage quickly swung to an 86-79 deficit, and Michigan was unable to score again.

"Chawansky has had a good couple of games against us," Roberts said. "She seems to play very well against Michigan for some reason."

Some might say the Wolverines' porous defense was the reason for Chawansky's performances. That considered, Michigan will change its defensive scheme tonight.

"Instead of a 2-3 zone, we're going to play a 3-2 zone," Roberts said. "I think that will help us cover the wings quicker."

Northwestern, on the other hand, will stick to its usual game plan.

"I don't think now is the time to make any drastic changes," Northwestern coach Don Perrelli said. "We just need to refine the things that we did well during the regular season.

"Michigan showed us (in February) that they can come out and put the ball in the basket. We're concerned about facing (the Wolverines), but that's the hand we were dealt," he added.

The winner of tonight's game will inevitably run into trouble with a rested Penn State team looming ahead, but that doesn't faze Roberts.