If there is one Achilles’ heel for the top-ranked Gophers this season, it’s momentary lapses in judgment for short time frames that pull the other team back in the game.

At the conclusion of the first period Saturday against the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines, it was all Minnesota. But in the blink of an eye, Michigan regained momentum in the second period.

The Wolverines rode that wave into the third period, even when they lost the lead, to win their second consecutive Big Ten Tournament Championship 4-3 against the Gophers.

Minnesota starts out strong, but it was not enough

The Gophers haven’t been a first period team this season but were on Saturday. They managed to generate a boatload of scoring chances. The sole shot that went through the net was courtesy of Brody Lamb receiving a breakaway feed from Logan Cooley. The Gophers outshot the Wolverines 7-6 but most of Michigan’s chances were far from wide open like Minnesota’s.

Rutger McGroarty woke the Wolverines up in the second period. Much like Adam Fantilli’s 15-second 2-point stretch in January against Minnesota, McGroarty scored twice Saturday in less than a minute.

The freshman from Lincoln, Nebraska, rebounded an Ethan Edwards shot dead center in front of the net and received a bounce pass off the boards from Fantilli at the left crease. Head coach Bob Motzko blamed some missed defensive assignments on McGroarty’s 34-second highlight reel.

“This is going to help us,” Motzko said. “Not the loss, playing in a tense game. Going into next week…we’ve played two games in 23 days, you can’t necessarily duplicate that in practice.”

Finding those “soft areas,” preached by interim coach Brandon Naurato, was crucial for McGroarty’s offensive outburst. “He’s [Naurato] been telling us to get to the net and just make good things happen when you’re around there,” McGroarty said.

Minnesota has battled back in games all season, and they didn’t quit Saturday, either. Jimmy Snuggerud found Cooley on a 2-0 breakaway to tie the game. Snuggerud and Cooley had to race as fast as they could to the loose puck, saucering closer and closer to Michigan’s goalie, Erik Portillo.

Portillo was an easy target for the Minnesota student section as he continued his trend of directly or indirectly dislodging the net from its pegs on the ice. Ohio State’s Jakub Dobeš also had this in his back pocket as a failsafe whenever the Gophers were within striking distance.

Rhett Pitlick began the third period with an incredible individual effort to deke and dodge two Michigan defenders on a breakaway and capped it off with a goal to give Minnesota a 3-2 edge with 18 minutes to go. This was Pitlick’s second goal since Dec.10.

Wolverines rally for third period comeback 

Michigan continued to capitalize on scoring chances though and would come out winners in the end. A Seamus Casey shot from the blue line tied the game; Motzko challenged it for offsides, however, McGroarty “tagged up” before the puck was touched over the Minnesota blue line. The call stood.

Dylan Duke proceeded to give the lead back to the Wolverines, barely sliding the puck behind Gophers goalie Justen Close as both of them dove at each other in the crease. This was Duke’s fifth goal against the Gophers this year, scoring 4 in their first two meetings at Yost Arena.

“That’s just Duker,” McGroarty said. “He gets greasy once and we love him for it. Big time players score big time goals in big time moments.”

Motzko gave credit to Michigan for generating key turnovers that were crucial for their third period comeback.

Michigan and Minnesota showcase hockey’s future

Nine of 12 All-Big Ten Conference selections (Minnesota: 6, Michigan: 3) and 24 NHL draft picks (Minnesota: 14, Michigan: 10) played in the Big Ten Tournament Championship. The future of the sport laid it all out at Mariucci Arena Saturday before the true gauntlet of the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan is the youngest team in the NCAA with an average age of 21 years old. Minnesota is the next youngest. Most Wolverines, including freshmen McGroarty and Fantilli, were not a member of their 2022 Big Ten Tournament Championship squad.

“You listen to them with every word that they say,” Fantilli said about Michigan’s senior leadership. “Just trying to soak it all in was the biggest thing we could do as freshmen and just copy what they do.”

Fantilli earned Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament by breaking the tournament record with a league-high 7 goals and 11 points scored through four games played. Fantilli leads the NCAA in goals (27) and points (61).

Even with Michigan’s victory, Minnesota still retains the overall top-seed in the NCAA tournament. They will be playing their first regional matchup in Fargo, North Dakota, on Thursday.

“It stings, but at the end of the day we’re looking for a bigger trophy,” team captain Brock Faber said. “That’s not going to happen if we don’t learn from this lesson quickly.”

Gallery|4 Photos

Nen G. Ramirez’s first poetry collection tackles the “crazy Latina” stereotype. Photo by Teagan Greene.

The University of Minnesota’s Department of English and the Creative Writing Program co-hosted the First Books Reading event on March 2 to showcase publications from four authors, two of whom are current Master’s students and two who are University alumni.

The authors, Erica Berry, Nen G. Ramirez, Emily Strasser and Chaun Webster, discussed different themes in their novels and poetry collections, varying from fear to harmful stereotypes to fragmented and secret histories.

Berry’s novel was published in February. Ramirez’s, Strasser’s and Webster’s books will be published in April.

“Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear” by Erica Berry

Berry’s debut novel centers around depictions of wolves, both physical and symbolic, and how these depictions reflect on people’s perceptions of fear and identity.

The novel combines research, personal stories, folklore, science and psychology to better understand the gap between the physical wolf and the way it is depicted in people’s subconscious.

Berry, a University MFA graduate, studied wolves for her environmental studies thesis while she was an undergraduate student at Bowdoin College. She later started to examine the fear and various depictions associated with them more closely.

“I began to really fixate on the specter of fear in my own life, especially after having a couple scary encounters with strange men I did not know,” Berry said.

Berry hopes “Wolfish” will help readers feel less isolated in their fear and challenge the way people view danger and security. Berry believes that studying, reading and writing about fear like the way she does in her book can help people feel less alone in their anxieties.

“All Women Are Born Wailing” by Nen G. Ramirez

Ramirez’s first poetry collection tackles the “crazy Latina” stereotype, the way Latina communities have internalized that stereotype in negative ways, violence against Latinas and family history.

Ramirez, a University MFA candidate, wanted to be a writer since second grade and mainly focused on fiction writing until they joined their high school’s slam poetry team.

Ramirez wrote most of the poems featured in the collection in 2016 as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. However, they didn’t see them all as a collective work at the time.

Ramirez, like Berry, hopes their poems help people feel less alone.

“I write for and put this book together for Latinas and people with mental illness, like people that belong to the same communities that I’m in and writing about,” Ramirez said. “I want readers to feel less alone.”

Ramirez said the topics discussed in the collection, including trauma and race, are often sidelined in public discussion. They hope this book allows the audience to engage with these long-neglected subjects.

“That silence just creates a lot more pain,” Ramirez said.

“Half-Life of a Secret: Reckoning with a Hidden History” by Emily Strasser

Strasser’s debut book follows her personal journey reckoning with the legacy of her grandfather’s involvement in building nuclear weapons in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Strasser, who is based in Minneapolis, received her MFA in nonfiction from the University.

The novel is a decade-long effort that began in Strasser’s senior year of college after she began thinking about a photograph she saw as a child in her grandparents’ house of her grandfather standing in front of nuclear test blasts.

In the present day, Strasser said she can’t say if the photo even exists or if it is a “fabricated memory.”

Strasser said this book and the history behind it hold special value, especially considering current global events. Ultimately, the book is about digging into untold histories and seeking the truth.

“It’s a book about complicated stories and telling the truth about a complicated history,” Strasser said. “It’s about uncovering the secrets of our own families, of this country’s past, often a very dark past, and I make an argument that we need to really dig into those unexamined stories, as messy and contradictory and complicated as they may get.”

“Wail Song: or wading in the water at the end of the world” by Chaun Webster

Webster’s book asks questions about what can and cannot be recovered from fragmented historical archives that exclude stories about Black lives.

Webster, an MFA candidate at the University, said it is hard to trace how this project began and there were many stages of development while writing the book, including extensive amounts of reading.

Webster said the book “In the Wake: On Blackness and Being” by Christina Sharpe, a professor of English literature and Black studies at York University, had a particular influence on concepts crucial to his novel.

Webster wants readers to engage with the questions he poses in his book regarding what can be recovered from Black history.

“Those questions shape our world,” Webster said. “Those questions form the world that we live in, that we’ve inherited, a world that has been shaped fundamentally by the slave trade.”

Tramon Mark scored a career-high 26 points in UH’s win over Auburn at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. | Anh Le/The Cougar

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Just call him T-March.

As a freshman, Tramon Mark’s late-game heroics against Rutgers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament kept Houston’s season alive.

That season ended in UH’s first trip back to Final Four in 37 years.

On Saturday night, Mark again provided the March magic when his team needed it most against Auburn.

With Marcus Sasser on the bench with four fouls midway through the second half, the Cougars didn’t panic.

“Sometimes you switch channels,” said UH head coach Kelvin Sampson. “We were on Channel 32, and we switch to 38 and then we had to switch to 48.”

Sampson thought back to March 4, 2000.

Down by 13 points to Oklahoma State in the second half of the final game at the old Gallagher-Iba Arena, Sampson, then head coach at Oklahoma, knew he needed to try something new.

The new plan — put the ball in the hands of Nolan Johnson, the Sooners best one-on-one player, and give him space to work.

It worked out.

Johnson powered a 23-6 Oklahoma run with 12 points as the Sooners erased the deficit and won the game 59-56.

“To win that game we just put the ball in our best one-on-one player’s hands,” Sampson said. “We put everybody (else) on the baseline and let (Johnson) go.”

Though now the head coach of a different team, Sampson put the same plan into action on Saturday night at Legacy Arena.

“That’s always been something that’s been in my back pocket,” Sampson said.

Sampson put the ball in Tramon Mark’s hands and let the 6-foot-5-inch guard go to work.

Like Johnson did 23 years ago, Mark, who Sampson called UH’s best isolation player, delivered for the Cougars.

Down 49-46 midway through the second half, Mark hit a midrange jumper.

UH’s next trip down the court, Mark hit another jumper to tie the game at 50.

Jamal Shead then joined Sasser on the bench after picking up his fourth foul.

Nothing changed despite UH’s two best players not being on the court.

“He knew what time it was when me and Jamal went down,” Sasser said. “My reaction was it’s time for him to go. And he did what he had to do.”

Mark kept rolling, scoring 10 of the Cougars’ next 12 points by either getting to his spot and knocking down the shot or drawing a foul and cashing in from the free-throw line.

“In those iso situations, I know I can get really anything I want,” Mark said. “If I want to get to the basket, get to the dribble pull-up, stepback, it’s just whatever the defender gives me. If I get him going one way, I can go the other way. I’m very confident in those situations.”

What was a four-point lead grew into a 13-point advantage — all while Sasser and Shead were still on the bench.

Mark scored 20 of his career-high 26 points in the second half, which included going a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line.

“I knew what I had to do in those moments,” Mark said. “I believed in myself. I trusted in myself. Coach did too.”

Just as he did two years ago, Mark willed the Cougars to victory for the program’s fourth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16.

“T-Mark saved the day,” Shead said.

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“Inside UH guard Tramon Mark’s monster second half against Auburn” was originally posted on The Cougar

After a first-round exit to Miami in last year’s NCAA Tournament, the Trojans were hoping to make a deeper run in March Madness this year. Unfortunately, those dreams were shattered with a 72-62 loss at the hands of a talented Michigan State team. 

The Spartans came into this 7-10 matchup as the No. 7 seed following a loss to Ohio State in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament. 

Similarly, the Trojans came into this battle as the No. 10 seed following their first-round loss to Arizona State in the Pac-12 tournament. Once again, USC got off to a slow start in this one and found themselves down 24-13 halfway through the first half.

USC didn’t back away though, going on an 18-6 run of their own to take a 31-30 lead right before the half. The Trojans were fueled by 8 straight points from redshirt junior forward Joshua Morgan. Morgan, who averaged just 7 points per game this season, led USC in scoring with 14 points on an efficient 7-9 shooting. 

A jump hook by junior guard A.J. Hoggard tied the game for the Spartans right before half, with the two squads heading into the locker room knotted at 34.

Coming out of the half, USC looked to continue their pick & roll offense that was successful in the first half, but the Spartans had other plans. Michigan State clamped down on defense, holding the Trojans to just 34.38%, on 11-32 shooting from the floor in the second half.

At the 11:19 mark of the second half, graduate forward Drew Peterson’s jumper pulled USC back within four points, but that’s as close as they would get for the rest of the game. Back-to-back 3-pointers from graduate forward Joey Hauser and sophomore guard Jaden Akins capped off a 13-2 run from Michigan State that put the game out of reach for the Trojans.

Hauser led the way for the Spartans with 17 points and four key 3-pointers. Coming into this matchup, MSU was 16-3 when Hauser made two or more shots from behind the arc, and his 3-point shooting proved to be the difference maker again in this game.

“Timely shot-making by Michigan State and some timely misses on our part, I [think], was the difference in the game in the second half,” Head Coach Andy Enfield said in the postgame press conference. “We also had 8 turnovers [in the second half], only 3 at halftime.”

Sophomore guard Kobe Johnson’s two late-game triples alongside Michigan State missing the front end of three consecutive one-and-ones made things interesting down the stretch, but the Trojans were unable to take advantage on multiple occasions.

“When you’re trailing and you are trying to figure out and gauge whether to get threes or easier twos … we tried to find the best shot possible,” Drew Peterson said when asked what their mindset was when Michigan State missed their one-and-ones. “We missed some timely shots, and they hit their timely shots … I think it’s just sometimes the way the ball rolls in March.”

The Spartans’ ability to slow down USC’s star veterans, senior guard Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson, also led to their victory. The tandem, who had been averaging a combined 32 points per game on the season, combined for just 17 points on 7-22 shooting. Ellis took responsibility for his play after the game.

“I let my teammates down today,”  Ellis said. “I didn’t make shots and [Michigan State] made things tough for me.”

Michigan State will now face No. 2 Marquette in the Round of 32 on Sunday.

On the other hand, after another disappointing end to the season, Coach Enfield and the Trojans will have to go back to the drawing board this offseason. Although many players will be returning, USC will have a new look next season, as this was the last game in cardinal and gold for star captains Peterson and Ellis. 

Despite this, there should be a lot to look forward to next season, as 4-star recruits Arrinten Page and Silas Demary Jr. are coming to Southern California alongside the number-one-ranked player in the country, Isaiah Collier. 

The 2023-24 NCAA basketball season is set to start on Nov. 6 USC will seek its fourth straight NCAA Tournament in their last year in the Pac-12 Conference.

The post There’s always next year appeared first on Daily Trojan.

UH and Auburn will battle it out on Saturday night at Legacy Arena for a a spot in the Sweet 16. | Anh Le/The Cougar

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Looking to advance to its fourth consecutive Sweet 16, Houston will take on Auburn at 6:10 p.m. Saturday night at Legacy Arena.

About Auburn

Entering the NCAA Tournament as the Midwest Region’s No. 9 seed, Auburn (21-12) knocked off No. 8 seed Iowa 83-76 on Thursday to advance to the round of 32.

Johni Broome, a 6-foot-8-inch sophomore, leads the Tigers in scoring, averaging 14.2 points, and rebounding, pulling down 8.5 boards per game.

The Auburn forward is also one of the top shot blockers in college basketball, swatting away 2.4 shots per game.

“He is very versatile,” said UH head coach Kelvin Sampson when asked about Broome. “(He has a) great instinct to block shots.”

Along with Broome, guards Wendell Green Jr. and Allen Flanigan as well a forward Jaylin Williams each average double figures scoring.

“Their starting five is very athletic, great size,” Sampson said.

The Tigers’ bench is spearheaded by junior guard K.D. Johnson, who averages 8.9 points per game.

“K.D. Johnson’s energy and scoring ability off the bench, what a punch that is for us,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.

Unlike UH’s tight rotation, Pearl believes in using the depth of his roster as much as possible.

In Auburn’s first-round victory over Iowa, 11 Tigers saw action. In comparison, only eight Cougars played for UH in its NCAA Tournament opener against Northern Kentucky.  

“I’ve always believed in not shortening your bench come tournament time,” Pearl said. “I want my guys fresh and furious at the end to be able to win the game.”

Keys for Houston

Attack early offensively and amp up the pressure defensively

When asked about the challenges in playing UH, Pearl brought two things up — the quickness of the Cougars’ guards and the defensive pressure they apply.

“We’re all going to have a hard time keeping Houston’s guards in front of us,” Pearl said. “And we’re all going to have a hard time dealing with Houston’s pressure. They get up into you, and they make everything you do very very difficult.”

Pearl called Jamal Shead the “best defensive guard in college basketball,” applauding the tone the UH point guard sets for the Cougars defensively.

Shead and Marcus Sasser both said they will play against Auburn despite being dinged up. How effective Shead and Sasser will be remains a major question.

It also means that Tramon Mark, a 6-foot-5-inch guard out of Dickinson, might have to carry more of the load offensively for UH.

While Mark averages just 9.6 points per game, the redshirt sophomore has scored in double figures in 18 games this season, including two 20-plus point games.

“At the end of the day, I’m not putting any more pressure on myself,” Mark said. “But if I have to play a bigger role then I will.”

Calming the nerves

When asked about the Cougars’ struggles against Northern Kentucky on Thursday, Shead said he thought UH’s nerves played a big factor.

“I think we were just nervous (Thursday) and I think our jitters got the best of us,” Shead said.

With their first NCAA Tournament game under their belt, Shead is confident that a different version of the Cougars compared to the one on Thursday night will show up against Auburn.

“I think we’ll come back a lot stronger (Saturday),” Shead said.

Roll Tide?

Playing just over 100 miles from Auburn’s campus, Saturday night is essentially a road game for UH.

Alabama, the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, also plays at Legacy Arena on Saturday night approximately 26 minutes after the conclusion of UH and Auburn.

With plenty of fans wearing crimson and white expected to be building for the matchup between the Cougars and Tigers, both Pearl and Sampson made their best pitch to Alabama fans to root for their team.

Pearl encouraged Alabama fans to stay loyal to the state and the SEC and root for Auburn.

“My hope is that our fans root for Alabama in the SEC and that Alabama’s fans root for Auburn in the SEC,” Pearl said.

Sampson took the opposite approach, saying that Alabama’s strong dislike for Auburn is reason enough for Crimson Tide fans to cheer for UH.

“Roll Tide,” Sampson said in his best southern accent. “I don’t think I have to go much further than that.”

How to watch

Tip-off is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. 

The game will air on TBS and can also be heard via radio on KPRC 950 AM.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“UH basketball: Previewing the Cougars NCAA Tournament clash with Auburn” was originally posted on The Cougar

MEHLHOFF: Hello all and welcome back to In the Know. As always, we cover all things University of Minnesota. Today, we’ll be talking about a recent event held at the University called Campus Conversations on Reproductive Justice.

We’ll start with the basics. The event was held in honor of International Women’s Day in a series called Embracing Equity and Justice in Reproductive Rights. According to the University of Minnesota’s International Women’s Day website, the day marks both a celebration and “a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.”

The event took place on March 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Humphrey Forum. It was hosted by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy. The day was made up of three different sections — each meant to examine reproductive justice on campus from a different lens. The collaborative effort proved a great opportunity to take a pulse on reproductive justice activism here at the U.

I arrive at the event just after the opening remarks. The room is open and bright with chairs set up in front of a podium and tables. People munch on bagels and coffee while the first presenters speak. I arranged to talk with Claire Jordahl, president of Students for Reproductive Freedom, or SFRF, about her view on reproductive justice on campus. Jordahl’s presentation is a collaboration with Students for a Democratic Society entitled Campus Reproductive Activism. It takes place in the afternoon, so we sneak a few moments in the hallway to talk. She’s wearing a bright pink shirt and dangly flower earrings.

JORDAHL: I guess I’m just excited to share about SFRF um, cause I don’t think we’re super known here on campus. And yeah, hopefully, people take away some knowledge, but I’m definitely nervous.

MEHLHOFF: Jordahl tells me about events SFRF hosts, like Sex Trivia, menstrual product drives, and Sex in the Dark.

JORDAHL: So every year we do Sex in the Dark around Halloween, which is, um, we have like someone come and anonymously answer, like sex-related questions from the crowd.

And so I think having groups like this that are just out there for like, kind of just like sex ed, reproductive health, like fun kind of educational events is super beneficial for people who, um, you know, wanna learn more, want to help their friends learn more and want to just also um, be an activist for that sort of thing.

MEHLHOFF: But SFRF looks for action, not just education. While Boynton Health does offer emergency contraception in the form Levonorgestrel, better known as “Plan B,” Jordahl states the healthcare provider should go a step further.

JORDAHL: We are trying to get, um, medicated abortion available for students through Boynton because it is not currently. Um, and that’s a joint effort between several groups, including Undergraduate Student Government. Um, so that is our, I think our main issue. Um, I met with some, like some of our members last week, and I think that was the main thing that they feel like the U is missing in terms of resources.

MEHLHOFF: Jordahl says that for her, the Dobbs v. Jackson decision gives special urgency to this issue. According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the landmark Court case overturned Roe v. Wade and made the right to an abortion a state decision rather than a federal guarantee. Minnesota has enshrined a right to abortion in its state constitution.

JORDAHL: And I think we’re used to being protected here in Minnesota and we still might feel like that’s the case, but now that it is up to the states, like there’s, I would say more threat now than ever, um, since the, um, initial Roe v. Wade. So I think it’s a really important time to be talking about it.

MEHLHOFF: In addition to Jordahl, I speak to another student group representative at the event, Laurel Neufeld. They are a member of Medical Students for Choice and a medical assistant at Planned Parenthood.

NEUFELD: It’s on the forefront of a lot of people’s minds right now because of the legal landscape and how many states are trying to restrict access to abortion care. I think, also, most young people that I’m friends with these days don’t have a lot of, I don’t know, optimism about the way the world is shaping up sometimes.

I think it’s very clear to us that it’s very important to be able to have control over your reproductive future in, I guess, a changing world.

MEHLHOFF: Medical Students for Choice, with Neufeld, holds a co-presentation with another student group, If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice. Their section of the event is called The Basics of Sex, Reproduction and the Law. They focus on the logistics of reproductive health, including female and male anatomy, birth control methods and different types of abortions.

NEUFELD: I was hoping to just provide some more context about what it actually looks like to have an abortion and what the national conversation about abortion gets wrong. Even like before I started working at Planned Parenthood, I was really involved in a lot of abortion access activism, and when I started that job, I was surprised how much I thought I knew but knew wrong, or how many of the talking points that I was using were actually using a lot of language from the anti-abortion movement. And so I think I was hoping to just shed some more light on what this process actually looks like for people and then also what we get wrong even when we’re well-intentioned.

These issues have so many different lenses that you can look at them with, and I think it’s so important and cool that we’re not just looking at this from a medical framework, even though that’s the context that I have with this.

Talking about our portion of the presentation with the law students was helpful for me in knowing the legal context for all of this. And then I’m really glad that they’re gonna have presenters later in the day talking about things from a disability justice lens and from a racial justice lens. Although, again, I think it’s important to incorporate those throughout all of it.

MEHLHOFF: Later, at the event’s catered lunch, I have the chance to speak with the event’s organizers over sandwiches. Karen Ho, an anthropology professor at the University, explains that this multiplicity of perspectives is the purpose of the event.

HO: Part of a teach-in is to sort of go against the soundbite, right? So what people sort of get in their sort of epistemological silos or in the news right, is a soundbite. And part of a teach-in, this is why this is a whole day, is to sort of really ground those ideas and to sort of, you know, make space for thinking through them in a much more nuanced and contextual way.

JORDAHL: Like today is just super like affirming in what I’m here, what I’m doing, um, what I’m here for, and it is just like comforting, um, that there’s people out there working for, you know the people that don’t have access or like, might not feel comfortable getting that access and just the knowledge of like, sex ed, the complete basics. So, it just feels really special, like to be in a school that is so supportive — the fact that this is run by a center that is at the school.

MEHLHOFF: The last presenters, a few graduate students and a professor, speak on disability, reproductive justice and personal experiences.

But I don’t get a chance to interview them. After a short panel discussion, the audience members split off into groups to talk about their “reproductive utopias,” what an ideal world looks like for them when it comes to reproductive health.

For Linda Parranto Vital, an event attendee, the answer is simple.

PARRANTO VITAL: Being able to make informed decisions, having more information and, um, we noted that we would love the opportunity to make more decisions about what would produce the most well-being for us as parents, um, as people who have the opportunity or the option to reproduce as opposed to just trying to like minimize the harm.

MEHLHOFF: And according to her, Campus Conversations on Reproductive Justice did just that.

PARRANTO VITAL: This morning we talked a lot about contraceptives or like menstruation and like that information was just super practical, honestly. Um, and, but then in the later afternoon we had, uh, conversations that were bordering more on philosophical or more about uh, like, I guess a little bit more traditional like to what different like academic literatures have to say.

MEHLHOFF: What is your reproductive justice utopia? What does that look like?

JORDAHL: I think first and foremost it is free. Everything’s free health care-wise, um, getting an abortion, um, abortion aftercare, precare, things like that. Um, therapy related to that process is also super important. And then also just like clinics that are gender-affirming, um, or just like in general don’t, aren’t gender binary. Um, not just women get abortions. And, um, also having providers that come from a wide range of backgrounds, like a lot of doctors are also just white male — I mean, that’s changing a lot in today’s age, which is awesome. But just like having people that understand like what it’s like to come from a background that maybe like doesn’t — your parents don’t support abortion, your culture doesn’t support abortion. Things like that. I think those are my three main utopian aspects.

MEHLHOFF: But Jordahl acknowledges that there’s a long way to go between reality and her reproductive utopia. She hopes her presentation helps.

JORDAHL: I think today my main goal was for people to walk away having, feeling like they did something. Um, whether that’s writing a letter that they’re gonna finish later at home and send to their legislator, or there’s an auto-generated form I’m gonna offer. Um, and just feeling like they have the resources to reach out to the people that like can make a change and also feel that like you as an individual can make a change. Whether that’s, you know, if you’re an undergrad or if you’re beyond college. Um, just staying involved and having the resources to do that.

MEHLHOFF: For more information about Students for Reproductive Freedom and to learn about upcoming events, listeners can follow on Instagram @umnsfrf. More information about abortion justice and access can be found at plannedparenthoodaction.org.

This episode was written by me, Stella Mehlhoff, and produced by Alberto Gomez and Abbey Machtig. As always, we really appreciate you listening in. As we experiment with style and format, your feedback is super useful to us. Feel free to email us at podcasting@mndaily.com with comments or questions. I’m Stella Mehlhoff, and this is In the Know.

Today on East to West we cover the Cape Cod Canal Bridges project, new meal plans and more. 

Utah has a violence problem. Forty percent of adult homicides in Utah are domestic violence related, and females make up the overwhelming majority of homicide victims. One in three Utah women experience sexual assault in their lifetime, a statistic higher than the national average. Sexual assault and domestic violence often intersect, as many violent partners are also sexually abusive.

In January, a man named Michael Haight killed his family in Enoch, Utah. Soon after, we learned that he had previously been investigated for abuse. In 2020, his daughter Macie reported that he had assaulted her several times, including choking her — a red flag for homicide — and said that she was afraid he would kill her. Officers then learned from Tausha, Macie’s mother, that there was a gun in the house, making her six times more likely to be killed than other abused women. Still, Tausha’s lethality assessment concluded with police officers deeming her not in high danger.

More than half of all Utah victims who died from intimate partner violence had a known history of reporting partner violence to authorities. But Utah law enforcement isn’t properly trained for domestic violence and cannot be trusted to evaluate safety. We should rely on social work approaches instead.

The Haight case is just one example of many violent crimes perpetrated in Utah. If this state’s culture didn’t instill harmful gender roles that give power to cisgender men, it might have been prevented.

Though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially states that they do not tolerate abuse, in practice, it happens frequently within the church, especially against women and children. The roots of violence in Utah are enforced early on by church doctrine and a lack of comprehensive sexual education.

Church Doctrine

The LDS church teaches harmful ideals, such as the notion that men are not in control of their sexual impulses and that women become pornography if they dress immodestly. This puts the blame on women for men’s actions.

We see this ideal in Utah’s family life. It’s common for murdered families like the Haights to have had uneven power dynamics. The religion teaches that men have authority in the home, and that members must obey their leaders — who are always men, except for the leaders of children and women’s groups.

Members of the church confess to their bishop for sex outside of marriage. This reinforces the idea that sex is a “sin,” and causes many victims of sexual assault to feel at fault. Bishops add to the violence by blaming or silencing victims who do speak up. The leaders also have no obligation to report abuse due to the state’s clergy-penitent privilege. Instead, they call the church’s help line, which “never [advises] a priesthood leader to report abuse” and determines “whether the calls should be referred to the lawyers.” Church leaders are trained to be on the perpetrator’s side, if they aren’t the perpetrator themselves.

I spoke with Margaret Toscano, who has researched LDS feminism for several decades. She believes that even though the religion has made slight changes in the way they treat women, these changes are not “enough to let a woman develop her full personhood within the context of the church.” This may lead women to define their personhood by their husband and children.

Toscano also thinks this extends outside of the church, especially into state legislature. The prevalence of the religion in Utah means that church ideas become inextricably linked to the culture and dominate Utah’s government.

Lack of Education

If children don’t learn about healthy relationships and sex from their families or communities, they need to learn these things at school. Utah’s LDS-dominated government fails to provide this kind of education, however. Sex education remains entirely abstinence-based and instruction on consent is not required. Only “refusal skills” are taught, furthering the victim-blaming mentality. It also means that perpetrators could sexually assault someone without even knowing it.

The taboo around sex in Utah’s culture creates a dangerous setting in which victims don’t fully understand what happened to them. I spoke with several Utah high school students and was disturbed by the number of women and non-binary people who stated that they had been sexually assaulted while in high school. Among these students, most didn’t fully understand consent at the time nor were even aware that what happened to them was assault until later.

Church ideals heavily influencing the government and education makes it easy for other state institutions — such as police — to ignore violence against women, maintaining a cycle of harm.

The Need for Change

Some changes can reduce violence and prevent more domestic violence fatalities. Most vitally, proper education on consent and healthy relationships is necessary in Utah schools and in church settings. The LDS church will always bear some responsibility for violence in Utah if they continue to teach, both explicitly and implicitly, that men have more value than women.

As for secondary prevention, every reported situation of domestic violence should be an intervention point if police receive proper training to intervene and act with urgency. S.B. 117 recently passed, requiring law enforcement to conduct lethality assessments when responding to domestic violence reports. This is a good start, though we saw with the Haight family that lethality assessments are not enough. Social workers should speak with victims to help assess lethality. Doctors and OB-GYNs should regularly screen women for abuse, too.

The U.S. has a serious problem with violence against women. But Utah’s dangerous LDS teachings, combined with a lack of education in school, makes it easy for abusers to abuse and difficult for victims to speak up.

c.jarvis@dailyutahchronicle.com

@carolinegjarvis

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UH, the Midwest Region’s top seed, defeated 16-seed Northern Kentucky on Thursday night at Legacy Arena to advance to play No. 9 seed Auburn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. | Anh Le/The Cougar

BIRMINGHAM, Ala — A year ago Emanuel Sharp watched the NCAA Tournament from the bench. 

On Thursday night, the redshirt freshman guard was the one hitting the big shots to help the Midwest Region’s top-seed survive a major scare from 16-seed Northern Kentucky.

Up 41-38 with just under 12 minutes left, J’Wan Roberts threw a cross-court pass to Sharp, who rose up and drained a 3.

On the next trip down the court, Sharp called for the ball and pulled up with his feet on the edge of the midcourt March Madness logo.

Swish.

“Seeing that first one go through, it gave me the confidence I needed to shoot the next one,” Sharp said.

Minutes later, Sharp hit a tough floater with the shot clock winding down.

Houston did just enough from there, squeaking past Northern Kentucky 63-52 at Legacy Arena to advance to play No. 9 seed Auburn on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. for a ticket to the Sweet 16. 

“We lived to fight another day,” said UH head coach Kelvin Sampson. “That’s what this is about this time of year.”

More injuries

Back in the starting lineup, Marcus Sasser, recently named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, reaggravated the groin injury he suffered against Cincinnati American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals when he pulled up for a mid-range jumper with 1:48 left in the first half. 

“I think I just planted hard on my left leg and it just aggravated it again,” Sasser said

Sasser went to the UH bench in obvious pain and did not return to the court.

After entering Thursday listed as a game-time decision, Sasser said he felt healthy and painless prior to tip-off.

“I was ready to go,” Sasser said. “I didn’t have no pain really. I warmed up hard. Got a lot of treatment right before it. I was good, ready to play.”

Sasser wasn’t the only Cougar to get banged up.

Jamal Shead, who played with a noticeable limp in the second half, said he hyperextended his right knee, in the first half against the Norse.

“It was just bugging me,” Shead said. “I kind of had a limp.” 

Despite the injury, Shead said he will definitely play against Auburn on Saturday.

“Everybody has bumps and bruises during this time of year,” Shead said. “Just going to go out there and give it my all. We only got a couple of games left. (I) don’t want to miss anything.”

Avoiding a historic upset

Exactly five years ago, the University of Baltimore-Maryland County became the first 16-seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament to knock off a No.1 seed.

UH came dangerously close to being the second No. 1 seed to find itself on the wrong side of history on Thursday night.

In a matchup between David and Goliath, it was the 16th seed that landed the first blow.

Northern Kentucky beat UH at its own game early on, outworking the Cougars on the glass and forcing turnovers. 

“They were tougher than we were tonight,” Sampson said. “And that’s not easy for me to say.”

In the game’s first 10 minutes, the Norse had seven second-chance points and no turnovers. UH, on the other hand, committed four turnovers while not having any second-chance points.

Northern Kentucky finished with 21 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds.

“I feel like they wanted it more,” Roberts said. “(They were) attacking the glass way harder than we were. We have to own up to that.”

The Cougars put together a pair of 6-0 runs to take a 30-27 lead into the half. Roberts and Jarace Walker combined for 17 of UH’s first-half points.

Tied at 36 with 13:56 remaining in the second half, Jamal Shead hit a 3-pointer, sparking an 11-3 UH run.

The Cougars never gave up the lead from there.

Walker led UH with 16 points.

Roberts notched his seventh double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

“J’Wan was probably the only guy that I thought played hard-nosed, tough Cougar basketball,” Sampson said.

Shead finished with 13 points and six assists.

The Cougars improved to 5-0 in the NCAA Tournament under Sampson.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Top-seeded UH survives major scare from Northern Kentucky in NCAA Tournament opener” was originally posted on The Cougar