Family and work commitments forced me to postpone a live watch of the ladies this past Friday night...and worse, the purchase of an ESPN+ membership.  Sigh.  The things I do to find non-infuriating Michigan sports.

Anyway.

Three minutes in, the score stood at Naz Hillmon 10, Oakland U 8.  After four minutes, it was Naz 16, Oakland 8. After a quarter?  Naz 19, Oakland 19.  At halftime, it was Naz 27, Oakland 26.  The AP story on the game would probably be about a sentence long: “Naz Hillmon scored a career-high 35 as #25 Michigan dominated the outmanned Oakland University Golden Grizzlies, 95-62.”

And, in some ways, that’s about all there was to it.  In a game that was a blowout early, Naz Hillmon was her unstoppable self, scoring her 35 - before the halfway point of the third quarter, mind you - on variety of post moves using both hands, transition buckets, and brute force converted rebounds.  Add 7 boards, 3 steals and a block and it you’re looking at an All-American-type performance that was  basically over halfway through the third.  My favorite moment?  With Michigan up 34 in the third, she came out and hedged, hard on a pick and roll before scrambling back to help out the resulting drop pass to the block.  She just never stops hustling.

So, what else is there to say, after a game that’s over at halftime?  Lots:

• The offense was very good, even accounting for Naz’ rampage, shooting 53% on twos and 50% on threes.  Turnovers remain a problem, probably (in this case) a matter of lazy play in a blowout.  Michigan also took many fewer opportunities to run, perhaps because they didn’t need to; with height advantages at most every position, half-court opportunities were as productive as fast-break opportunities.
• Akienreh Johnson missed the game with a lower-leg injury incurred in Wednesday’s blowout of Central Michigan.  Emily Kiser is still on crutches, Izabel Verajao is still in Brazil, and MGoMatty fave Maddie Nolan went to the locker room early in the second quarter after a scary spill (she would return after halftime).  Minutes were available.  Those minutes went to Danielle Rauch, Elise Stuck (again the first frosh off the bench and who looked totally comfortable and confident running with the 1s), and soph Michelle Sidor, who had probably her best offensive game as a Wolverine; it should be noted that Sidor was an  incredible scorer in high school but has been an inconsistent scorer in Ann Arbor.  Michigan has not had a great three-point shooter since the departure of Kate Flaherty, and Sidor was supposed to be that (although - literally nobody in school history, men or women, has been a shooter of Flaherty's caliber) but has not quite gotten to that point.  If she does, look out.
• But it’s not critical - every player on this team can score, including Amy Dilk, who went 0 for 6 with only 3 points.  It was a strange game for Amy - obviously an oh-fer isn’t great, but she didn’t really play poorly…I mean, she controlled pace, took care of the ball (9 assists to 1 turnover), defended well…but a first-team All-B1G point guard simply has to assert herself every night.  There will (presumably) be nights where Naz doesn’t dominate every player that covers her, and she’ll need to pick her up.  I think I previously wrote that Amy is unflappable, and it’s true - but maybe she needs to get flapped once in a while?
• Hailey Brown turned in yet another consistent, productive night, hitting a couple of threes, grabbing 7 boards, a couple of blocks, and no turnovers.  Of all the Hailey Brown nights, it was the Hailey Brown-iest.  The woman produces, seemingly every single night.
• Leigha Brown has clearly become the team’s second offensive option, once again showing an ability to get to the basket or step out and shoot, as well as a nice ability to facilitate.  She’d be the offensive focal point of any team that doesn’t feature a rampaging hell-beast intent on destroying everything in her path.
• The frosh all had their moments. Cameron Williams and Whitney Sollom are both outstanding, active and athletic rebounders, run the floor, and defend out to the three-point line.  Meghan Fiso is fearless on the point, and Elise Stuck has some of the same scorer mentality of Leigha Brown.  Honestly, this is one loaded freshman class.
• It’s going to be very, very interesting to see how minutes shake out as we move into the conference.  To this point, just about everyone has had their moments and has earned playing time.

So I may be losing my mind, but I would swear that the schedule I saw two weeks ago had this game as the last non-conference game.  I was surprised and delighted to find that Michigan next travels to South Bend this Thursday.  Notre Dame is not the Death Star that they were a few years back (Muffett McGraw retired this year, and they lost at home to Ohio over the weekend), but Dara Mabry is a fantastic scorer, and there is a lot of talent here.  This should be a terrific game.  Now to figure out whether I get the #$%#$@ ACC Network.