WBB @ Illinois game notes
Opponent: Illinois (B1G opener)
Result: Win, 84-48
Date: 12/10, Away
Starters: Laila Phelia, Jordan Hobbs, Lauren Hansen, Chyra Evans, Elissa Brett
- Evans and Brett first start this year
Injuries/inactives: none, everybody played
- Macy Brown, Taylor Woodson, and Whitney Sollom didn’t play until the end of the fourth quarter
Offense:
- Michigan missed its first four shots until Evans hit a short jumper from the free throw line
- Hobbs’ first two shots were blocked, her third attempt she got an offensive rebound down low and put it back successfully
- Nice assist in the first quarter from Brett to a driving Phelia for an open layup
- Brett got a nice open layup by faking the three then accepting a screen
- Hobbs’ production started with a lot of tough drives before finding her range in the second and third quarters
- Lauren Hansen had the most three point attempts for the team (shooting 3-7), including a buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter.
Defense:
- Illinois won the tip and got their first basket quickly off an open layup
- Illinois did not score in the last 5:30 of the first quarter or the first 4:30 of the second quarter. Michigan was doing a decent job of staying in front, but Illinois also missing some open shots
- Michigan did struggle with fouls down low as Cameron Williams fouled out with four minutes left in the game and Evans finished with 4.
Notable stats:
- Jordan Hobbs was pulled at the end of the third quarter. By then she had scored a career high 22 points, shooting 8-11 from the field and 4-5 from three
- Three other scorers in double figures: Evans with 10, Phelia and Hansen both with 14
- Elissa Brett had 6 assists, contributing the most of any Michigan player. The team had 20 total
- Only 6 turnovers on the day for Michigan, 13 for Illinois
- Illinois’ bench only scored 4 points, shooting 2-11 collectively
- Illinois shot 30% from the field on 17-57 shooting, taking 16 fewer shots than Michigan’s 73.
Overall:
- An unfortunate pattern continued with a slow first quarter start, but Michigan was able to take control in the second quarter with stellar play from Jordan Hobbs, active passing, and poor Illinois shooting. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction, as Michigan created their shot margin by winning both the turnover and rebound battles, as opposed to just rebounds.
Miscellaneous:
- The ball got stuck between the rim and the backboard early in the first quarter and the commentator called this a “wedgie”. This is not a thing I’ve heard before. Do not approve
- In a post-game interview Hobbs mentioned that she knew she was going to have a great day when she hit a deep three. This basket happened five minutes into the second quarter. At that point, she had 11 points and Michigan was up by 15.
- Illinois tried some full court press, but it did not seem to disrupt Michigan much. The real test is coming up on December 30 when Michigan faces Ohio State.
December 11th, 2023 at 7:19 AM ^
Hope both Williams can improve their play enough to Start and get needed minutes....
December 11th, 2023 at 9:31 AM ^
Think Cam Williams is who she is in year four.
December 11th, 2023 at 7:27 AM ^
Thanks for the write up. I'm not surprised Jordan Hobbs had a breakout day. She is a talent and this was just waiting to happen.
Key stat of the day is only 6 turnovers on the day for Michigan.
December 11th, 2023 at 8:18 AM ^
Wedgie is definitely a thing!
This was a great game for the ladies -- the complete antithesis of the Toledo game. They went into a tough gym, took care of the ball, and shot the lights out. They also rebounded very well.
HerHoopStats (essentially, KenPom for women) had Illinois at #26 and Michigan at something like #38 before the game, so Illinois was definitely the favorite here. FWIW, Michigan was right around #25 before the Toledo (#90ish) game. They're back up to #27 after the win.
All of that aside, this was a good win for the women. They went on the road in conference against a good (not great) team -- after an extremely tough road loss earlier in the week -- and gave them the business.
Right now, Iowa (4), IU (10), OSU (12), MSU (14), and Nebraska (21) are all ahead of Michigan on HHS with Maryland and Illinois not far behind. The conference is strong again this year, so any conference road wins -- especially against that middle tier -- are going to be resume boosters. They only have two conference road games this year that aren't against top 50 teams (Rutgers and Northwestern). The other games are Iowa, IU, OSU, MSU, Nebraska, and Penn State. They miss three of the bottom five teams (Purdue, Minnesota, and Wisconsin).
Side note: my family made the drive to see the game. I hadn't been to the State Farm Center/Assembly Hall in 15 years; they've made some really nice improvements. It feels less like a concrete monolith. Michigan could take some notes for Crisler.
December 11th, 2023 at 10:23 AM ^
Lol glad to hear wedgie is a thing, I guess I'm behind the times. Thanks for the thoughts/analysis!
December 11th, 2023 at 8:26 AM ^
Cam Williams not only fouled out, but she did so in less than 11 minutes. Her fouls/40 is 3.9; fouls/40 for Evans is 4.2. They're going to need to find some ways to shrink those numbers.
Last year they were at 4.9 and 6.9 (!), respectively, so hopefully that continues to trend downward.
I do think that Evans is going to supplant Williams going forward, even if it's not immediately apparent. She's a more versatile player with higher upside. Even the fact that she took two (and made one) three yesterday shows that she can help them space the floor. I also think she's a pretty decent passer.
Also, really need Laila's shot to come back. She's got the lowest 2P% on the team and only Macy Brown has a worse 3P% right now. She has the most minutes and usage on the team, so they're really going to need water to find its level again in terms of her shooting. Right now, she is basically mirroring her freshman year in terms of shooting and turnover numbers.
December 11th, 2023 at 9:11 AM ^
Great update and result for the team.
On a slight tangent - though I’m looking forward to the rest of this football season, I also looked at the ‘24 schedule. Michigan plays at Illinois in October - and, living in Illinois, we know a number of Illini alumni.
We got together to celebrate some holiday cheer with some of those Illini, and - tailgating in Champaign was a topic of discussion. Does anyone have experience tailgating at Illinois? Are you familiar with the “Grange Grove” (which seems like mostly a turnkey tailgate experience)? Any perspectives / thoughts to share?
As a point of reference - we tailgate often in Ann Arbor - we set up our own gear / environment / cook our food etc…
Thanks.. and Go Blue!
December 11th, 2023 at 1:05 PM ^
I live in Urbana, and can confirm that Grange Grove is more of a turnkey/activity area than a proper tailgating environment. When I attend Illinois football games, I walk there and go by some tailgating in parking lots on campus near academic buildings as well as areas set aside for tailgaters. I'm sure when you do your research you'll find a place you can enjoy.
December 11th, 2023 at 9:57 AM ^
These are great updates. Definitely appreciate you doing these.
December 11th, 2023 at 10:51 AM ^
Have another thanks. I'd much MUCH rather read these than yet another "here's what some jackass on ESPN is saying about Michigan football" garbage.
I don't sense folks are thrilled by the blowout. I take it Illinois isn't that good?
December 11th, 2023 at 10:59 AM ^
Illinois isn't a great team, but a win in the Big Ten is a win, especially when you have the tough schedule that Henne mentioned above.
December 11th, 2023 at 11:07 AM ^
It's certainly a nice win against a top 40 or so team on the road, bounce back spot and encouraging.. Just hard to get a gauge on who Michigan is going to be, more like this version and the one they showed in the second half against Harvard (with their top 12 in the nation scorer getting hurt in the 2nd quarter) or are they closer to the team that got blown out by Toledo and took a tough loss to Ole Miss? Had they handled business against Toledo I would be a little more enthused, instead of more of a cautious optimism.
December 11th, 2023 at 11:29 AM ^
they actually made the tournament last season, were ranked in the pre-season national polls, and picked as #5 in the conference (right alongside us, as it happens). makira cook was on the preseason all-B1G team, and they returned everybody (i think - not 100% sure of that).
their other losses so far are close ones, at a really good marquette team and on a neutral site to notre dame. cook hasn't played great, but as a team they're still pretty good. this will definitely be considered a quality win by the end of the season.
December 11th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^
I was at the game and Illinois played pretty tough defense, and contested many of those successful three's. But once Michigan got it together toward the end of the first quarter, the game quickly became of reach for Illinois.
Shawna Green has got Illinois trending upwards in her second year as head coach. I was surprised to see the extent of the Wolverines' dominance over the course of the game.