WBB @ Ohio State: No Magic in Columbus

Opponent: #2 Ohio State (25-3, 16-1 B1G, 1st place)

Result: Loss, 67-51

Record: 17-12, 8-9 B1G, 8th place

Date:  2/28, Away

Starters: Laila Phelia, Lauren Hansen, Jordan Hobbs, Chyra Evans, Elissa Brett (13 starts together this season)

Injuries/inactives: Sollom, Brown, and Taylor Williams all dressed, but did not play

1st quarter:

• OSU scored the first four points on a McMahon jumper and Sheldon drive
• Evans poked the ball away from Mikulasikova and Brett got the ball blocked out of bounds in transition, but Hobbs hit a three for Michigan’s first bucket
• Brett got down low to recover Evans’ miss from three and put it back in
• Michigan had a shot clock violation because Phelia got the ball outside three point line, but couldn’t find a shot
• Taylor Woodson entered the game for a few minutes after a Hansen foul, seemed to be in the game for defensive energy
• Brett had a nice curling drive that drew an extra defender, fed an open Cam Williams who missed the first try, but got the offensive rebound and put it in
• Hobbs took a charge on OSU’s last possession of the quarter to give Rikki Harris her second foul and get the ball back down 4
  • Stuck almost lost the ball on the floor, but got it out, then Phelia found Cam Williams down low, but couldn’t sink the last shot of the quarter

2nd quarter: 

• Hobbs stuck with her player, got a steal on the first possession of the quarter
• Kampschroeder had back to back misses from deep, the second one very open
• Hansen got Michigan’s first bucket of the quarter three and half minutes in on an open corner three from Phelia
• Hobbs drove end to end and laid it in through contact
• Brett knocked the ball away from McMahon for a steal, got the ball down low to Cam Williams to tie and cap an 11-2 run
• Brett then took a charge when McMahon tried to back her down, but then Hobbs committed a charge on a drive to the basket
• Took the lead when Hansen stepped inside three point line and hit the open shot with 50 seconds left in the half
• OSU went five minutes without a bucket until McMahon hit a contested shot on OSU’s last possession of the half
  • On the inbounds, Taylor Woodson was about to lose her dribble, but OSU fouled 
  • Michigan had time for the last shot, but OSU hassled the ball successfully and they couldn’t get it up
• Overall a successful half holding OSU to 22 points, but need to hit the open shots they get to win this game

3rd quarter: 

• Phelia got an open shot from free throw line on first possession, but airballed it
• No buckets for Michigan during the first three and a half minutes until Cam Williams hook shot against Mikulasikova
• Michigan got back within 4 on a Hobbs corner three, but Sheldon answered on the other end
• Hansen got a nice bounce pass to Brett in transition for the assist 
  • On the next possession Hansen got the steal but missed the layup and fouled OSU on the rebound
• Hobbs hit a banked three to cut lead to nine on Michigan’s last possession of the quarter, OSU missed their first attempt, but stole the ball from Hobbs under the basket and hit the layup before the buzzer
• Michigan struggled to limit OSU’s scoring in this quarter, as OSU scored more in the third quarter than they did in the whole first half, shot 3-7 from deep

4th quarter: 

• Hansen hit the first bucket of quarter by being patient, finding lane to the basket
• OSU intercepted an inbounds and got the ball to Sheldon to make the lead 15, Michigan timeout
• Stuck intercepted a pass with 7 minutes to go, Hansen got the ball to Cam Williams who drew Mikulasikova’s fourth foul, but it was a non-shooting foul and Michigan couldn’t capitalize with any points
• Down 17, Cam Williams kept battling and drew a charge
• Taiyiere Parks committed her fourth foul and OSU’s fifth trying to jump a pass while pressing. Brett hit both free throws to cut the lead to 13 with 4 and a half minutes left
• Ohio State stopped full court pressing with about three and a half minutes left

Notable stats:

• Jacy Sheldon led OSU with 22 points, while Cotie McMahon had 18
• First half Michigan outrebounded OSU 22-11, with 7 offensive rebounds to 2 for OSU
  • Finished the game with 35 rebounds to 25 for OSU
• 14 Michigan turnovers in first half, OSU with 9
  • Finished the game with 29 turnovers to OSU’s 15
• OSU shot 2-11 from deep in the first half, then 4-8 in the second half
• Phelia and Hobbs were the only Michigan players in double digits with 13 and 11 respectively
• Ohio State committed more fouls than Michigan (17-16), but also had more free throw attempts (17 for OSU, 10 for Michigan)
• As far as the press is concerned, I counted 27 successful breaks on 36 attempts, though it looked much uglier than in December. OSU successfully used the press to hassle Michigan, slow them down, and get turnovers

Overall: 

• Michigan played one good half by slowing Purdue’s offense and managing to keep pace themselves, but got outscored in both the third and fourth quarters. Michigan needs to win against Purdue, win the first game of the Big Ten Tournament and maybe one more to make March Madness. 

Up next: 

• 3/3: home vs Purdue (12-16, 5-12 B1G, 12th place) at 7pm on FS1
  • Purdue’s only B1G wins are over Wisconsin, Rutgers, Illinois, and Northwestern
  • Four players are averaging double digit points, led by senior guard Abbey Ellis with 13.7 points per game
  • Senior guard Jeanae Terry leads in both rebounds per game (7.5) and assists per game (6.2), but can’t score many points herself
  • Purdue struggles with rebounding, so Michigan should be able to win that battle and take the game with a decent offensive output
• Big Ten Tournament:
  • If Michigan stays in 8th place, they would play on the second day of the tournament (3/7) against the 9th place team, currently Illinois. They would then face Ohio State again. 

Most recent bracketology: 

• ESPN has Michigan as a 10 seed and one of the “last four byes” (updated 2/27)
  • 8 B1G teams in the field
• College Sports Madness has Michigan as an 11 seed (2/26)
  • 8 B1G teams in field
• Her Hoop Stats has Michigan as one of the “last four in” and a 12 seed (2/22)
  • 9 B1G teams in field