WBB @ Penn State: Owusu? No problem

Opponent: Penn State (16-6, 7-4 B1G) 

Result: Win, 80-75

Record: 15-8, 6-5 B1G

Date:  2/3, Away

Starters: Laila Phelia, Lauren Hansen, Jordan Hobbs, Chyra Evans, Elissa Brett (8 starts together this season)

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

• Penn State’s Tay Valladay did not play with a leg injury she suffered in their last game at Minnesota. She was shooting 53% from three point range this season

Offense:

• Michigan’s first bucket was a Hansen three that answered a Penn State three from Marisa
  • Hansen also made Michigan’s first bucket of the second half on a catch and shoot three
• Penn State started in a half court press similar to Maryland’s with three players around half court in a 1-2 formation. Michigan turned the ball over the first time they saw it, but then settled down and passed through it
  • This then became a full court press that Michigan also passed through well, generating a couple wide open buckets for Cam Williams who was waving from under the basket. 
  • Penn State went away from the press at the beginning of the second quarter, but brought back a softer press with pressure on the inbounder and a couple successful traps around half court
  • As Penn State got deeper into the fourth quarter, the press got more persistent, and created a couple turnovers, but Michigan passed through it enough to keep the win
• Cam Williams contributed 6 points in the first quarter but also committed 2 offensive fouls and had to sit
  • Cam Williams came back in the third quarter, drew two fouls, and scored a layup, but committed her third and fourth fouls and went back to the bench, then fouled out with 4 minutes left in the game.
  • Cam was the only player who could match the physicality of Penn State’s center Brigham and definitely would have played more if she had stayed out of foul trouble
• Brett hit a three at the beginning of the third quarter to push Michigan’s lead to 10, but committed her third foul on the next possession. KBA kept her in the game
  • Hobbs hit a three on the next possession when Evans made her way into the paint and kicked it out to make it 13 and Penn State called timeout
• Michigan had a pretty possession with two minutes left in the third quarter when Evans made her way into the lane, passed out to Hansen who drove the baseline then found Phelia wide open for a three
  • Brett successfully drew a charge soon after on Owusu. Michigan was in the bonus and Brett hit both free throws to put the lead back at 13 
• Hobbs stretched Michigan’s lead to 15 on a hard drive at Owusu that drew a foul. Hobbs sank the floater and the free throw
  • On the following possession Brett got a steal, then got the ball back from Evans at the other end and hit an open three for an 18 point lead with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter
• After a few messy possessions that saw Phelia get blocked, Hansen commit an offensive foul, Brett commit a cheap defensive foul, and Phelia turn it over under pressure, Hansen found Evans for a layup to stop the bleeding with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter
• With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Brett drew an off-ball foul on Owusu during a Michigan shot that missed and bounced out of bounds. Instead of Penn State getting the ball, Michigan was in the bonus and Brett hit both free throws
  • Brett fouled out a couple possessions later defending Owusu
• With two minutes left, Hobbs tried to inbound the ball, but Penn State deflected it out of bounds. On the second try, Hansen found Evans streaking wide open for the layup to make it a 15 point lead
• Michigan broke the press one final time, finding Kampschroeder by herself at the offensive end. She could have dribbled it out, but chose to take and miss a short layup as time expired

Defense:

• Chyra Evans deflected the ball from Owusu early in the first quarter and helped cause a jump ball when Hansen rushed over
• Hobbs caused an Owusu travel by tracking with her from the three point line and staying vertical as she drove
• Penn State shot 2-7 from deep in the first quarter and only scored 16 points, the final 2 coming on an Owusu mid-range jumper at the buzzer
• Brett drew a charge on Owusu in the second quarter that looked a little soft on replay as Owusu was trying to stop and pass. But Owusu made contact, Brett sold it, and the refs blew the whistle
  • Later in the second quarter, Brett looked tempted to try and draw charge on an Owusu drive, but stayed up and in front of the dribble, which Owusu eventually lost out of bounds
• Chyra had a bad missed rebound in the second quarter when she jumped too early. The ball bounced off her hand and out to Penn State for an open three. Penn State drew a charge on the ensuing inbounds when Hansen pushed the defender with both hands
• Phelia intercepted a pass into the paint right before half and got it to Evans at the other end of the court for an easy bucket. On the following possession, Hobbs intercepted a pass and found Phelia who gave Michigan a 4 point halftime lead
• In the third quarter, Penn State found Ali Brigham inside on back to back possessions with pinpoint assists over/through the defense
• Taylor Woodson intercepted a long inbounds in the third quarter, but couldn’t finish the layup. Brett got the offensive rebound and drew a foul
• Penn State cut the lead to 11 with five minutes left in the fourth off an Owusu three with a defender in her face. 
  • Soon after, Phelia drove, drew the foul, got a lucky roll, and hit the free throw to put the lead back at 14
• Penn State cut the lead to 9 with a minute left when Owusu got a defensive rebound and Hobbs committed a foul going for the ball. Owusu hit both free throws
• With 40 seconds left, Hobbs rushed a bad pass and turned it over. Ali Brigham got the ball down low for Penn State and drew the foul, making one of two free throws to make it a 7 point lead
• With 30 seconds left, Penn State’s Marisa drove on Taylor Woodson who got a clean block but knocked the ball out of bounds. On the inbounds, Owusu lobbed it to Kapinus who caught it in the air, drew the foul, and hit the bucket, but missed the free throw

Notable stats:

• Phelia led the team with 23 points on 7-11 shooting from the field, 2-2 from deep, and 7-9 on free throws. She also led the team in steals with 3
  • Every Michigan starter scored in double digits. Hansen had 15, Evans and Brett both had 12, and Hobbs had 10.
  • Cam Williams was the only other player to score with 8 points in 8 minutes
• Michigan won the turnover battle in the first half 10-5, with Owusu committing 4 for Penn State. The game finished with 17 turnovers for Penn State and 13 for Michigan, but Owusu only committed one more the whole way
• Michigan went 8-17 (41%) from deep. Hansen made the most with 3 threes, but was 3-8
• Both Cam Williams and Elissa Brett fouled out and Michigan committed 22 fouls as a team to Penn State’s 16
• Michigan was averaging 12.5 assists per game, but generated 19 in this game. 6 from both Evans and Hansen, 5 from Hobbs, and 2 from Phelia
• Owusu finished the game with 18 points to lead Penn State, but entered the fourth quarter with only 10. She tried to drag Penn State back into the game with 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough

Overall: 

• After getting surprised at home by a team they should have beat, Michigan did the same to Penn State on their home court. Michigan played a tight first half with tough defense and 51% shooting from the field. At the start of the fourth quarter, Michigan stretched the lead to 18 and though Penn State turned up the intensity of their press, they couldn’t close the gap. This game definitely looks different with Valladay on the court, but Michigan took advantage and came away with the win.

Miscellaneous: 

• Until a few weeks ago, Ashley Owusu had not played this season because of an undisclosed injury. She returned on January 14 and led Penn State on a six game winning streak before this loss
• My wife would like to note that BTN’s Jack Kizer has repeatedly used a “Phelia feelin’ it” pun this season and it’s getting old

Up next: 

• 2/6: home vs Nebraska (14-8, 6-5 B1G) at 7pm on B1G+
  • Second meeting, first was an away loss 62-43. Since then, they have lost to both Penn State and Iowa, then beat Purdue, but found a way to lose to Rutgers by one point at home
  • In their first meeting, Nebraska used a balanced offensive attack and stingy defense to win. Michigan will mostly need to produce on offense to win, as their defense can definitely hang with Nebraska
  • Junior center Alexis Markowski leads the team in points and rebounds and is averaging a double-double with 16.4 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game. 
  • Senior guard Jaz Shelley is second in points per game (12.2) and leads the team in assists (5.2 per game) and steals (1.9 per game)
• 2/10: home vs Rutgers (7-17, 1-10 B1G, last in B1G) at 2pm on Big Ten Network
  • Second meeting, first was an away win 56-50, which one commenter accurately termed a “rock fight”. Since then, they lost two more games, but just got their first B1G win of the season by 1 point at Nebraska
  • Three players are averaging double digit points per game: Kaylene Smikle (16.1), Destiny Adams (14.7), and Mya Petticord (10.1)
    • Smikle sustained an injury on 12/30 and hasn’t played since then, so Adams is the current active points leader

Most recent bracketology: 

• ESPN has Michigan as one of the “first 4 out” (updated 2/2)
• Her Hoop Stats has Michigan as one of the “first four out” (2/1)
• College Sports Madness has Michigan as an 11 seed (1/29)