WBB vs Florida A&M game notes

 

Opponent: Florida A&M Rattlers (1-9)

Result: Win 77-35

Record: 10-3 (1-0 B1G)

Date:  12/22, Home

Starters: Laila Phelia, Lauren Hansen, Jordan Hobbs, Chyra Evans, Elissa Brett (same as last 2 games)

Injuries/inactives: none

• Sollom was the last to play at the end of second quarter

Offense:

• Evans missed her first chance at an open layup, but then scored Michigan’s first points on the following possession in transition when Brett stole the ball
• Hansen hit her first five 3 point attempts. Her first miss was not until the second quarter
• Brett missed her first two shots, but made her third when she stole the ball and went coast to coast for a layup while weaving through traffic. She finished 3-6 from deep
• A&M was intercepting passes quite a bit, ending with 10 steals
• Macy Brown had a nice play when she got double teamed after a defensive rebound. The team left her behind in transition, but she didn't get rattled. Instead, Brown called and waited until they came far enough back to pass out of it

Defense:

• Hobbs was 1-1 on attempts to take a charge today, but also drove into charges twice on the offensive end
  • Hobbs had 2 quick fouls in the first quarter and went to the bench. She came back in the second and only committed one more foul all game, though she only played 18 total minutes. 
• A&M had trouble breaking down the defense, throwing the ball out on long passes twice and finishing with 27 turnovers
• First A&M points of the second quarter came on free throws 7.5 minutes in
• Crockett had a nice possession where she almost got a steal, but the ball went out of bounds. Then on the inbounds, Michigan guarded the play well and she intercepted an entry pass to the paint
• 1-2-2 press
  • Broken twice
  • Taylor Williams and Phelia trapped at half court causing a steal (second quarter)
  • Slowed, almost caused 10 second violation, Stuck ended with block (second quarter)
  • Trapped near half court, Brett deflected ball out (second quarter)
• The whole team was disrupting the ball with active hands, especially Taylor Williams, whose 1 steal in the stat sheet does not fully represent her impact on defense

Notable stats:

• Macy Brown finished with 6 points in 13 minutes, while Taylor Woodson had 4 points and 11 minutes. Level of competition caveat aside, both looked confident and involved on both ends of the court. 
• Hansen had 19 points over only 22 minutes. She shot 7-9 from the field and 5-7 from three point range. 
• A&M had 25 fouls on the day, clearly wanting to play physical, but not able to stay clean. One player fouled out, one had 4, and four other players had 3. 
• One bright spot on the season that my wife pointed out is three point shooting. So far, Michigan has four players above 40% (Kampshroeder, Crockett, Hobbs, and Brett) with three others above 30% (Hansen, Stuck, Phelia). 

Overall: 

• Michigan did not need to worry about starting well as a team today because Lauren Hansen took care of it, scoring 15 of the team’s first 17 points. Florida A&M did not pose much of a challenge, in part because they exceeded Michigan in both turnovers and fouls. Michigan heads into the teeth of Big Ten play having beaten the teams they should have, but having lost three ugly games. They’ll need to stand up to stiffer competition if they want a shot at winning games in March. 

Miscellaneous: 

• Florida A&M is the third largest HBCU in the country, founded in 1887 by Jonathan C. Gibbs. He was a minister who was involved with abolition before the Civil War, then became heavily involved in politics in Florida during Reconstruction and eventually became the first black Florida Secretary of State in 1868. 
  • The women’s basketball team is coached by Bridgette Gordon, in her first year as head coach after a series of assistant coaching jobs between 2004-2023, including her alma mater Tennessee. Gordon played basketball at Tennessee, played for the USA and won gold at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, then was selected in the very first WNBA draft in 1997 by the Sacramento Monarchs. 
• There was a nice recorded interview about the players’ family Christmas traditions. My favorite was Kampschroeder, whose mom makes tiny Christmas cookies, meaning that Kampschroeder eats “like 20” every year. Same girl, same

Up next: 

• 12/30: home vs. #13 Ohio State (10-2, 1-0 B1G) at 12pm on Fox
  • Michigan has been practicing passing out of full-court press specifically for playing OSU, who full-court press almost every possession
  • Stars guard Jacy Sheldon, who will most likely get selected in the first round of the 2024 WNBA draft. Also sophomore forward Cotie McMahon, second on the team in scoring and rebounding. 
  • Taylor Mikesell went to the WNBA draft after last season
  • Only losses this season are to USC back in November, who is now ranked #6 and to #2 UCLA on 12/18
• 1/4: away at #16 Indiana (10-1, 1-0 B1G) at 7pm on Big Ten Network
  • Stars dominant big Mackenzie Holmes who leads the team in points, rebounds, and blocks. She will probably go in the second round of the 2024 WNBA draft. 
  • You may also remember 3-point specialist Yarden Garzon who has taken a small step up in points for her sophomore year. Sara Scalia has also improved this year, while Chloe Moore-McNeil has regressed a bit. 
  • Grace Berger left for the WNBA this past year
  • Only loss is to #9 Stanford on November 9

Most recent bracketology: 

• ESPN has Michigan as an 11 seed (updated 12/19)
• Herhoopstats has Michigan as an 11 seed (12/14)