WBB vs Maryland: 2 injuries, 2 ejections, 2 point overtime win

Opponent: Maryland (12-7, 4-4 B1G)

Result: Win 79-77 (OT)

Record: 14-6, 5-3 B1G

Date:  1/24, Home

Starters: Laila Phelia, Jordan Hobbs, Lauren Hansen, Chyra Evans, Cameron Williams (same as last 3 games)

Injuries/inactives: none

• Sollom, Brown dressed but did not play
• Phelia landed awkwardly on a Maryland player’s foot with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. She got her left ankle wrapped on the sideline, rode the stationary bike, then reentered the game after Hansen was ejected a few minutes later.
• Hansen got in a scuffle with Bri McDaniel while fighting for a jump ball on the offensive end with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. After they got up, both Hansen and McDaniel threw a quick punch, though neither seemed to land squarely, and their teammates helped separate them. Both were ejected after review
• Sellers injured her hand during incidental contact with 2 minutes left in the third quarter, got it wrapped on the bench, then went to the locker room, but came back into the game at the start of the fourth.

Offense:

• To open the game, Phelia missed 2 open threes and 2 layups
• Cam also had a miss offensive rebound miss sequence to start the game and again in the third quarter
• Hobbs made Michigan’s first bucket when Maryland pressed Hansen at half and she passed to Hobbs for a layup
• Maryland was pressing/trapping near half with 3 players throughout the game in a 1-2 formation. They got 1 ten second violation, but Michigan solved the halfcourt press with cross-court passing only to have trouble passing into the paint or around the top of the key multiple times. Maryland clogged up that space effectively with a compact 2-3 zone. 
• At the end of the first quarter, Woodson showed some savvy when she pressed the inbounder who lost her handle. Woodson went to the floor to retrieve the ball, got the foul, and hit 1 of 2 free throws. Then she almost hustled her way into another steal on the rebound off her miss
• Frustratingly, Maryland intercepted a pass on 2 straight possessions in the second quarter. 
• Chyra hit a three right before half, but Maryland came down and hit a three at the buzzer when Brett found herself alone with two Maryland players at three point line
• Elissa Brett hit an open three with a Hansen assist out of Phelia’s injury, then got the offensive rebound and drew a foul on the following possession
• At the end of the third quarter, Brett hit a three and Michigan held on defense. All Maryland got was a desperate shot that went over top of backboard
• Michigan cut Maryland’s lead to four in the fourth quarter with 2 transition buckets. One a Phelia make, one a Phelia miss that Evans cleaned up. Maryland timeout
• One tense possession saw Michigan rebound two missed threes, but Evans hit the third try with 3 minutes left in the fourth to draw within 6
• An intentional offensive foul from a Maryland player who elbowed Hobbs in the chest drew Michigan within 4 on two Phelia free throws. Hobbs then hit a three to complete the 5 point play
• After Phelia missed a driving layup down 1, Hobbs drew a charge with a minute left to get the ball back
  • Phelia drove again and drew a foul and hit 1 of 2 free throws. Brett drew a charge on the following possession 
• Phelia missed a layup at the end of regulation for the win
• Michigan took the lead for the first time all game with the first bucket of overtime courtesy of Cam Williams
• Hobbs hit a high arcing three with a minute left in overtime to tie, got the defensive rebound on Maryland’s miss and ran it out in transition. She missed, but Cam got the offensive rebound and put it down for a two point lead with 45 seconds left
• After Maryland scored to tie, Michigan had the ball with 33 seconds left and a chance to win, but couldn't get a shot off in time and gave the ball back to Maryland on a shot clock violation. It looked like we were headed for overtime or a Maryland win if they could make a bucket
• With 3 seconds left and the score tied, Maryland failed to inbound the ball, throwing it over their post and out of bounds. Michigan inbounded the ball to Phelia at half court who drove, drew the foul, and hit both free throws for the win
  • Technically there were 0.6 seconds left. Maryland’s shot attempt was way too open, but rolled off the rim
  • Also technically Phelia passed up the opportunity to miss the second free throw and deny Maryland a realistic shot attempt. Thankfully Maryland’s miss made this a footnote

Defense:

• Maryland was hitting threes early as Michigan was not closing out effectively, then driving past them when Michigan would over commit 
• Chyra intercepted an inbounds pass by getting in front of a curling post player. After Michigan's transition fizzled out, Evans got in good position near the free throw line and backed down her defender for a bucket
• Stuck entered in the second quarter and got 2 quick fouls on back to back possessions
• Michigan was getting defensive stops in the second quarter (30 second violation, trap into a steal), but struggling to score. They only had 5 points in the quarter before the media timeout
• Brett drew a charge along the baseline, then another in the paint. She also fell down trying to draw a charge unsuccessfully, but then drew another at the top of the paint from Sellers
• Twice Michigan did not get the defensive rebound on a missed Maryland free throw
• Down 7 with 6 minutes left, Stuck drew a charge to nullify a Sellers make
• Up 3 in overtime, Brett drew another charge on Sellers to foul her out
• While I've noted a few miscues here, Michigan's defense in the second half held Maryland to only 21 points. Maryland scored more than that in both the first and second quarters with 23 in each. Michigan accomplished this with tough person defense and defending the three point line much better. After Maryland shot 5-10 from deep in the first half, they went 2-6 in the second half and overtime

Notable stats:

• While Maryland had a better field goal shooting percentage (52%-43%), Michigan put up more field goal attempts (65 Michigan shots to 56 Maryland shots), three point attempts (22-16), and free throw attempts (19-17). It was offensive rebounding (16 for Michigan to 7 for Maryland) and fewer fouls (21-25) that caused the shot differential. 
• Two Maryland players fouled out (Alexander and Sellers) Michigan finished with three players at four fouls (Cam Williams, Hobbs, Brett)
• Chyra Evans had herself a game, leading the team in points (17), rebounds (8), and assists (5). She also tied with Phelia for the most minutes played at 41. 
• All five Michigan starters scored in double digits, with Hansen just getting to ten points before her ejection
• If you’re counting, that’s 6 charges I noted. I feel like I may have missed one or two more, but Michigan also caused a couple blocking fouls, so I feel like those cancel out

Overall: 

• Down 15 points at halftime, Michigan seemed headed for another double-digit loss to a team with an almost identical record. Instead, Michigan showcased the toughness KBA has claimed as their identity over the past few years as the “hardest working team in America”. This was a physical win that saw players driving through contact, diving to the floor, and looking to draw fouls. Michigan battled back and pulled out the win in front of a raucous home crowd in overtime. 

Miscellaneous:

• Laila Phelia scored her 1,000th points as a Wolverine on the two free throws after the intentional foul on Hobbs

Up next: 

• 1/27: away at Michigan State (14-5, 4-4 B1G) at Noon on B1G+
  • Led by first-year coach Robyn Fralick who was the head coach at Bowling Green last season. After MSU limped to a 16-14 record and missed the NCAA tournament last year, Fralick has seemingly executed a swift turnaround at least halfway through the year.
  • Returned a lot of experience. Out of the seven players averaging over 20 minutes a game there are 3 seniors, 2 juniors, and 2 sophomores, including junior Jocelyn Tate who followed Fralick from Bowling Green.
  • Losses to Creighton, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio State, and Minnesota, most memorably Caitlin Clark’s logo three at the buzzer. Still looking for a win over a ranked team this season, but clearly good enough to hang with Iowa on any given night.
  • Stars senior guard Moira Joiner who has increased her points per game from 10.1 last season to 15.4 this season, seeing increases across the board in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage
• 1/31: home vs Illinois (8-9, 2-5 B1G) at 7pm on B1G+
  • Second game against Illinois this season. The first was an 84-48 Michigan road win on 12/10. Illinois was 5-2 when they first faced Michigan, but has lost 7 of 10 games since, with their only wins in that stretch coming against UTEP, Northwestern, and Rutgers
  • Led by senior guard Genesis Bryant who is averaging 14.9 points per game and 3.4 assists
  • In their two recent B1G wins, Illinois made some threes, but relied on ~50% shooting on a large volume of shots to get above 90 points. Granted, both of these wins were against two of the three teams below Illinois in the B1G standings, but Michigan should look to limit Illinois’ shot attempts to get the win

Most recent bracketology: 

• ESPN has Michigan as an 11 seed and the “last team in” (updated 1/23)
• College Sports Madness has Michigan as an 11 seed (1/15)
• Her Hoop Stats has Michigan as an 11 seed (1/8)