WBB vs Michigan State: Michigan’s inability to beat the press came back at the worst time

Opponent: Michigan State (18-7, 8-6 B1G, 5th place)

Result: Loss, 70-66

Record: 16-11, 7-8 B1G, 8th place

Date:  2/18, Home

Starters: Laila Phelia, Lauren Hansen, Jordan Hobbs, Chyra Evans, Elissa Brett (11 starts together this season)

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

• This was one of KBA’s shortest benches of the season, with the starters and Cam Williams getting most of the minutes. The only other players to see the floor were Stuck for 2 minutes and Kampschroeder for 5

1st quarter:

• State played a full court press and Michigan started well against it, passing with ease
• Hobbs generated the first bucket on an assist from the paint to Brett who hit the open three 
  • Then Hansen hit Brett for another three in transition
• Hansen was determined to get to the ball on defense today and that started early with a deflection when she jumped a pass but knocked it out
  • On a play soon after, she poked the ball out and Michigan recovered it
• Michigan started 5-5 from three point range including a third from Brett and another from Phelia
  • Michigan’s first missed three was Brett in the corner with two minutes left in the quarter
• Brett had a block on a mid range shot 
• Michigan’s defense seemed in control early, swarming Michigan State and forcing hard shots
• Michigan held for the last shot of the quarter, but couldn't get open and Phelia heaved it from behind two defenders

2nd quarter: 

• Evans committed a second travel early in the quarter and went to the bench
• State took the lead on an open three that Hobbs couldn't close out because she was helping in the paint
• Brett stripped the ball from Ayrault in the post, Hobbs dove for it and it bounced off State out of bounds
• Hansen jumped another pass, but deflected it out
• Hobbs lobbed a nice ball over the defense to Cam Williams down low for a bucket through traffic
• Michigan created a turnover by staying in front of their players on the three point line. State passed it into paint and Michigan forced a difficult pass back out, which the State player mishandled and it bounced out
• Michigan really struggled to score in this quarter, totaling 9 points 
• Michigan also seemed to struggle to close out threes specifically on skip passes
• Hansen took a charge to get the ball back with a minute left, then hit three to cut lead to 5

3rd quarter: 

• Joiner hit a three out of half and got fouled by Hansen. She came down limping, but recovered quickly
• Phelia answered with a drive and spin for a short jumper
• Hobbs hit a three, then Hansen jumped a pass and got it to Brett in transition to cut the lead to 1
• Hobbs had hard drive and foul, then hit both free throws to lead
• Evans blocked an attempt from three point range. State recovered the ball, but it was late in the shot clock and airballed the second attempt
• Hansen committed her third foul over-committing to close out a three and State hit all three free throws
• Michigan used an 18-6 run before the media timeout to go up 7
• Hobbs had an impressive drive through three State players and made the bucket
• Things started really going south on a possession when Michigan threw away the inbounds trying to get it to half court, then Phelia got her pocket picked by Joiner, on the ensuing inbounds State got to the ball and held for a jump ball that went to Michigan, then Hansen got trapped and the jump ball went to State
• Brett tried to take a charge on Ayrault with no call
• Michigan committed a 10 second violation because Cam Williams caught ball near half completely open, but looked for the pass instead of dribbling over the line
• Phelia got trapped after she crossed the half line, then stepped back over half to turn the ball over
• State’s aggressive press and Michigan’s mistakes after media timeout let State take the lead back in the third

4th quarter: 

• Hobbs drew a charge on what would have been a Hageman make, then drew another on Tate
• Michigan’s passing in the half court seemed hesitant with State effectively clogging a lot of lanes
• Hansen hit a corner three in transition
• Ayrault had a sequence for State where Cam Williams seemed unable to stop her, getting to the basket effectively and hitting 3 shots in a row
• Phelia hit two free throws, then got out in transition for a layup to cut lead to 5
• Down 7, Evans drove hard baseline and missed, but got the offensive rebound, made the shot and drew the foul. This was Jocelyn Tate’s fifth foul, which she argued enough to get a tech and finish with six. The tech probably came because Tate also argued her fourth foul and had to be held back by her teammates. Phelia hit both free throws to complete the five point play
• Down two, Brett got an offensive rebound, drew a foul on Ayrault to foul her out, but couldn't hit either free throw
• Michigan had two good looks at the basket to tie or take the lead but couldn’t hit either. Instead, State came down and sank a jumper to make the lead 4 with 10 seconds left

Notable stats:

• Phelia had an exceptional day with 23 points on 8-13 shooting and 5-6 free throws. 
• Michigan got 10 offensive rebounds to Michigan State’s 2
• While Michigan started 5-5 from deep, they cooled off and finished 9-26 (35%)

Overall: 

• Despite two of Michigan State’s starters fouling out, Michigan couldn’t get the job done against an aggressive defense. While they started well against the press, this devolved in the third and fourth quarters and Michigan couldn’t hit the shots they did get when it came down to the wire. With three games left, Michigan may need to win all of them or make a run in the Big Ten Tournament to get into March Madness.

Up next: 

• 2/24: away at Northwestern (8-17, 3-11 B1G, 13th place) at 3pm on B1G+
  • Three wins in the B1G this year are over Rutgers and two wins over Wisconsin, who is currently in 11th place in the B1G. No wins over ranked teams
  • Junior guard Melannie Daley leads the team with 12.6 points per game, while junior forward Caileigh Walsh is second in points per game (12.5) and leads the team in rebounds per game (5.5). 
  • Head coach is Joe McKeown, who has been with the team since 2008, has a record just above .500, and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere
• 2/28: away at #2 Ohio State (22-3, 13-1 B1G, 1st place) at 7pm on Peacock
  • The last game was a 69-60 Michigan win at Crisler on 12/30. Since then, Ohio State has been white hot, winning 12 straight games, beating both Iowa and Indiana in Columbus
  • Cotie McMahon is the one you may have seen in the headlines because of her 33 point performance against Iowa. She is a legitimate star as a sophomore, second on the team in points per game with 14 and leading the team in rebounds per game (6.6)
  • You will hear Jacy Sheldon’s name called in the WNBA draft after March Madness. She is leading the team in points per game (17.8), assists per game (3.4), and steals per game (2.1)
  • Ohio State also has a wealth of experience filling out the roster with junior Taylor Thierry, senior Celeste Taylor, senior Rebeka Mikulasikova, and senior Rikki Harris

Most recent bracketology: 

• ESPN has Michigan as an 11 seed and one of the “last four in” (updated 2/16)
  • 8 B1G teams in the field
• Her Hoop Stats has Michigan as one of the “first four out” (2/15)
  • 8 B1G teams in field
• College Sports Madness has Michigan as an 11 seed (2/13)
  • 8 B1G teams in field