WBB vs Rutgers: Michigan blowout, Caitlin Clark on Thursday

Opponent:  Rutgers (7-19, 1-12 B1G, last in B1G)

Result: Win, 86-58

Record: 16-9, 7-6 B1G, 7th place

Date:  2/10, Home

Starters: Lauren Hansen, Jordan Hobbs, Chyra Evans, Cam Williams, Elissa Brett

Injuries/inactives: 

• Laila Phelia was out because sustained a “minor injury at practice” according to the commentators. She also sprained her ankle at Penn State and had been playing through it the past couple games, so this may have been to give her some time to heal up before Iowa
  • Phelia was also sitting next to KBA throughout the game, visibly discussing the action and contributing
• Crockett was the last active Michigan player to play, entering with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter

1st quarter:

• Rutgers came up empty on their first 4 possessions because of smothering Michigan defense, a travel, and an inability to hit the shots they did get
  • Rutgers only scored 6 points in the first quarter, with about 3 minutes elapsing between each bucket
• Cam Williams got her first bucket on a feed from Brett. She got the ball with her back to the basket, pivoted effectively, and laid it in
  • Williams scored 6 of Michigan’s first 8 points
• Rutgers drew a charge early, but this only inspired Brett to earn one of her own. She tracked down the ball handler as she curled towards the top of the key, got in her way, the ball handler shoved her a bit, and she went to the floor to sell it
• Chyra Evans made Michigan’s first three of the game when Hobbs found her in the corner
  • Michigan made 4 total three-pointers in the first quarter with contributions from Brett, Hobbs, and Kampschroeder
• Michigan finished the quarter with a few messy possessions that saw a shot clock violation, three-second paint violation, and a missed shot at the buzzer

2nd quarter: 

• Michigan struggled to get going in the second quarter with just a three from Kampschroeder in the first couple minutes
  • Rutgers helped keep the lead comfortable by only scoring 3 points of their own during this time
• Hobbs got Michigan going again with a drive along the baseline and reverse layup. On the next possession, Hansen got a steal and finished the bucket at the other end, then Evans hit a long two, and Rutgers called timeout
• One pretty possession saw Evans with the ball down low navigating through traffic, then kicking it out to Hobbs. Two passes got it around the horn, then Brett found Evans inside again, who took one dribble and two steps to lay it in
• Cam Williams had another run in this quarter, scoring 9 of Michigan’s 12 points over a three minute span

3rd quarter: 

• Cam Williams caught an inbounds along the baseline that looked very similar to one in the first half. She cut towards the basket, caught the ball that was lobbed over the defender, and laid it in
• Kampschroder tried to take a charge, but was called for a block because she never got set as the ball handler kept moving to her right
• Sollom saw a few minutes in this quarter, tallying an assist to Brett, a made basket on a hook shot along the baseline, but also a turnover when she threw the ball away after a defensive rebound
• Michigan had no problem against the two player soft press that Rutgers was running until Macy Brown and Elise Stuck were bringing the ball up the court. Rutgers turned up the pressure a bit, then Stuck got double teamed and her attempted long pass was intercepted
• Macy Brown had a bad foul on a long two when she jumped at the shot, landed and turned to look at the shot, but didn’t stop and body-checked the shooter

4th quarter: 

• Rutgers showed some fight in the fourth quarter, outsourcing Michigan 22-20
• Hobbs scored 8 of her points in the fourth quarter off a layup and 2 three-pointers
• Taylor Woodson got assist when she received the ball at the three point line and found Taylor Williams wide open down low
• Crockett took and missed three shots, despite getting decently open on her looks
• Taylor Williams intercepted a pass, using her length to get past the Rutgers player with one hand. She tried to dribble the length of the court, but lost her handle as she passed the three point line

Notable stats:

• Cam Williams had a career-high 23 points on 10-14 shooting and is now the 5th Michigan player to score above 20 points this season (Phelia, Hansen, Hobbs, and Brett being the others)
• Jordan Hobbs also had a night with 16 points and 8 assists
• Michigan shot lights out with 34-55 from the field (62%) and 12-21 from three point range (57%)
  • Kampschroeder was 3-3 from deep and I really wish she would shoot more during the minutes she gets
• Michigan had 25 assists to Rutgers’ 9. Hobbs had the most, with Evans (4), Cam Williams (3), and Brett (3) also contributing
• Michigan’s largest lead of the day was 33 points in the third  and fourth quarters

Overall: 

• Michigan succeeded in not getting caught in a tight game against lesser competition. They found meaningful minutes for bench players, as everybody got at least 5, and rested their star in anticipation of the hardest game of the season. The competitive portion of the game was over in the first quarter and Iowa is up next.

Up next: 

• 2/15: away at #2 Iowa (22-2, 11-1 B1G, first place B1G) at 8pm on Peacock
  • According to the transitive property of sports, we should be able to beat Iowa since Ohio State beat Iowa and Michigan beat Ohio State…right?
  • Ok, to be fair to the fact that Iowa is the best team in the B1G by a mile this year, they have also beaten 5 teams that have beaten Michigan. They beat Nebraska by 19, Indiana by 27, Michigan State by 3, Minnesota by 23, and Penn State by 28.
  • Caitlin Clark
    • Barring apocalypse, Clark will become the all-time leading scorer of women’s college basketball either the game before this when Iowa plays Nebraska or during this game against Michigan. She is also, knock on wood, projected to eclipse Pete Maravich this season.
    • The last 3 seasons, Clark averaged around 27 points per game. This season she is at 32.2 points per game. 
    • She has 4 triple-doubles and 8 double-doubles this season
  • Iowa also has other good players like Hannah Stuelke who just scored 47 points against Penn State
• 2/18: home vs Michigan State (17-5, 7-4 B1G, 4th place) at 12pm on Big Ten Network
  • Last meeting was an 82-61 loss at Breslin. Since then they have beaten Rutgers and Minnesota, then lost a close game to Indiana.
  • Led by first-year coach Robyn Fralick who coached at Bowling Green last year and brought Jocelyn Tate with her
  • Stars senior guard Moira Joiner who has increased her points per game from 10.1 last season to 15.1 this season, seeing increases across the board in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage
  • Julia Ayrault is now leading Michigan State in points per game (15.3), rebounds per game (7.3), and blocks per game (2.3)

Most recent bracketology: 

• ESPN has Michigan as an 11 seed and one of the “last four in” (updated 2/10)
  • 7 B1G teams in the field
• Her Hoop Stats has Michigan as one of the “first four out” (2/9)
  • 8 B1G teams in field
• College Sports Madness has Michigan as an 11 seed (2/6)
  • 7 B1G teams in field