WBB vs Wisconsin game notes

Opponent: Wisconsin  (8-8, 1-5 B1G)

Result: Win, 76-52

Record: 12-5, 3-2 B1G

Date:  1/13, Home

Starters: Laila Phelia, Jordan Hobbs, Lauren Hansen, Chyra Evans, Cam Williams

Injuries/inactives: Elissa Brett did not dress for the game, but was walking and did not have any visible brace/boot over her pants

• Sollom entered in the first quarter, got 2 quick fouls (1 offense, 1 defense) and sat again until the fourth quarter
• Brown was last to play, went in at 3 minutes left in the game

Offense:

• Cam Williams missed her first 2 shots, with the team missing its first 4 until Hobbs hit a three
• Cam Williams got her first make off an offensive rebound when Hansen missed from three. Cam spun and put it back down
• Taylor Woodson had some trouble handling the ball twice. I really love that she’s getting more minutes, but want to see her decrease these mistakes
• When the offense was stalling, it felt like there was too much searching for the perfect shot and not enough taking shots. But when the offense got going, it felt like they were easily able to find great open shots with passing and cutting.
• Hobbs had an impressive steal, then she drove down and got stopped by a defender, passed out from the paint to Evans at the three point line who immediately passed to an open Taylor Williams down low for the layup
• Kampschroeder ran the point for a couple minutes of fourth, was able to get open for shots, and hit 2 threes. I would love to see her get more involved in outside shooting when she’s not the main focal point.

Defense:

• Early on, the team was double and triple teaming post players, leading to steals, travels, and bad shots. Later in the game they went one-on-one in the paint with similar results
• Wisconsin was not able to get much going until they hit back to back threes with 5 minutes left in the first quarter
• They played mostly a 2-3 zone today, which Wisconsin had a lot of trouble with. However, there were breakdowns on switches and passes around the outside, leading to open shots. Closing out threes continues to be a problem
• Chyra had an impressive deflection which rattled Wisconsin into a travel despite having a decent shot at the basket
• Taylor Woodson drew two fouls in the last couple minutes of play, one off a steal that she took back, missing the layup, but getting the foul. However, she only made 1-4 free throws. She is shooting 42% from the free throw line in her freshman year

Notable stats:

• Cam Williams had 16 points on 6-15 shooting, 10 rebounds, her second double-double of the season
• Taylor Williams had 12 points on 5-7 shooting, 2 steals, 2 assists
  • Both Williams were able to effectively box out Wisconsin’s Williams to get offensive rebounds and put them back in
• Taylor Woodson had 19 minutes, her 9th game this season with over 10 minutes
• Serah Williams was the only Badger to score in double digits with 11
• The team dominated defensively with 22 offensive rebounds and 12 steals. 7 different players had a steal, led by Jordan Hobbs and Taylor Woodson with 3 each
• Greta went 1-2 on three point shooting today. She is shooting 42% this year on 35 attempts. 
• Wisconsin had 28 turnovers on the day to Michigan’s 7, many of them actively created by Michigan’s defense

Overall: 

• After two disappointing losses, Michigan bounced back with a defensive trouncing of a bad Wisconsin team. Michigan was up 15 at half time, then put the game away in third by extending the lead over 20. It really felt like a lot of their offense tonight came from their defensive efforts in offensive rebounds, steals, and creating turnovers. 

Miscellaneous: 

• There was a new video board surrounding the tunnel players come out of. Not sure if this is a one-off that will get taken down after the national championship celebration or if it’s permanent. They didn’t do much with it besides display a static graphic that said “The Hardest Working Team in America”

Up next: 

• 1/17: away at Nebraska (12-4, 4-1 B1G) at 8pm on B1G+
  • Junior center Alexis Markowski leads the team in points and rebounds with 17.2 points per game and 10 rebounds per game. 
  • Senior guard Jaz Shelley is second in points per game (12.4) and leads the team in assists (5.2 per game) and steals (1.6 per game)
  • Freshman forward Natalie Potts has won B1G freshman of the week 4 times, averaging 11.3 ppg and the best field goal percentage on the team (57.7%)
  • No wins yet over ranked opponents, losses to #22 Creighton, TCU, Kansas, and Indiana
    • Only B1G loss of the season came against Indiana on 1/7
• 1/21: away at Rutgers (6-12, 0-5 B1G, last in B1G) at 2pm on B1G+
  • Two players are averaging double digit points per game: Kaylene Smikle (16.1) and Destiny Adams (12.9)
  • Have lost their last 7 games in a row, including a 36-point blowout to Iowa where Caitlin Clark earned her 14th career triple-double

Most recent bracketology: 

• ESPN has Michigan as a 11 seed (updated 1/12)
• Her Hoop Stats has Michigan as an 11 seed (1/8)
• College Sports Madness has Michigan as a 7 seed (12/21)