On to the WNIT Quarterfinals
[insert mandatory disclaimer about lack of interest here]
The women's team throttled Northwestern 65-44 last night and move on the quarterfinals for another home game on Sunday at 2:00. They face the winner of tonight's VCU at Syracuse game.
Pretty good crowd of 2,207 last night. With a crowd that size or hopefully larger on Sunday, along with another victory, Michigan would likely host a seminfinal matchup.
Halfway to a banner!
March 26th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^
Frick Yeah!
March 26th, 2010 at 10:42 AM ^
Its so sad that it has come to cheering for something happening in the freaking WNIT...but at the same time, I'll take any Michigan related good news that I can get.
March 26th, 2010 at 10:52 AM ^
The WNIT semis and finals aren't hosted in NYC? (or anywhere?)
March 26th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
Every game is played on one of the team's home court.
March 26th, 2010 at 11:19 AM ^
The more likely that court remains Michigan's.
It was a good game last night. At least one egregious wrong foul call so the crowd could get all indignant and really blow up when they showed the replay, Northwestern's coach got a technical, and Michigan looked good and won. What more can you ask for six bucks?
Oh, and the halftime scrimmage with MMB vs. Maize Rage, officiated by basketball players, was pretty funny.
March 26th, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^
Still haven't figured out that technical. The call went against Michigan, Borseth gets into an exchange with the ref (and nearly gets a T himself), and then the ref walks away to find the Northwestern coach barking at him and immediately T's him up. What was the NW coach complaining about?
The PA announcer, maybe?
March 26th, 2010 at 12:06 PM ^
about the ref letting Michigan get ahead by 20?
Thanks for posting, OP. No UM women's BB team has gotten this far in the post-season. Good to know somebody noticed. Good to see a program turn around. And hockey tonight... The sun is coming up. Cinderella is buying a whole closet full of shoes, for all her sisters and brothers.
March 26th, 2010 at 12:37 PM ^
The hockey and women's basketball runs have me hoping the tide is turning for U-M sports.
A minor quibble: the women's team also made it to WNIT quarterfinals two years before losing to MSU on the road. But perhaps you were referring to the three post-season wins, which are indeed unprecedented. (They had a first-round bye in 2008 when the field was 48 instead of this year's 64, so that year they got to the quarterfinals with just two wins.)
March 26th, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
Three post-season wins. Thanks and +1 for the correction.
Hockey tomorrow. What day is this? What did they put in my coffee?
March 26th, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^
I am proud of the team and happy for the players.
Michigan is Michigan - regardless of gender.
Best of luck to them and Go Blue!
March 26th, 2010 at 12:24 PM ^
So, I heard a lot of the NW coach's bitching last night. He would occasionally pepper in some f-bombs, so that could have been what got him T-ed up, but I didn't hear what he said exactly.
And since the Pep Band-Maize Rage ended in a tie thanks to a last second 3, I'm hoping for a rematch on Sunday. That was one of the most entertaining halftime shows I've seen all year.
March 26th, 2010 at 12:46 PM ^
Though at the same time it's kinda painful to see 10 awkward white guys turn the ball over and over. Darius MOrris and Anthony Wright seemed to be enjoying themselves, though.
I mean, a dude trying to dribble while wearing a cape? All the ridiculous turnovers? The courtside spectators should have had to sign a waiver as many balls as went flying toward them (players, too). And Ant Wright was hamming it up with his calls -- the second coming of Ed Hightower.
Some surprisingly long threes were made, though.
We gotta be able to do something, and that something is making ridiculously long 3-pointers.
Just don't ask me to bring the ball up the court and break down a defender. Unless you like seeing fast breaks the other way.
I was the guy that shot that really long three for the Pep Band. I did it because Ant Wright and Corey Person were behind me yelling "Let it fly man!"
It was my inner and outer Anthony Wright telling me to shoot.
March 26th, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^
Does anybody know if there's a link to watch this on video? The radio commentators mentioned it during halftime (I'm sure any TV broadcast would ignore it and be busy recapping/talking-heading/advertising), and I'd love to see it for myself (and forward it to a former pep-band conductor who would undoubtedly be amused).
Katy Jackson (who puts together most the halftimes, I believe) told the Rage members after the game that there WILL be a MMB-Rage rematch on Sunday.
Someone did take video but they haven't uploaded it yet. When they do, I'll link. I'll try to record Sunday's, but I got there too late yesterday to catch it (apparently I missed out...).
March 27th, 2010 at 12:05 AM ^
Appreciate the effort.
The woman in the purple blouse in the background wouldn't have said it -- she has her hand over her mouth:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annarborcom/4463230167/in/set-721576235745…
Borseth's done a fine job. He has a nice recruiting class coming in for next year, too.
Side note: is it a good idea to play our WBB home games in Crisler? Filling up just the blue sections is a major challenge. Would it be feasible to play games in Yost or elsewhere?
Given that the forthcoming practice facility will result in a centralizing of all basketball-related facilities at Crisler, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to play the women's games elsewhere.
Call me overly optimistic, but the capacity of Crisler will eventually be needed for the women's games. They have gotten the occasional crowd in excess of 5,000 already. (Admittedly, those games have had a large number of free tickets, but still...)
And this is a program on the rise.