Next: Kansas

Michigan travel to Kansas today to play the 19th ranked Jayhawks at 2:00pm. After three wins at home, this should tell us a bit more about how good the Wolverines are this year - first road game and a definite step (or two) up in talent.

Michigan State's Courtney Schiffauer

Is out for the season with a torn ACL. Michigan State has had bad luck with knee injuries the past few seasons. (Hat Tip womens hoops blog.)

Michigan 91 Southern Mississippi 54

Another good win for the Wolverines as they had five players in double figures and held Southern Mississippi's leading scorer Pauline Love to 7 points.

From the Michigan Daily:

Michigan (3-0) seemed much more comfortable, and it showed right from the start in last night's 91-54 win.

Senior center Krista Phillips started strong for the Wolverines, scoring 13 points in the first half, including dropping the game's first 3-pointer.

“It comes from our teammates,” Phillips said. “When we all play well, I play well. I get my feed off them.”

Providing plenty of offensive support was freshman guard Dayeesha Hollins, who is quickly becoming a star. She led the team with 18 points and five assists and also played a game-high 31 minutes.

From mgoblue.com:

All five starters scored in double digits, led by 18 points from freshman guard Dayeesha Hollins (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods), as the University of Michigan women's basketball team beat Southern Mississippi, 91-54, on Thursday (Nov. 19) inside Crisler Arena. The win moves the Wolverines to 3-0 on the season.

Also, stories in the Detroit Free Press and annarbor.com.

Next: Southern Mississippi

Michigan hosts Southern Mississippi Thursday night at 7:00pm in Crisler Arena. This is a rematch from last year, which Michigan won 61-51 in Hattiesburg. (They also defeated Southern Mississippi in the Women's NIT two years ago, 59-45).

The Golden Eagles are led by forward Pauline Love who is averaging 25 points and 12 rebounds so far this season.

Tonight is part of the canned food drive - bring a canned good and get in for only $1.00. More information here.

Marquette game coverage

From the Michigan Daily:

Sophomore forward Carmen Reynolds' third triple gave the Wolverines their first lead of the game with just under 11 minutes to go. Marquette regained the lead on the next possession before freshman guard Dayeesha Hollins responded with a three of her own to pull ahead again.

Michigan didn’t surrender the lead the rest of the game.

The Wolverines have now defeated two teams that played into the postseason last year. The wins are important for a program that won just 10 games last season and was picked to finish last in the Big Ten by both the media and coaches.

When asked if the team's early success is surprising, redshirt senior forward Ashley Jones didn't hesitate.

"No, not at all," she said. “I think that our team is really good and we’re going to make a lot of noise this year.”

Mgoblue.com:

Freshman guard Dayeesha Hollins (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) scored 10 of her 17 points in the second half and the Wolverines shot 57.7 (15-of-26) percent from the floor in the second frame as the University of Michigan women's basketball team overcame a 26-20 halftime deficit with a 47-24 second-half scoring advantage to defeat Marquette, 67-50, on Monday night (Nov. 16) at Crisler Arena.

Also the Detroit Free Press, Marquette Journal Sentinel, and GoMarquette.com.

Roster Changes

Rather late on this, but in case anyone hadn't noticed Sireece Bass, LeQuisha Whitfield and Lauren Young are no longer on the team. Bass has transferred to Eastern Kentucky and will sit out a year. As has been noted elsewhere, Michigan will field a young team this year - 4 upper classmen (Phillips, Jones, McPhereson & Hicks), 3 sophomores and 6 freshman.

Michigan 67 Marquette 50

The first half was ugly - neither team shot very well and Michigan had 17 turnovers, contributing to a 6 point half time deficit. They picked things up in the second half to win by a comfortable margin. Dayeesha Hollins led the way with 17 points.

Next: Ball State

Michigan opens the season tonight at 7:00pm against Ball State of the Mid American conference. This will be an interesting season for Michigan - between graduation and other departures, this is a young team (3 seniors, 1 junior, 3 sophomores and 6 freshman). It will really depend on leadership from Ashley Jones, Krista Phillips and Veronica Hicks if they are to show any improvement over last year.

Blog Update

I have not been doing a good job of keeping this blog up to date - lots of things going on in my life right now. Now that the season is starting I will try & keep on top of it. If anyone out there who reads this would like to help out, send me a note and we'll see if we can work something out.