University of Michigan Women's Hoops

Next:: Northwestern

2012-01-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

Michigan travels to Evanston tonight to take on the Wildcats. Northwestern is led by a trio of players who average double figure scoring - forward Kendall Hackney (16.3 ppg), guard Morgan Jones (14.7 ppg) and forward Danielle Diamant (12.6 ppg).

Northwestern in no pushover - they are 12-6, 2-3 in the Big Ten but only lost to Ohio State by 10 on the road and have a win over LSU. This is an important game for Michigan as it is a chance to steal another road win, something that is always tough to do in the Big 10.

Next: Penn State

2012-01-12T17:49:00.000-05:00

After a tough loss to Michigan State on the road and a huge win against the Buckeyes at Crisler, the Wolverines travel to State College to face the Nittany Lions today at 6:00pm (televised on the Big 10 Network).

Penn State has struggled a bit early in the Big 10 season with a road win against Wisconsin and home losses to Michigan States and Nebraska.

The Michigan Daily has a full preview here.

Next: Michigan State

2012-01-04T09:19:00.000-05:00

Michigan travels to East Lansing to play the Spartans at 7:00pm tonight. While the Spartans aren't currently ranked in the top 25, they are still a talented team. Porsche Poole is the leading scorer (10.6 pts/games), but they have seven players averaging 6 or more points a games.

Michigan 70 Illinos 50

2012-01-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

Michigan started off the Big 10 Season with a 70-50 win at Illinois. While the Illini may not be an elite team in the Big 10, any conference road win is important and the 20 point margin has to help build confidence. The Wolverines had balance scoring including 16 from Carmen Reynolds, 14 from Courtney Boylan, 12 from Jenny Ryan and 10 from Rachel Sheffer. Sheffer added 8 rebounds and 3 steals while Ryan had 6 rebounds and 5 steals.

Carmen Reynolds reached the 1000 career points milestone in the game, and it was nice to see her have a strong game after struggling occasionally earlier in the season.

Next: Indiana State

2011-12-17T13:00:00.002-05:00

Michigan hosts Indiana State University tonight @ 7:00pm

Eastern Michigan 77 Michigan 64

2011-12-17T13:00:00.000-05:00

Michigan fell behind early and couldn't quite come all the way back. It was a bit of a frustrating game because Michigan shot poorly from the 3 point line (2-12), had some annoying defense lapses and committed 17 turnovers (not all forced).

Credit to Eastern Michigan - they definitely earned the win, in large part because of a great game by Tavelyn James (38 points, including 13/14 from the line - several down the stretch). James became Eastern's all time leading scorer early in the game.

Next:: Eastern Michigan University

2011-12-11T13:19:00.000-05:00

Michigan travels down the road to visit Eastern Michigan University, hoping to get a bit of payback for last year's loss in the WNIT. The Eagles are 5-3, with close losses to Michigan State and Missouri-Kansas City in their last two games. They are led by guard Tavelyn James (23.5 pts/game) and forward Paige Reddit (10.1 pts/game and 9.8 rebounds/game).

Michigan hopes to go to 10-1 as the head toward the last of their non-conference games.

Catching Up

2011-11-20T13:47:00.000-05:00

Michigan has started the season with three wins - over Florida, Florida Atlantic and Utah. This afternoon they travel to Seton Hall. The Pirates have started the season 3-0 as well, but they have not faced any strong teams yet - Florida Gulf Coast, Army and Vermont. The focus of their offense is senior guard Jasmine Crew who is currently averaging 21.3 points per game.

A quick look at Jeff Sagarin's (very early) ratings has Michigan about a 2 point favorite on a neutral court, which is less than the 4+ point advantage of home court, so it could end up being a very interesting game.

Big Ten Tournament/NCAA Selection Monday

2011-03-14T16:47:00.000-04:00

Michigan had a disappointing game in the Big 10 Tournament, losing 55-47 in the second round to Illinois. The Illini jumped out to an early lead and combined with some poor shooting and a few turnovers Michigan couldn't overcome a huge deficit. They made a strong comeback at the end, but there wasn't enough time left to pull it off. Uneven officiating didn't help, but that was not the main problem.

From the Michigan Daily:

Against Illinois on Friday, the Wolverines couldn't do either effectively, which eventually doomed them against a team with the worst record in the Big Ten.
Even though Michigan played solid defense, it never found offensive rhythm from anywhere on the court. Despite getting plenty of open looks, the Wolverines couldn't capitalize consistently. Whether in the post, perimeter or midrange, it didn’t matter — Michigan simply couldn't find the net.
“We were getting some good looks, and the people we wanted to shoot were shooting it and they weren't falling for us,” senior guard Veronica Hicks said after the game. “They were making shots and we weren't.”

Today the NCAA announces which teams will be in the field of 64 - despite the loss, Michigan is "on the bubble" and has a decent shot at being invited. Charlie Creme currently has them as one of the last four "in". We'll find out tonight.

Video preview from youtube

2011-03-04T11:19:00.000-05:00

Next: Illinois (Big 10 Tournament)

2011-03-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

Michigan plays Illinois today in second round of the Big 10 tournament. Illinois advanced yesterday after an upset win over Wisconsin. Michigan won the regular season meetings between the two teams 69-59 in Ann Arbor and 58-55 last Sunday in Champaign.

Michigan should be the favorite, but it can be tough to beat a team three times in one season. Illinois is a young team with quite a bit of talent that has lost a number of tough games - the win against Wisconsin yesterday may give them some much needed confidence.

The winner of the game faces the winner of Purdue - Penn State tomorrow.

Michigan 58 Illinois 55

2011-02-27T16:52:00.000-05:00

Michigan pulled out a great win, with Rachel Sheffer scoring a basket on an inbound pass with 1.5 seconds left. The win means that Michigan finished in a four way tie for 3rd place with Wisconsin, Ohio State and Iowa. Because the Big 10 uses total head to head as a tiebreaker (and Michigan swept the other 3 teams), Michigan gets the 3rd seed in the Big 10 Tournament.

Next: Illinois

2011-02-27T10:48:00.001-05:00

Michigan visits Illinois today in their final regular season game. A win and Michigan could end up seeded as high as third in the conference tournament (if OSU beats Wisconsin) and a loss could drop them to a 7 seed... Needless to say, a win here will go a long way to helping their NCAA chances.

Minnesota 82 Michigan 78 (2 OT)

2011-02-27T10:46:00.000-05:00

Tough loss in overtime, though Michigan still can have a good seed in the Big 10 tourney if they can beat Illinois in their final regular season game.

Veronica Hicks shot to send the game into overtime is worth watching again:

Next: Minnesota

2011-02-24T15:01:00.000-05:00

Michigan hosts Minnesota @ Crisler arena tonight at 7:00. It is senior night and fan appreciation night as well. Michigan is looking for revenge against the Golden Gophers after losing in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Michigan 68 Wisconsin 66

2011-02-24T14:56:00.000-05:00

A very big win for Michigan on Saturday. Courtney Boylan scored the last six points for the Wolverines. Michigan had seen a 12 point lead disappear and trailed the Badgers by 4, 64-60 before the late comeback.

From annarbor.com:

The 5-foot-7 guard scored the Wolverines’ last six points over the final 81 seconds of the game, including the game-winner with eight seconds remaining in a 68-66 victory in front of 8,611 at the Kohl Center.
“(Boylan) is a kid that has the ability to get down in the paint and score on anybody,” Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. “She's very crafty, she's strong, she's got great hands and has great hang time. When she scores, it doesn't look like she can do it, but she's very good around the basket."
Wisconsin guard Alyssa Karel called Boylan’s effort “relentless.”

The win left Michigan tied for third with Wisconsin, but holding the tiebreaker for seeding in the Big 10 tourney. While an NCAA tournament bid isn't a lock, Michigan seems to control their own destiny - it seems likely that two more wins (either in their last two games against Minnesota and Illinois) or in the conference tournament, would get them in.

Next: Wisconsin

2011-02-19T12:58:00.003-05:00

Michigan travels to Wisconsin to play to the Badgers today at 1:30pm (EST). While the game is not a "must win", it will go a long way to determining where Michigan finishes in the Big 10 standings. A win will move Michigan into a third place tie with Wisconsin, with Michigan holding the tie breaker. A loss will put Michigan in a dogfight with Purdue, Ohio State, and Iowa for fourth through seventh place. While Michigan holds the tie breaker with Ohio State and Iowa it would be better for them to finish in the top five and have a first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

Michigan 88 Indiana 76

2011-02-19T12:58:00.000-05:00

Michigan got a much needed win against Indiana Wednesday night. The Wolverines jumped out to a 15 point lead at half time then held off an Indiana rally in the second half. Michigan had a balanced scoring: 19 points from Carmen Reynolds, 18 from Kate Thompson, 15 from Rachel Sheffer, 14 from Courtney Boylan, 11 from Veronica Hicks and 9 from Jenny Ryan.

From annarbor.com:

The Michigan women's basketball team thought it would get some open perimeter looks against Indiana’s zone defense on Wednesday night.
The Wolverines were right. And they hit a season-high 13 shots from 3-point range in an 88-76 win at Crisler Arena.
Junior Carmen Reynolds made 5 of 7 shots from behind the arc on her way to a team-high 19 points and sophomore Kate Thompson who made 4 of 5 long-distance attempts, finished with 18 points.
Carmen Reynolds
“We were able to pretty much, as a team, get whatever shot we wanted to it felt like,” Reynolds said. “We were good about passing on the perimeter. Everyone was getting shots. Everything was open, it felt like.”

Next: Michigan State

2011-02-13T14:41:00.000-05:00

Michigan travels to the Breslin Center to face 11th ranked Michigan State. These two teams are very familiar with each other and there won't likely be any surprises. While a loss probably won't affect Michigan's post season chances, this game is a must win if Michigan is to have any chance of winning the regular season Big 10 crown. Tip off is at 2:50pm and the game is being televised on ESPN2

Bus Trip to MSU

2011-02-11T12:57:00.000-05:00

Last minute, but a reminder to anyone interested about the bus trip to the MSU game this weekend. For more information call 734 647 1261 or email katjacks@umich.edu .

Rachel Sheffer

2011-01-30T12:15:00.000-05:00

The Michigan Daily has a nice article about Rachel Sheffer and her performance in the Ohio State game on Thursday:

Ohio State center Jantel Lavender is a two-time All-American and a three-time Big Ten player of the year. However, in Thursday’s game, she wasn't even the best center on the court.
That distinction belongs to sophomore Rachel Sheffer, who led the Michigan women’s basketball team to a stunning 69-66 victory over the Buckeyes. Sheffer, who is only 6-foot-1, disrupted anything Lavender tried to do on offense. She constantly poked and prodded the 6-foot-4 Lavender, forcing the ball out of her hands or keeping the ball away from her all together. Lavender came into the game averaging 23 points, and Sheffer held her to just 14.

Not only did Sheffer effectively shut down one of the best players in the country, but she was also able to score on Lavender. Sheffer scored a career-high 23 points on 54 percent shooting, including three 3-pointers.

Next: Minnesota

2011-01-30T11:45:00.000-05:00

Michigan travels to Minnesota to play the Golden Gophers at 3:00pm (ET) today. Minnesota is currently 1-7 in the Big Ten, but that record is a bit misleading. Most of their conference losses have been close (5 were by 8 points or less) and they are coming off their first conference win against Northwester on Thursday.

Minnesota is led by junior guard Kiara Buford (15.4 ppg) and sophomore guard Leah Cotton (13.9 ppg). For Michigan a big key will be to play focused and try to avoid a let down after their big comeback win against Ohio State.

ESPN Article on Coach Borseth

2011-01-29T17:18:00.000-05:00

The whole thing can be found here.

"We're probably more similar in style [this season] to what we've been in the Green Bay era," Borseth said. "We're doing a lot more things that resemble what we did in Green Bay. … I think kids now are starting to figure it out. They're starting to get quicker, get a little bit more aggressive, get more used to the style. It will be interesting to see as the year rolls along if they can keep up this pace and play with the same aggressiveness."

and

Perhaps that single-minded focus is partly why he still seems like a bit of an odd fit at a place like Michigan as he talks of learning just how much recruiting determines success at this level, the salesmanship involved in fighting with other major-conference programs over the same pool of national-level recruits. Michigan is his home state, and the compensation can't be bad, but from the outside, it's still possible to wonder if he wasn't happiest scouring the small towns of Wisconsin and then taking his and beating yours.

"There's days when I say to myself, 'What did I get myself into?' But every time I get back on the court, you get back your competitive juices and they flow and you try to do the same thing you've always done," Borseth said. "It's all I know how to do. If I had to sell furniture or insurance or anything of that nature, I think I'd have to fold up tent.

Video Highlights from MGoBlue TV

2011-01-28T11:07:00.000-05:00

Carmen Reynolds

2011-01-28T10:41:00.003-05:00

From the annarbor.com profile of Carmen Reynolds:

Borseth watched Reynolds again in the last game of the day. This time, he saw her making 3-pointers.

“She was a complement for a lot of things we do offensively,” Borseth said. “And it’s proved to be right on.”

That day, her father, Jim Reynolds, pointed to the Michigan coaches in the stands.

Father and daughter laughed. This, after all, was a family that trades Christmas cards with Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel because Jim Reynolds had been recruited by Tressel as a high school football player and played for Tressel ended up at Miami (Ohio).

The whole family was Ohio State fans. Her brother, Cody, played lacrosse for the Buckeyes.
Jim and Carmen even had a conversation when she was first considering playing college basketball about what would happen if Michigan was her only scholarship offer.
“She said, ‘Well, I guess I’d be a Wolverine,’” Jim said.

Not that the Reynolds expected it. There they were, two weeks after Borseth saw her in Cincinnati on an unofficial visit to Michigan. Then Borseth made his offer.

Hours later, Carmen committed to Michigan, the only major conference school to make an offer.
“I was a huge Ohio State fan,” Carmen said. “And we’re like ‘What the heck, we’ll go up and visit it.’ I remember going in and thinking I wasn’t going to like it because I was an Ohio State fan, but I fell in love immediately coming up to campus, met some of the coaches, meeting some of the girls on the team.

“Just walking around campus, learning about the academics, everything. This was the school, and I converted immediately to a Wolverine.”

Coverage of last night's win

2011-01-28T08:15:00.000-05:00

From ESPN:

Rachel Sheffer was calm as she approached the free throw line with a chance to help Michigan earn a memorable win over Ohio State.
She capped a career-best 23-point performance with a pair of free throws with 29 seconds to play to help the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes 69-66.Sheffer's free throws put the Wolverines up 67-66 after they trailed by 14 early in the second half."Just like every day in practice, no pressure really," she said to herself.

From the Columbus Dispatch:

The Wolverines already had served notice defensively that center Jantel Lavender was in for a long evening. The three-time Big Ten Player of the Year wore two, three and even four Michigan defenders every time the ball went inside.
Although her 14 rebounds allowed her to set a Big Ten career record of 1,279, Lavender scored 10 points and was a nonfactor at the end.
"I wasn't real happy with our first half other than we made shots," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. "We never established Jantel. And we never established her throughout the course of the game. We were taking too many outside shots. And again, you've got to make foul shots."

The Michigan Daily

The Michigan women’s basketball team defied history last night.
After trailing by 14 points early in the second half, the Wolverines climbed all the way back to beat the six-time defending Big Ten champion Buckeyes, 69-66. It was the first time in Michigan women’s basketball history that they swept the two-game season series with Ohio State.
And it was arguably one of the most hard-fought victories in Wolverine history too.
With the Buckeyes' 6-foot-4, two-time All American Jantel Lavender lurking in the post, Michigan knew it would have to key its defense down low.
And for the most part, the Wolverines succeeded. Lavender was held to just 10 points, which ties her career low for points in a game. Michigan hounded her in the post all night long, often putting three or four defenders in her face as soon as she touched the ball.

2011-01-27T22:15:00.000-05:00

Michigan is tied for first in the Big 10 half way through the season:

Michigan        6-2
Wisconsin    6-2
Penn St.         6-2
Michigan St.   6-2
Ohio St.        4-4
Purdue          4-4
Iowa       4-4
Northwestern    3-5
Illinois    2-6
Indiana    2-6
Minnesota    0-8

Michigan 69 OSU 66

2011-01-27T20:53:00.000-05:00

A huge win for the women tonight after being down by 13 at half time. First win in Columbus since 2001, and first ever regular season sweep of Ohio States by Michigan.

Next: Ohio State

2011-01-27T17:31:00.000-05:00

Tonight Michigan travels to Columbus for a rematch against 24th ranked Ohio State. Michigan won the first meeting 64-51 on December 30th, ending a 15 game losing streak against the Buckeyes.

Despite the Wolverines success this year, this game will be a challenge - Ohio State will undoubtedly be looking for "payback" as well as wanting to move up in the standings. Michigan is tied for 3rd in the Big 10, one game out of first place while Ohio State is alone in fifth place one back of Michigan and Penn State.

The key for Michigan will be to try and limit Ohio State's main threats (Lavender, Prahalis and freshman Ashley Adams) while being patient on offense. OSU showed in the December 30th game that if they frustrated they can become beatable.

Game time is 7:00pm and the game will be on the Big Ten network.

2011-01-27T17:28:00.003-05:00

I'm hoping to get back to regular posting as things are starting to settle down a bit for me - there has certainly been a lot going on this season.

Game 6: Texas A&M 67, Michigan 49

2010-11-28T02:53:00.000-05:00

Honestly, that was dreadful. MGoBlue made a fine attempt to look on the bright side, but there's just no way around this loss.

22 turnovers. -13 on the o-boards. And 17 points for the Aggies' Danielle Adams in 24 minutes.

The first two are particularly troubling. According to what's out there, Texas A&M's defense was described as "stifling" as it recorded 10 steals for the night. As a result, the combined points off turnovers and offensive rebounds were greatly in the Aggies' favor, 32-14.

The Wolverines once again came out cold to begin the second half and allowed Texas A&M to take a stranglehold of the game. Kate Thompson, as mentioned in the MGoBlue post, was the lone bright spot and prevented the Aggies from making this an obliteration.

Another sorta bright spot: Michigan became the first team to prevent Texas A&M from earning 80+ points in a night. (hooray) But just to balance it out, the Wolverines have not won a game where they allowed 60 or more points - I guess 60 is the magic number for the season.

We'll hopefully have more detail (aka team reaction) once the articles get turned loose. In the meantime, Michigan squares off against Wake Forest as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Wednesday night at 6:30. If you're not at Crisler, you can watch it on the Big Ten Network.

Game 5: Michigan 69, Buffalo 49

2010-11-27T03:12:00.000-05:00

(I can't get any audio from this game, so this one's going to be relatively plain.)

The Wolverines took care of business against Buffalo, and credit that to the defense. Michigan forced 18 turnovers with six different Wolverines recording steals.

And oh yeah, Sam Arnold got a double-double - 13 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes.

From what I'm gathering (but may be wrong), Michigan established its lead gradually. The Wolverines limited the Bulls to .322 from the field and generated a 10-point advantage in each half.

But as we all know, the tougher game comes tomorrow. No. 8 Texas A&M will look to preserve its undefeated season with senior forward Danielle Adams at the helm. Excluding today's game, Adams averages 23.1 ppg as the Aggies have scored 80+ points in every game thus far.

Junior guard Tyra White has also shown the ability to score with 20 today versus Arizona. However, the nine-point win against the Wildcats is the closest a team has been this season. It was Arizona's 21 turnovers that ultimately doomed its chances at an upset.

And that is exactly the key in tomorrow's game. Texas A&M thrives off the transition game and will look to make quick work as they don't allow the shot clock to expire much. The Aggies have forced an average of 25+ turnovers, including 20 against the Wildcats.

Michigan will also have to be gritty on the boards. I believe the Wolverines stack up height-wise, but Texas A&M has out-rebounded its opponents pretty handily. I'd expect a way to subdue Adams as much as possible and make others step up.

I think an upset is much more possible this time around rather than Xavier. With Michigan able to regain its swagger after two wins, this one might be a barnburner.

Tip-off is 9:30p tomorrow night. Until then, beat the buckeyes!

Game 3: at Marquette 63, Michigan 49

2010-11-21T18:38:00.000-05:00

(I know this is coming a few days late, but Friday nights aren't really optimal times for blogging. My bad.)

Anyway, that was a stinker - but it's a little bit expected. Let's gather the evidence:

1.) First away game for the young Wolverines
Yes, the sophomores have notched a season under their belt, but without that strong upperclassman presence, it's relatively hard to get it going on the road. The same happened last year against then-No. 19 Kansas last year (77-66).

2.) The Wolverines are extremely weak on the inside
But man, that was bad. The Golden Eagles' tallest players are listed at 6'3" and were still able to boss around Michigan in the paint - +6 o-rebs for Marquette. If this is the way it's gonna be all season, the Wolverines must limit the turnovers (10-12 max). Second chance points are bad enough - add points off turnovers, and you've got disaster written all over it.

3.) Michigan is cold coming out of the break
Coach Borseth admitted in his post-game quote that his team had no rhythm offensively - .362 from the field. But what's alarming is how sluggish the Wolverines come out after the break. They didn't score a point until 5:37 passed by in the second half. Against Alcorn State, Michigan went about 3.5 minutes without a point after a quick bucket to start the half. Xavier turned a three-point lead to 14 (its largest) following halftime.

Indiana State will be an interesting matchup for the Wolverines. I think the Sycamores size up fairly evenly and like the Wolverines, stuck around in games with ranked teams. To throw a little history into the fire, Indiana State is 2-0 against Michigan in Terra Haute.

Don't think we'll get around to an all-out preview tomorrow, so just in case, tomorrow's game is at 7:05p. You can follow it on WTKA AM 1050 or online at MGoBlue.com.

Game 2: Xavier 85, at Michigan 76

2010-11-15T22:17:00.001-05:00

The Wolverines came up just short to No. 5 Xavier in tonight's matchup at Crisler Arena. Inexperience showed down the stretch as fouls and turnovers ultimately doomed Michigan to its first loss of the season.

That being said, there are a lot of positives to be taken away from this. Down 14 with 10:38 to go, the Wolverines battled back with a 15-3 run to come within striking distance. The team put up a staggering 2.2 assist/turnover ratio, which is the highest I've seen in a long while (if ever). From what the box score says, it looks like good disciplined play minus the final minutes.

It was a given that height (Harris & Phillips in particular) was going to be a factor: the Musketeers finished with a +15 rebound margin and more than doubled Michigan on the o-boards. 22 of Xavier's 85 points were on second chances.

Sophomore guard Katie Rutan did her damage to the Wolverines all behind the arc - and all in the first half. Her 22 points were Xavier's response to Michigan's defense down low. Rutan's hot hand may have allowed Harris and Phillips to take advantage in the second half, finishing with 16 and 18 points, respectively.

Like Rutan, junior guard Carmen Reynolds took care of all her scoring from downtown and on the charity strip. In 36 minutes, she finished with 11 and was one of five Wolverines in double-figures. Roni Hicks led Michigan with 22. However, the Wolverines failed to score a FG in the final 2:44 of the ball-game.

It seems that these are going to be the growing pains that Michigan will endure this season. I think it's clear that Kate Thompson will have to shine, whether it's off the bench or not. But I'm more than satisfied with Roni's leadership (though I'm not surprised one bit). Against the 5th-ranked team in the nation, this ain't too devastating.

This 'n that:
- UM now holds a 3-2 all-time series advantage over the Musketeers
- Reported attendance was 1,579 (a bit sad...actually, the more I think about it, I guess it's right)
- Michigan was 60.7% from the field in the first half, and still trailed by three (47-44)

Game 1: at Michigan 88, Alcorn State 43

2010-11-12T22:19:00.002-05:00

Michigan stormed out of the gate for the 2010-2011 season with a thwomping (albeit expected) of Alcorn State.

The Wolverines went lockdown on Alcorn State allowing just nine points in first half (45-9). The Braves went 4-for-29 in the first half, committed 18 turnovers and never made a trip to the free-throw stripe. I'd say that's a pretty good way to start the season.

Michigan would never let the lead go under 30 in the second half, however Coach Kevin Borseth notes that some fresh Wolverines "hit the wall at the end of the first half." That seems expected from the young guns, but there's no mercy when the Big Ten season starts (and even next game v. Xavier).

Michigan made it rain from 3-ball land with 38% of shots attempted being from behind the arc. Sophomore forward Kate Thompson was responsible for five of those triples, finishing with 15 points - leading all scores - for the night.

Borseth doesn't expect the majority of shots to come from long range, saying that Alcorn State gave them those shots. For some perspective though, 36% of all field goal attempts were three-pointers. I'm just saying.

From what I'm gathering, it looks like rebounds are going to be an issue all season. According to what's out there, Thompson is going to need to bulk up (as well as others I'm sure).

There's not much else to say about this one - the first real test comes Monday. It may be too much of one at this moment, but you never know.

New Season

2010-11-12T08:24:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned last year, I've got a lot going on besides this blog and if anyone out there would be interested in helping out, let me know. The season starts tonight and there a number of things to catch up from the off season.

Dayeesha Hollins to transfer

2010-05-15T02:51:00.002-04:00

According to annarbor.com, Dayeesha Hollins is leaving Michigan to play for a team closer to home:

It didn't take long for Dayeesha Hollins to make her mark on Michigan's women's basketball team.

The freshman point guard gave the Wolverines a bonafide playmaker, using her natural abilities to become one of the Big Ten's top up-and-coming players.

But on Friday, Michigan coach Kevin Borseth announced that the Cincinnati native left the program to transfer to a school closer to home. Hollins has not decided where she will continue her collegiate career, according to a release issued Friday afternoon.

“It has been an extremely difficult process for me in coming to the decision to leave the University of Michigan,” Hollins said in a statement. “The commitment that I made to the team and the University weighed heavily on me. I have also made some wonderful friends and enjoyed my time on the beautiful campus. Unfortunately, I also went through some personal struggles being away from home.

I certainly wish Dayeesha the best, but as a fan of the team this news is disappointing. She had a great freshman season and has tremendous potential. 2011 may prove to be challenging as they will now only have 9 scholarship players.

Next: Miami

2010-03-31T14:16:00.002-04:00

Michigan hosts Miami (Florida) tonight at 7:00pm in the WNIT semifinals. Miami finished tied for 10th in the ACC this year, but have played a tough schedule. They have home wins over North Carolina and Florida State and played Nebraska close. On the flip side, their only road wins against BCS schools were against Maryland and Providence (in the WNIT quarterfinals).

Miami is lead by guard Riquna Williams (19.4 ppg) and forward Shenise Johnson (19.0 ppg).

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students/seniors - I believe U of M students can get in free if they show their M card at Gate E.

WNIT

2010-03-30T14:48:00.001-04:00

As almost anyone who follows the Michigan Women's Basketball Team knows, they have had a really strong run so far in the WNIT Tournament. With the exception of the first 25 minutes or so of the Toledo game, Michigan has pretty much dominated play in each game with strong defense and balanced scoring. They are taking care of the ball & distributing it well (the assist/turnover ratio is above 1.0 for the entire team over the four games).

Krista Phillips - 12.7 points/game 8.5 rebounds/game
Caremen Reynolds - 18.0 points/game
Veronica Hicks - 15.2 points/game
Dayeesha Hollins - 11.5 points/game

Lets hope this continues against Miami tomorrow night.

Michigan to face Kent State in the NIT

2010-03-16T00:14:00.002-04:00

Michigan will host Kent State Friday night in the first round of the Women's NIT. Gametime is 7:00pm and tickets will be 6.00/adults and 4.00/students.

Next: Michigan State

2010-03-05T11:32:00.002-05:00

Michigan faces second seeded Michigan State in the Big 10 tourney. There probably won't be any major surprises here - these two teams are very familiar with one another. There will be the usual questions - how will the Krista Phillips/Alyssa DeHaan match up play out? How will Michigan handle MSU's physical play? How effective will Hicks and Hollins be on offense?

Michigan State will be favored, but as mentioned yesterday - it can be tough to beat a team three times in a single season.

Michigan 67 Northwestern 54

2010-03-04T14:08:00.002-05:00

Next: Northwestern

2010-03-04T11:28:00.003-05:00

Michigan opens up the Big 10 Tournament as the number 7 seed and they face 10th seeded Northwestern. On the one hand, they've lost to Northwestern twice already this season so the Wildcats are probably feeling confident. On the other hand it can be really tough to beat a team three times in one season, particularly if there is not a large disparity in talent.

Northwestern is led by Amy Jaeschke who averages 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks per game. It will be interesting to see how Veronica Hicks plays - she often has good games against teams from her home state, Northwestern in particular.

If Michigan wins today, their task doesn't get any easier - they'll face 2nd seeded Michigan State.

Next: Michigan State

2010-02-11T16:56:00.004-05:00

Tonight Michigan hosts Michigan State at Crisler Arena at 7:00pm. These teams are quite familiar with each other and even though Michigan State has had the edge the games have been much closer since Kevin Borseth took over as coach (including a win at Crisler his inaugural season).

This is a big game for the Wolverines - a win here and a strong finish to the season (including the Big 10 tournament) could lead to another post season invite. While an NCAA invitation seems like a long shot while they are sitting under .500 in conference play, it isn't out of the question - if they can manage one or two more big wins (Michigan State would qualify) and improve on the road (always a tough task).

Two more things to point out:

1.) $1 admission with this voucher

2.) There's much to say about the Michigan Daily article on Borseth's much-publicized coaching style. I'll chime this weekend, but the fire's already started in the forums.

Michigan 74, Minnesota 40

2010-02-07T16:11:00.002-05:00

Welcome back Carmen!

After a nine-point performance at Northwestern that resulted in a loss, Reynolds seemed to return to form as the high-scorer in Sunday's rout. With freshman Dayeesha Hollins, the two exploded out of the gate after the break and extended a six-point halftime lead to 15. Reynolds had 14 points in the second half and finished with 19.

I only have the box score to work off from, but I think it's safe to say that the defense played a big part of this win also. The Wolverines limited Minnesota to .233 from the field, its lowest output this season and Michigan's best against an opponent.

Everybody did their part in today's game whether it was KP, who was one rebound shy of a double-double, or the bench where all but one were on the scoreboard.

The game lifts Michigan to 6-7 for the Big Ten season and 14-9 overall. After a 2-6 start in the conference, I'd say the Wolverines are now getting used to the grind, which doesn't surprise me given two freshmen starters. Today's win is particularly important as Michigan dives into three-game stretch against the top half of the conference (MSU, PSU and Wisco).

Michigan State, who also started poorly in the conference season, will most likely grab its fifth-straight win. That game is slated for 7p EST Thursday.

Update: Who dat?

Update 2: Spartans lost to Iowa, 77-66. Interesting.

What The -

2010-01-25T22:15:00.006-05:00

I'm not even sure where to begin.

In case you haven't seen or heard, the Purdue Lady Boilermakers conquered the giant in Ohio State by the score of 63-61. That's not the bizarre part, however. Click the first sentence and scroll down for a bit. Don't worry - I'll wait.

Got it?

HOW ARE YOU THE NO. 4 COUNTRY IN THE NATION AND GIVE UP A 16-0 START TO AN INCONSISTENT PURDUE TEAM THAT JUST LOST TO MICHIGAN STATE BY 18?

Sorry, I just had to get that out.

I'm sure we'll hear a quote saying how you have to come to play each and every night in the Big Ten. After that, I'll let the recap speak for itself (and the boards). Another little tidbit, Purdue came in the contest with the lowest RPI of the conference; Ohio State obviously had the highest.

Speaking about recaps, here's one (Michigan Daily) about yesterday's Michigan victory over Indiana. One (Indiana Daily Student) from the opposition. And finally, a slideshow (AnnArbor.com) to see it.

Does Purdue's victory make me worry about the Wolverines' chances on February 28th? Eh, not really.

The Lady Boilermakers are still a really young team that struggle on the road (2-6 this season). According to the stats, they aren't a great offensive squad (third worst FG% in B10 contests), yet get the job done defensively as they hold a 5-5 record in conference play. It's too soon to look forward to that game, so we'll end it there for now.

A preview for Michigan at Illinois from Assembly Hall will be on its way later this week. Stay tuned.

Michigan 70, Indiana 56

2010-01-24T14:44:00.000-05:00

Things I learned:
1. Blogging is hard. Apologies for not keeping up throughout the season.
2. Coach Borseth's parents have been married for 63 years. That's pretty amazing.
3. Michigan is an awesome team on the open floor.

All things were clicking for the Wolverines in the second half, sparked by the quick transition game Michigan is now known for. Falling behind by seven early in the period, the Wolverines put up 48, including 20 of those points from Ms. Veronica Hicks.

However, if it weren't for Carmen Reynolds, there may not have been an easy 70-56 victory. She had some timely three-balls to keep Michigan in it. She finished with 16 points for the night, and is averaging 15.8 ppg in the last five contests.

One of the keys of the game has to be stifling Indiana guard Jamie Braun in the second half. Braun had eight of the Hoosiers' 27 points in the first half, but had just one three-pointer thereafter in garbage time. In addition, Dayeesha Hollins juked the living daylights out of Braun for an easy lay-in during the second half.

Michigan also seemed like the aggressor in the contest, evidenced by the +10 margin on the offensive boards. The Wolverines also had seven more rebounds on the defensive end, but much of that can be attributed to Indiana's poor shooting.

(I would talk more about the first half, but I slept in over here on the west coast.)

That leaves Michigan looking at 11-8 for the season and 3-6 in Big Ten play. For the most part, there's still some time to make some headway, but not much room for error. Aside from Ohio State and Penn State, no team has really looked too convincing.

However, the Wolverines don't look too convincing either. As they sit at the bottom of the conference standings, they'll need to capitalize on the road and I believe they must win the showdown against Michigan State a few weeks away. A win against Penn State would be a great confidence boost in a challenging second half of the B10 season.

But reaching 70 for the first time since 2009, especially for a shooting team, is a good start.

Next: Ohio State

2010-01-21T18:13:00.002-05:00

Ohio State travels to Ann Arbor tonight for a rematch of their game from a couple of weeks ago. Michigan. The Wolverines have struggled in conference play with a 2-5 record. Despite sitting in a tie for 9th place, a win would be a good opportunity to turn the season around a bit. Most of teams are still bunch fairly close together (Penn State is currently in 2nd at 5-2), so a few wins could move them up in the standings quickly.

Michigan 56, Ohio State 59

2010-01-03T16:22:00.000-05:00

The Wolverines put up a much better fight against the Buckeyes than the Spartans. But it still wasn't enough as Jantel Lavender was Jantel Lavender on the inside. According to the box score, Krista Phillips was toyed around with around the block, having no points in 37 minutes of work.

Dayeesha Hollins, Jenny Ryan and Carmen Reynolds ended the game in double-figures. However, only two Ohio State players in double-figures was good enough for the win. This was the Buckeyes closest win in the Big Ten season thus far. Ohio State was limited to 40% from the field, its lowest this season

As many have already alluded to on the UMGoBlue.com boards, this team certainly has the talent. The defense seems to be gelling together slowly although it may have taken a step back against MSU (sidenote: I'm surprised no one has mentioned how key Kalisha Keane was in that contest). Once they gain the confidence to play more aggressively against the top teams in the Big Ten (most are only freshman, after all), we'll be discussing a different issue here.

Next: at Michigan State

2009-12-31T02:50:00.000-05:00

Let's cut right to the chase: this is the most important weekend of the season.

We've seen the Wolverines grow together on the road, beating out a ranked team in the process. But with a mostly atrocious performance two days ago, Michigan will now face its toughest competition in the conference.

Some final words on Northwestern (many which have been expressed by UMGoBlue.com members): it was just a bad night. Unable to carry over previous momentum plus some holiday ham, it's pretty bound to have some rust on you. I'm not here to say that we should all feel good about those final five minutes, but if anything, there's potential for some good to happen. Only time (or tomorrow) will tell.

Which brings us to Michigan State. To say the least, this team is deep - the Spartans play nine-deep on a regular basis. The bench has averaged 32.7 points per game, where any Spartan can have a breakout game. This leads to Key No. 1: contain the bench players. I know Coach Borseth usually doesn't want to go too deep in the lineup, but I wouldn't be surprised if he taps into it.

Key No. 2: Make them foul. In all of their losses, the Spartans committed 20+ fouls and more than the opposition. Evident by combining the blocks and steals, Michigan State is a very aggressive team on defense. On the other end, the Wolverines need to be firm on defense. Combining the two, Michigan can easily frustrate the Spartans, go to the line and (hopefully) earn some easy points at the charity stripe.

But in order for that to be done, they have to follow Key No. 3: No dumb shots. Sounds easy, but the Wolverines have seemed to fall into this trap. Not to rail on Dayeesha Hollins, but some of her shots have been less than ideal. With Allyssa DeHaan manning the paint, they will need to be smart around it. I'm sure it'll probably involve many takes from the arc - as long as there's ball movement involved, I'm all for it.

The matinee is at 2p EST at the Breslin Center. For you out-of-staters (like myself), it'll be on the Big Ten Network.

Northwestern 63, Michigan 59

2009-12-28T21:12:00.000-05:00

'Twas too little, too late for the Wolverines as they fall exactly a month after their previous loss. Down 12 with 3:45 on the clock, Veronica Hicks scored ten to get within three of the Wildcats. Aside from the final surge, Michigan struggled from the field, dipping below 30% and ending at 32.8%. The Wolverines are now 1-1 in Big Ten play and 9-3 for the season.

Next: vs Northwestern

2009-12-28T00:41:00.002-05:00

Before we begin, we hope you all had a restful holiday break. I know I can't eat anymore for the next few days.

In addition to all the food, the season indicates the start of the Big Ten basketball season. Technically, it began a few weeks ago when the Wolverines beat a young Iowa squad, but now we get into full swing.

As we enter the season, here's a quick look back at the non-conference slate:
- Michigan blew out the first three opponents by 15+ points.
- Its infamous eight-game road trip ended positively with five straight victories
- The final week included a gigantic win over now-No.15 Xavier, earning Dayeesha Hollins top honors (Freshman of the Week & Big Ten Player of the Week) and votes in the polls.

Hollins has certainly been impressive, but it's been Michigan's knack of closing out games that's staggering. Last year, none of this was prevalent. Often when the game came close in the final 10 minutes, the Wolverines got hesitant, lost rhythm and no one wanted to take control. In short, they fell apart.

This season looked to be the same against now-No. 22 Kansas and New Mexico State. Michigan help close to its opponents in the waning moments, but couldn't close the door. The year could have been defined by youth inexperience, but something different happened. The Wolverines kept up.

In the team statistics column, you won't see anything extraordinary. The Wolverines are near the bottom when it comes to opponent's PPG. This isn't to say that the "team defense" concept doesn't work, but there are clear lapses from time to time. These Wolverines, under the guard of Ronnie Hicks (who, by the way, addresses free throw woes), have been magnificent in responding to adversity. I may be wrong (see: my slight Chicago bias), but I think it is her tenacity that has been essential to Michigan's success.

Going into the Big Ten season, I'm looking forward to seeing how the freshmen will react to Big Ten play, particularly Ohio State. Like Coach Borseth's first season, I wouldn't be surprised if they take the conference by storm the first time around. Going through the grind again, that's where it'll get interesting.

This takes us to Big Ten opponent No. 2: Northwestern (a.k.a. the Welcome Home game).

In this contest, there's really just one person to worry about: Amy Jaeschke. The junior center from New Trier currently averages 16.5 PPG, and most likely opens up the floor for the Wildcats. Obviously, this calls for Krista Phillips to take the lead in this matchup. Although the Wolverines have been quite aggressive on both sides of the ball, Phillips MUST remain disciplined as she averages about three fouls a game.

If Michigan is able to contain Jaeschke (my memory says that the Wolverines had trouble previously), then it should be able to go home happy - a short walk away from Crisler.

Tomorrow's game is apparently Abrakadoodle Art Night. If you can't make it there, you can watch it on BigTenNetwork.com for $2.99 (sidenote: This is a complete ripoff). Let's go ladies - make it six straight!

One quick update: In the Jeff Sagarin rankings, Michigan stands at 19th. According to RealTimeRPI.com, the Wolverines sit at 14th, which is one ahead of Ohio State. Again, both should be taken with a grain of salt.

Michigan 65 University of Detroit-Mercy 51

2009-12-19T16:44:00.002-05:00

Michigan overcame a some early struggles (the game started with an 11-0 Detroit run) to come back and win another road game. Carmen Reynolds and Courtney Boylan gave the Wolverines some scoring until the rest of the team settled down. Early on it seemed like Detroits aggressive defense had Michigan off their game - turnovers, missed easy shots and poor passes threatened to snowball.

After a couple of baskets Michigan started chipping away at the lead and by half time it was 28-25 in favor of Detroit. In the second half, Michigan's shooting improved (44% versus 31%) and turnovers improved (10 in the first half, only 3 in the second). Dayeesha Hollins led the way with 17 points and 7 assists. Veronica Hicks and Courtney Boylan added 11 each. Jenny Ryan and Krista Phillips both pulled down 13 rebounds.

Next: @ Detroit

2009-12-19T02:57:00.001-05:00

I'm not going to say that this game is a shoo-in, but this one shouldn't pose too much of a problem for the Wolverines. Nonetheless, there are several factors to consider.

1.) Despite being winless for over a month, I'm sure the Titans have been eying this game for a while. As mentioned on Inside Michigan Basketball (TV), Detroit head coach Autumn Rademacher will be facing her mentor in Coach Borseth. Rademacher should have a pretty good feel how Borseth gameplans, so it'll be interesting what she'll do in return. Definitely the main storyline in tomorrow's game.

2.) Detroit's Brigid Mulroy can shoot the three-ball. She's currently .610 from behind the arc, and is, unsuprisingly, the leading scorer with 15.4 points/game. Shutting her down on the offensive end should do the job.

3.) It's possible that this could be a let down game. After a gigantic win at Xavier, there's opportunity to mail this one in. It's also the final game of the eight-game road trip (which seems to be more team-building than grueling) and the last contest before the holiday break.

That's all I have to say before this one. Live video can be found on the Horizon League Network and as always, Gametracker will follow along. Game time is 1p, right after the men's team looks to upset the Jayhawks. Happy Saturday everyone!

Kevin Borseth on UM Coaches Show

2009-12-17T18:14:00.001-05:00

Live tonight from 8:00-9:00pm at Pizza House in Ann Arbor. For more information, check mgoblue.com.

Jeff Sagarin

2009-12-16T16:58:00.002-05:00

With Michigan's early success and relatively tough schedule, they are currently ranked 18th by Jeff Sagarin and are the second highest ranked team in the Big 10 after Ohio State (currently 6th).

While its nice for the team to get some recognition for their effort, there is a very good chance they will drop - their strength of schedule will almost certainly fall from this point in the season. (It is currently the 15th most difficult schedule, but will be lower after playing Detroit, and it will drift lower during conference play as well).

Upcoming Bus Trips

2009-12-16T14:08:00.004-05:00

Michigan is sponsoring bus trips to three upcoming games:

Univ of Detroit December 19th
Bus loads at 11:00 am, departs 11:30 am, game at 1:00 pm.

Michigan State December 31st
Bus loads at 11:30 am, departs 12:00 noon, game at 2:00 pm.

Ohio State January 3rd
Bus loads at 9:00 am, departs 9:30 am, game at 2:00 pm.

The Michigan State and Detroit games are 15.00 and include transportation/ticket/pizza lunch.

The Ohio State game is 40.00 and includes transportation/ticket/donuts/bagels/juice.

All buses load/depart from the tunnel area at Crisler Arena.

I believe there is only one ticket left for the Ohio State trip, though I don't know if they will consider adding an additional bus if there is demand.

For more information contact Erin Stacer at (734) 647-0603 or estacer at umich.edu

Michigan 72 Xavier 71

2009-12-14T20:54:00.002-05:00

Michigan with a huge upset over Xavier - the Wolverines first road win against a ranked opponent since the 2000-01 season. Dayheesha Hollins had a huge game (22 points, 9 boards, 4 steals) as did Carmen Reynolds (18pts) and Krista Phillips (16pts).

Next: Xavier

2009-12-14T15:45:00.002-05:00

Michigan travels to Cincinnati tonight to face the 12th ranked Lady Musketeers at 7:00 tonight. Xavier is probably the best team Michigan has faced to date - they have already beaten two ranked teams in Arizona State and Kansas while losing on the road at Michigan State.

Once again Krista Phillips will have her hands full - one of Xavier's top players is 6'6" center Ta'Shia Phillips, who is averaging 12.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Michigan will also have to keep an eye on forward Amber Harris who leads Xavier in scoring with 14.1 points per game and chips in 8 rebounds as well.

Michigan is definitely the underdog, but if they can avoid mistakes and stay focused they might have a shot at the upset - Xavier only beat Kansas by 5 (at home), and using Jeff Sagarin's ratings is only a slight 1 point favorite

The Day (or two) After: Iowa and Boston College Edition

2009-12-12T19:10:00.002-05:00

(Usually, I'll try to have these after each game, but for those with virtually no coverage, I'll combine them with previous contests. Plus, work gets much busier this time of the year.)

The Coverage:
The Michigan Daily - Michigan wards off Iowa's second-half rally to earn first conference win
The Daily Iowan - Printy's missed free-throw one of many missed opportunities
Des Moines Register - Hawkeyes sustain anoth er tough loss
Quad-City Times - Free throws doom Hawkeyes women
The Gazette - Missed opportunities foil women late
The Michigan Daily - Women's hoops win third straight on road

The Basics:
- Michigan squeaks by Iowa, 54-51, after both teams refuse to sink free throws down the stretch
- Battling back from 8-0, the Wolverines hold off a late Boston College run for third-straight road win, 76-70

The Breakdown:
There are many things young teams have to learn. One of the most important is how to close out games. A few weeks ago against New Mexico, Michigan struggled to close the door en route to its second loss of the season. But in the previous two contests, they prevailed - one was a gift, one was all grit.

In case you need a refresher (or didn't see above), the Wolverines depended on Iowa's youthful miscues from the stripe to take their sixth win of the season. Until those final few minutes, though, the Wolverines did a pretty good job responding to each of the Hawkeyes' jabs. It was certain that Iowa was going to have its hot and cold shooting streaks. But Michigan handled the situation differently each half.

For the first twenty minutes, the defense was flat-out great. The Wolverine switch between zone and man D confused the Hawkeyes, shooting 28% from the field. That number is just staggering given how well this team is as a shooting team.

But the problem throughout this game was taking advantage. With five more forced turnovers for the game, it is inexcusable for the Wolverines to have less points off them than Hawkeyes.

From what I've gathered the past two games, the offense is in a bit of a rut. Aside from the first few minutes of the Iowa game, Michigan has been having plenty of trouble gathering a rhythm. Instead, many of their points are built from the hustle board. Carmen Reynolds displayed that well with three put-back in a short time span (speaking about, do not be surprised if Reynolds comes off the bench soon after Courtney Boylan's 5-for-5 performance against BC). They've also shown flashes of the motion offense working, ending with easy drives.

But all too often, it comes down to transition play. Don't get me wrong - to know that a team can run the court that quickly is great. When the tempo slow down, though, I'm not too confident. There tends to be mind lapses - deviating from what works (see going to KP vs. Iowa), errant shots (see all, particularly Dayeesha Hollins driving in traffic). Of course, most are freshman, so they'll get a free pass from me for a bit.

I won't end this post on a bad note, as the Wolverines made this road trip 4-2 thus far, so let's gush about the defense. Jenny Ryan is a brilliant player on defense. She won't make too many contributions on the offensive end, but any basket is just gravy for her. Whoever she guards, Ryan stifles. End of story. Against Iowa, Ryan made Jaime Printy go 1-for-9 from the field. She has a knack of anticipating the next move and is no surprise that she is one of Coach Borseth's favorites.

Veronica Hicks has some great hands on both sides of the ball. I think there were several times in my Iowa notes that I wrote, "OMG RONI." First was a massive block on Printy to make the Hawkeye hit the deck. And at the end of the game, Hicks juked Kelly Krei into the Iowa bench and dished it to Ryan, who set up Hollins for the game's final basket.

If you've got anything to say, we'd love to hear it! Just leave them below!

One more thing, let's work on those free throws, ladies.

And an unrelated note, in just over an hour, Michigan Volleyball takes on Hawai'i for a spot in the Final Four. Go watch and go blue.

Michigan 76 Boston College 70

2009-12-10T22:18:00.002-05:00

Michigan comes up with another road win in a close contest. It was tied at halftime 34-34, but Michigan was able to out shoot BC in the second half (48% vs. 37%) and able to hit clutch free throws down the stretch to pull out the win. Add in taking care of the ball (1.00 assist/turnover ratio) and 15 steals and it adds up to another good win for the Wolverines.

Next: Boston College

2009-12-10T10:31:00.002-05:00

Michigan travels to Boston College tonight to face the 5-3 Eagles at 7:00 tonigh. It should be an interesting matchup. Both teams have escaped Iowa City with close wins (Michigan 54-51, BC 72-67)

Using to Jeff Sagarin's current ratings (Michigan is currently 37th, Boston College 50th), the teams are very closely matched - Michigan favored, but by less than a point when home court advantage is factored in.

One of the keys for Michigan will be Krista Phillps - Boston College is led by 6'6" center Carolyn Swords who is averaging 16.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Michigan's guards will also have their hands full with Mickel Picco, who is averaging 13.6 points and slightly over 3 three point baskets a game.

Video Highlights of the Michigan's win over Iowa

2009-12-09T17:38:00.001-05:00

Recruiting Update

2009-12-09T15:23:00.006-05:00

This is old news, but Michigan signed Val Driscoll a 6'4" center from Massachusetts during the early signing period.

From mgoblue.com:

The University of Michigan women's basketball program received a National Letter of Intent from 6-foot-4 center Val Driscoll on the first day of the early signing period (Wednesday, Nov. 11). Driscoll, a native of Stoughton, Mass., will join the Wolverines for the 2010-11 season.

"We are ecstatic that Val will be joining us for next season," said head coach Kevin Borseth. "Val is a big, strong presence around the basket and really demands attention down low. It is something that we haven't had, and we are excited to get her into our program. Val is an extremely hard worker and an all-around good person who I believe is going to be a major contributor to our program's success."

Driscoll is a three-year varsity letterwinner at Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, Mass. In 2008-09, she led her squad to the Massachusetts Division 3 Southeast region championship and the team claimed back-to-back Division 3 State Championships in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Driscoll led the Catholic League in scoring in 2008-09, averaging 19.4 points per game and has scored over 1,000 career points. She is a three-time Catholic League All-Star and a two-time team captain at Archbishop Williams.

From "wickedlocal.com":

For the past three seasons, anyone following girls basketball on the South Shore saw the dynamic skill set Val Driscoll brought to the court each night.

Apparently, some people out in Ann Arbor, Mich., were watching as well.

Driscoll, a 6-foot-4 senior at Archbishop Williams High School, recently accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Michigan women’s basketball team, choosing the Wolverines over a list of more than 25 other Div. 1 schools.

Also, per kjasr.com (hat tip to mzonefan over on the umgoblue.com women's basketball forum), Michigan has a 2011 verbal commitment from Cyesha Goree of Wyoming Park high school. Goree is 6' wing forward and currently rated the #7 player in the 2011 class by michladyballers.com.

Michgan 54 Iowa 51

2009-12-06T19:58:00.003-05:00

Michigan hangs on to win their big ten opener 54-51. Krista Phillips led the way with 15 points, Carmen Reynolds had a double double (12 points, 10 rebounds), Veronica Hicks added 11 and Jenny Ryan had 10 rebounds.

From the Gazette Online:

Michigan (6-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) dodged two bonus bullets in the final half-minute.
Theairra Taylor missed the front end of a one-and-one with 26 seconds left, falling for an age-old trick.
“One of their players talked just as I shot,” Taylor said.
What did she say?
“My shoelace was untied.”

Next: Iowa

2009-12-06T13:13:00.004-05:00

Part of the quadruple-header on the Big Ten Network (going on right now!), Michigan will battle the Hawkeyes at Carver Hawkeye Arena in just over four hours

Without Kachine Alexander suiting up (21.0 ppg in three games), Iowa's scoring threat is greatly diminished. Iowa is putting Kelly Krei in her place, but offensively, she's only a key factor around the three point arc. And since Hawkeyes are expected to play just seven people, I believe it's important that the Wolverines get into the transition game and tire this team out.

One more Hawkeye to look out for: Kamille Wahlin. She is coming off a 23-point performance and has been in double-figures in 7-of-8 contests.

In case you haven't been paying attention to this unprecedented 8-game road trip, the Wolverines are 2-2, alternating losses and wins. In each of those losses, Michigan recorded just 10 assists - in all but one win, they've had 16+ (a bit of a random stat, but something Coach Borseth likes to keep in mind). The past two games were also the Wolverines' cleanest based on the turnover stat (14 each). Obviously, that discipline is always good to have, especially in this conference (see Indiana v MSU).

Other tidbits: Both teams lost to Kansas by 11 points...Big Ten premiered a new PSA you can watch here...Michigan is second in the conference for PPG

Welcome Anthony

2009-12-04T14:54:00.002-05:00

Anthony has graciously agreed to join me here - his first post directly below. I'm looking forward to his contributions.

Inside the Box Score

2009-12-04T02:09:00.006-05:00

20-point wins are always nice, but let's pay attention to Michigan limiting the Hokies to 27.9% from the field. I'd say that's pretty good also.

I have to qualify that by saying that Virginia Tech isn't the best of teams nor has it played any real competition until Thursday (a 36-point win again Elon is well...expected). Still, the Wolverines have seemed to piece together Coach Kevin Borseth's "Team Defense." They recorded their 4th double-digit steals game this season. To put that in perspective, Michigan only gained double-digit steals five times last year. But to quote what Krista Phillips said to The Michigan Daily:

"We are going to have to step it up defensively come Big Ten (play).”

True that.

Speaking about the Big Ten, it lost once again to the ACC (7-4) in the third year of the Challenge. Admittedly, that's a bit expected given the five ranked ACC teams and its overall dominance. Yet intrigue happened near the top of both conferences - No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 North Carolina went down.

The Buckeyes couldn't score a field goal for seven minutes in the later stages of the second half, which I'm sure will not happen again this season under Coach Jim Foster's watch. MSU's Alyssa DeHaan is finally starting to impress me with her 14 points after just 18 minutes on the court.

Northwestern lost a heart-breaker against Clemson, but the Wildcats seem to be much improved already, especially with the win against DePaul.

A more extensive post about the Big Ten will be worked on later this weekend as we head into the conference opener on Sunday. For now, know that most teams are in the same boat, making for another interesting season.

A day in the life

2009-12-04T00:34:00.002-05:00

of Krista Phillips. Who knew Carly Benson likes sweet potatoes? Note - requires Microsoft Silverlight.

Michigan 71 Virginia Tech 51

2009-12-03T20:53:00.003-05:00

Four Wolverines were in double figures (Hicks - 19, Hollins - 16, Phillips 12 and Reynolds 10) as Michigan gets a nice road win.

Coverage from the Michigan Daily and planetblacksburg.com.

Next: Virginia Tech

2009-12-03T15:29:00.002-05:00

Michigan returns to the road and travels to Blacksburg, Viriginia to face Virginia Tech as part of the Women's Big 10-ACC Challenge at 7:00pm tonight. Virginia Tech is 4-2 with victories against Longwood, George Mason, and Elon (all at home) and Radford (on the road). Their two losses were both road games against James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth.

They have three starters who average in double figures: guard Lindsay Biggs 12.8 ppg, guard Alyssa Fenyn 10.8ppg and forward Utahya Drye (10.5ppg).

Next: Kansas

2009-11-22T12:47:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-20T15:24:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-19T23:17:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-18T14:33:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-18T14:25:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-18T14:21:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-16T23:38:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-13T17:03:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-13T17:00:00.002-05:00

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.

Schedule Released

2009-09-30T22:42:00.002-04:00

A bit late, but the schedule can be found on mgoblue.com. The team opens against Ball State and has a fairly tough non conference schedule with games against Kansas, Marquette, Boston College, Xavier and Virginia Tech, among others. They also have a New Years Eve game against Michigan State.

Asia Boyd

2009-08-12T10:04:00.001-04:00

Per michladyballers.com, Michigan has offerend Asia Boyd, a guard in the 2011 class. I've added her to the recruiting summary as well as removed a few players who have committed elsewhere.

Miscellania

2009-08-07T13:12:00.003-04:00

Some items I've neglected to note:

Former Michigan great (and all time leading scorer) Diane Dietz was inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Hame.
Coach Borseth will be blogging on mgoblue.com - his first post can be found here.
Jon Sanderson is the new strength and conditioning coach for both the men's & women's basketball teams, coming to Michigan from Clemson University.
Jenny Ryan had a strong game at the BCAM allstar game
An interview with Coach Borseth in the Wolverine Magazine online (p.30-31) - hat tip to Calvin over at umgoblue.com

2009-10 Prospectus Available

2009-08-03T13:46:00.002-04:00

The season prospectus can be found here. The full schedule isn't there, but the non-conference schedule is rough:

Fri., Nov. 13 Ball State
Mon., Nov. 16 Marquette
Thur., Nov. 19 Southern Mississippi
Sun., Nov. 22 at Kansas
NEW MEXICO STATE TOURNAMENT (Field includes New Mexico State, Stephen.F. Austin, Southern Illinois)
Fri., Nov. 27 vs. Stephen F. Austin Las Cruces, N.M
Sat., Nov. 28 at New Mexico State Las Cruces, N.M.
Thur., Dec. 3 at Viginia Tech (Big 10 ACC Challenge)
Sat, Dec. 6 at Iowa
Wed., Dec. 9 at Boston College
Mon., Dec. 14 at Xavier
Sat, Dec. 19 at Detroit Mercy

Quite a few road games in December. Offhand I'm not sure why they open the Big 10 season so early.

Skrba to play professionally in Europe

2009-06-30T23:36:00.001-04:00

From mgoblue.com:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Former University of Michigan women's basketball player Stephany Skrba (Toronto, Canada/Langstaff Secondary School) recently inked a professional contract with Asptt Charleville-Mezieres of the French Professional League. Skrba completed her collegiate career this spring and will join the team for training camp in August.
"I am so excited to begin my professional career in Charleville-Mezieres, France," said Skrba. "Not only is it a great opportunity from a basketball perspective, but it will also provide me with an opportunity to utilize the French language skills I acquired at the University of Michigan. I am very grateful to the University of Michigan and all those that support me."
"Stephany fits the profile of your typical overseas player," said head coach Kevin Borseth. "She is tall and long, in addition to running the floor well and blocking shots. She is very versatile. It is certainly a great opportunity for her to extend her basketball career and we are very excited for her."

Michigan to play Virginia Tech in the Big 10/ACC Challenge

2009-05-06T09:45:00.001-04:00

From mgoblue.com:

The Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conferences announced Tuesday (May 5) the matchups for the 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge and the University of Michigan women's basketball team will travel to Virginia Tech on Thursday, Dec. 3, for a game at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

The third annual challenge will feature all teams from both conferences with the exception of Miami (Fla.). Game times and networks have yet to be determined and will be released at a later date.
The 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge will be played Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 2-3. The Challenge kicks off with a three-game slate on Wednesday, featuring Georgia Tech at Penn State, Illinois at Wake Forest and Boston College at Iowa. The Challenge will conclude on Thursday with eight games on tap. Thursday's matchups include Michigan at Virginia Tech, Clemson at Northwestern, Minnesota at Maryland, North Carolina at Michigan State, Ohio State at Duke, Purdue at Virginia, Florida State at Indiana and Wisconsin at North Carolina State.
It will be the second meeting between Michigan and Virginia Tech. The Wolverines defeated the Hokies, 79-63, at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, during the 1996-97 season.

Michigan State gets a trio of verbals

2009-05-05T14:51:00.002-04:00

Per michladyballers.com, Annalise Pickrel (Grand Rapids Central Catholic), Klarissa Bell (East Lansing) and Madison Williams (Detroit Country Day) have all made verbal commitments to Michigan State. Madison Williams is rated by many as the top player in Michigan for 2010.

Kay Phi Yow

2009-04-24T11:19:00.001-04:00

Mechelle Voepel has an excellent article about Kay Yow, her players and how some are paying tribute to her:

You’ve heard/read a lot of Kay Yow stories in the last few months after her death. But as you read this one, keep in mind Gardner’s situation. Many coaches maintain good or at least decent relationships with players who excelled for them for four seasons. However, Yow cared for and remembered everyone who ever went through her program.
“Think of it, 34 years _ that’s a long span of time and a lot of young women whom she impacted,” Gardner said. “She was a mother to all of us, even those of us who had mothers and had good relationships with them. We still felt like we were Coach Yow’s kids, too.”

2009 Awards Banquet

2009-04-10T17:36:00.002-04:00

From mgoblue.com:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball program celebrated the 2008-09 season at its annual postseason banquet on Thursday evening (April 2) in the Junge Family Champions Center. The Wolverines honored the accomplishments of its four seniors: Carly Benson (Carney, Mich. /Carney-Nadeau), Jessica Minnfield (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic), Melinda Queen (Oak Forest, Ill/Carl Sandburg) and Stephany Skrba (Toronto, Ontario/Langstaff Secondary School). Meanwhile, seven team members took home individual honors.

Jessica Minnfield was named most valuable, Melinda Queen best defensive player, Courtney Boylan received the coaches award and Carmen Reynolds most improved.

In addition Krista Phillips was top rebounder and Veronica Hicks got the "Hustle" Award as well as the academic excellence award and

Michigan Women's Basketball on Twitter

2009-03-18T15:12:00.002-04:00

It looks like the team has an "official" twitter feed. One of the most recent posts is a link to this photo of Krista Phillips, Ashley Jones and Jamillya Hardley reading to a class at Mitchell Elementary School.

Jenny Ryan named Miss Basketball

2009-03-16T15:35:00.002-04:00

From the Detroit Free Press:

“It’s surreal,’’ said Ryan, a 5-feet-9 guard who has signed to play at Michigan. “It still hasn’t hit, I can’t even believe it. The other five girls are all so talented with amazing stats and to be considered is one thing, but to actually walk away with it is all together unbelievable.’’
Ryan has had an unbelievable career, totaling 1,405 points, 443 steals, 368 assists and 344 rebounds while leading Nouvel to Class C state championships as a sophomore and junior.
This season Ryan averaged 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 5.5 steals. She is also No. 2 in her class with a 4.3 grade point average.

Fellow Michigan recruits Rachel Sheffer of Watervliet finished 3rd and Nya Jordan of Detroit Community finished 6th.

Ryan is the third Miss Basketball to commit to Michigan, joining Tabitha Pool (200) and Krista Clement (2003).

Samantha Arnold Update

2009-03-11T16:14:00.002-04:00

A bit belated, but incoming freshman Samantha Arnold's team won their 4A regional final:

Michigan signee Samantha Arnold dominated, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots--seven after halftime.

The lost their sectional final 70-47, though Arnold did have 13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. She was also named to the Illinois 4A All State team.

Last Season

2009-03-10T10:28:00.003-04:00

I'm still trying to understand this past season - early on the team showed great promise with wins over Notre Dame and Vanderbilt (and to a lesser degree wins at Southern Mississippi and a close loss to Texas A&M). Ending up 10-20 (with relatively few injuries) raises many questions.

Ultimately the responsibility falls on Coach Borseth, regardless of *why* it happened. The Michigan Daily has a take on this - not sure I entirely agree, but its worth reading:

Their problem was mental. At times, it was amazing how quickly they could be taken out of games mentally. After Indiana implemented its full-court press early in the second half and turned Michigan’s 12-point lead into a six-point advantage of its own, you could almost see the Wolverines wilt.

At that point, the six-point deficit might as well have been 600.

And that problem is coachable. It's Michigan coach Kevin Borseth’s job to make sure his team is mentally ready for every game. This season, there were times it clearly wasn’t.

Go read the whole article.

Update to Last Year vs. This Year

2009-03-09T14:18:00.002-04:00

Here are the end of year totals (updating this post). The only major change is Krista Phillip's FG % - while still below last year, it moved up a fair amount. She played quite well at the end of the season. Let's hope it carries over to next year.

	Overall FG%			Three Point %
	2008-9	2007-8	2006-7	2008-9	2007-8	2006-7
Carly Benson	.361	.405	.393	.328	.313	.353
Jessica Minnfield	.323	.421	.291	.278	.406	.237
Veronica Hicks	.379	.355		.309	.250
Stephany Skrba	.489	.535	.354	.000	.167	.000
Melinda Queen	.368	.311	.458	.268	.105	.368
Krista Phillips	.421	.468	.465	.205	.264	.400
Kalyn McPherson	.267	.313	.268	.000	1.00	.333
Carmen Reynolds	.405			.370
Courtney Boylan	.351			.333
Ashley Jones		.450	.273		.346	.000
Janelle Cooper		.389	.338		.352	.270
Krista Clement		.358	.273		.336	.269
Ta'Shia Walker		.395	.458		.200	.233
Team	.380	.419	.367	.301	.330	.274

Indiana 68 Michigan 50

2009-03-06T14:26:00.001-05:00

Double uggh. Michigan jumped out to a 12-0 lead and led at halftime 28-26. The second half was not so good as michigan ended up losing by 18.

From mgoblue.com:

The University of Michigan women's basketball team was unable to overcome a 24-6 run by Indiana in the middle of the second half and fell, 68-50, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday afternoon (March 5) at Conseco Fieldhouse. U-M held a two-point lead at halftime before being outscored 42-22 in the second stanza.
Junior center Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Aden Bowman Collegiate) led the Wolverines with 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while senior forward Carly Benson (Carney, Mich./Carney-Nadeau Public School) added 11 points and senior guard Jessica Minnfield (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) grabbed seven boards in the defeat.
The Maize and Blue jumped out to a 12-0 lead to open the contest. Phillips made a pair of layups, while Benson and Minnfield both converted triples to help spark the quick start as the Wolverines opened the game 5-of-6 from the field. The U-M defense held Indiana scoreless for nearly seven minutes to open the game.

Indiana

2009-03-05T12:37:00.002-05:00

Ugh. Michigan led through much of the game (including by as much as 15 early in the second half), but couldn't stop Indiana's comeback and fell 67-61. From mgoblue.com:

Senior forward Carly Benson (Carney, Mich./Carney-Nadeau Public School) recorded her 1,000th career point and became the 19th 1,000-point scorer in program history as the University of Michigan women's basketball team dropped its regular-season finale at Indiana, 67-61, on Sunday afternoon (March 1) in Assembly Hall.

U-M had four players in double figures led by 13 from Benson. Junior center Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and freshman guard Courtney Boylan (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) each contributed 12 points, while senior guard Jessica Minnfield (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) led the way on the glass with a team-high seven rebounds

Michigan came out of the second half gates on fire, converting on three of their first four shots and holding the Hoosiers scoreless through the first five minutes of the half as the Wolverines extended their lead to a game-high 15 points at the 15:24 mark. The Hoosiers would not go away, however, and used a 20-6 run over a span of six minutes to get back in the game, cutting the U-M lead to 54-53 at the 7:35 mark.

The Hoosiers took their first lead since the opening minutes of the first half with a basket from Jori Davis at the 5:11 mark and the teams exchanged buckets with neither team taking a lead of more than four points, but IU hit timely baskets down the stretch and forced the Wolverines into crucial turnovers to pick up the win.

Michigan faces Indiana today in a rematch in the first round of the Big 10 tournament. Let's hope they can find a way to turn things around and keep playing a bit longer.

2009 Recruits

2009-02-27T11:26:00.004-05:00

Today's Detroit Free Press has profiles of the six finalists for 2009 Miss Basketball in Michigan. Three of them (Nya Jordan, Jenny Ryan and Rachel Sheffer) are Michigan recruits:

Nya Jordan, 6-1 Forward, Detroit Community
College: Michigan.
Biggest area of improvement: Shooting.
Best move: Attacking the basket with a crossover dribble for a lay-up.
Favorite athlete: LeBron James.
Favorite class: Art.
Favorite book: "Ordinary People" by Judith Guest.
Top Opponent: Erica Solomon, Country Day, Notre Dame.
When my career is finished I will: "Try to open up an advertising business."
Overview: She was a solid inside player on last season's Class B runner-up. But over the spring and summer her perimeter skills blossomed and she became a national recruit. She still spends a lot of time playing inside because that is where her team needs her and she is a handful in the paint.

Jenny Ryan, 5-9 Guard, Saginaw Nouvel
College: Michigan.
Biggest area of improvement: Jump shot.
Best move: In transition, pulls up for a jump shot or uses a crossover and drives to the basket.
Favorite athlete: Cal Ripken Jr.
Favorite class: Yearbook.
Favorite book: "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown.
Top Opponent: Kellie Watson, Ionia and Notre Dame.
When my career is finished I will: "Coach basketball at the college level."
Overview: She is the ultimate team leader. She has led Nouvel to a pair of Class C state championships and is gunning for No. 3. She is a demon on defense and, between deflections and steals, she gets her hands on 12 balls a game. She has become a better perimeter shooter.

Rachel Sheffer, 6-1 Center, Watervliet
College: Michigan.
Biggest area of improvement: Ballhandling.
Best move: Takes the ball from the left wing, uses a dribble hop-step for a lay-up.
Favorite athlete: Candace Parker.
Favorite class: Media.
Favorite book: "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton.
Top Opponent: Kellie Watson, Ionia and Notre Dame.
When my career is finished I will: "Become a first-grade teacher."
Overview: One of the state's best all-around athletes, she earned all-state honors in basketball, volleyball and softball. She has to play inside because of her size, but she has perimeter skills and can fill a lane on the fast break.

Purdue 70 Michigan 53

2009-02-27T11:15:00.002-05:00

Despite a double-double from Krista Phillips (10 pts/10 rebounds), Michigan dropped another game. Michigan was outshot (44% to 36%), outrebounded (41-25) and committed more turnovers (18-14) - pretty much sealing the game.

From mgoblue.com:

The University of Michigan women's basketball team had three players in double figures, led by 13 points from seniors Carly Benson (Carney, Mich./Carney-Nadeau Public School) and Melinda Queen (Oak Forest, Ill./Carl Sandburg) in a 70-53 loss at Purdue on Thursday night (Feb. 26) in Mackey Arena. Junior center Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Aden Bowman Collegiate) posted U-M's first double-double of the season with 10 points and a season-high 11 rebounds to lead the Wolverines on the glass.

The Boilermakers opened up a decisive 34-21 first-half lead, led by the play of senior Danielle Campbell, who was 5-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe in the first frame. Campbell ended the game with a game-high 18 points.

Purdue used a 25-7 run, which spanned over seven minutes and two halves, to jump out to a 50-28 lead -- its largest of the game -- at the 12:57 mark of the second half and never looked back, maintaining a double-figure lead for the remainder of the contest. U-M used a 13-4 run over the final five minutes of action but could not slow Purdue, which picked up its fifth consecutive victory.

This year versus last year

2009-02-24T09:43:00.010-05:00

I've been puzzled by the team this year - my impression has been that the defense has been (generally) solid, but they have struggled to score. Last year the team gave up 57.3 points per game, this year 57.9. While worse, it isn't a big difference. Offense is a different story - last year 59.5 points per game, this year 55.5.

Why the difference? Losing Cooper, Clement & Jones doesn't help matters, but Reynolds & Boylan have contributed this season. Comparing the team to the last two seasons:

	Overall FG %			Three Point%
	2008-9	2007-8	2006-7	2008-9	2007-8	2006-7
Jessica Minnfield	.338	.421	.291	.284	.406	.237
Carly Benson	.353	.405	.393	.318	.313	.353
Veronica Hicks	.383	.355		.300	.250
Stephany Skrba	.482	.535	.354	.000	.167	.000
Melinda Queen	.355	.311	.458	.355	.105	.368
Krista Phillips	.386	.468	.465	.174	.264	.400
Kalyn McPherson	.267	.313	.268	.000	1.000	.333
Carmen Reynods	.430			.388
Courtney Boylan	.344			.321
Ashley Jones		.450	.273		.346	.000
Janelle Cooper		.389	.338		.352	.270
Krista Clement		.358	.273		.336	.269
Ta'Shia Walker		.395	.458		.200	.233
Team	.377	.419	.367	.297	.330	.274

The teams overall shooting percentage climbed dramatically last year, and has fallen this year to levels close to the 2006-7 season. The only players to improve their numbers from last year are Veronica Hicks and Melinda Queen (and Benson's 3point % has gone up a bit as well).

Was last year a fluke? Is it simply a matter of confidence? I wish I knew - but with a young team next year (3 seniors, 1 junior), let's hope it starts to turn around.

Iowa 68 Michigan 64

2009-02-23T11:39:00.003-05:00

Yet another frustrating loss. Michigan trailed the entire game, but kept fighting back. It seemed like every time they were making a run Iowa would get a defensive stop and score (usually a three pointer). Michigan actually outshot Iowa (40.0% vs. 38.2%), but were outrebounded badly (50-32) which led to 8 more Iowa shots - enough to make the difference. Carly Benson led the way with 17 points and Veronica Hicks added 16 for the Wolverines.