From a small, unranked team to the No. 5 team in the country, the Michigan women’s basketball team has faced opponents on both ends of the spectrum this season. And it’s only been two games.

On Friday, the Wolverines (1-1) take on a more neutral challenge as they travel to Marquette University to kickoff a four-game road stretch. The Golden Eagles (2-0) were ranked in the middle of the Big East conference prior to the start of the season. They feature six seniors and return seven letter-winners, including three starters.

Heading into the matchup with Marquette, Michigan coach Kevin Borseth is imposing a three-item agenda for his team for Friday's game.

One main focus is to win the offensive rebound battle. In Monday night’s 85-76 loss to No. 5 Xavier, the Wolverines only grabbed six offensive rebounds, to Xavier’s 14. Granted, the Musketeers have two 6-foot-6 All-Americans; but, height is the name of the game.

“We are going to see Big Ten teams just like that,” Borseth said after Monday’s game against Xavier. “Everybody in the Big Ten has big kids that play and we just have to get used to that.”

If the Wolverines don’t adjust soon, they will pay the price in points. On Monday, Xavier put the game away on second efforts, scoring 22 second-chance points. When playing tall teams that are difficult to stop on the defensive end of the court, the Wolverines are going to have to put up the points to match.

Michigan will also need to win the boards, it will need to play the entire 40 minutes. In last week’s game against Alcorn State and in the recent matchup against Xavier, the Wolverines had periods of lackluster performance.

In the home opener against the Braves, Michigan went into halftime with a 41-9 lead. And when the Wolverines returned to the court a little flat, Alcorn State attempted a comeback. Although Michigan continued to hold a safe lead, the Braves managed to tally 34 points in just 20 minutes of play.

“My biggest disappointment was that when we came out in the second half, we couldn’t run up and down the court,” Borseth said after that game. “I don’t think that it’s that we didn’t want to run up and down the court, it just looked like we couldn’t.”

But the Wolverines had another dull spell during their game against Xavier, and this time it proved costly. Michigan only trailed by three points at halftime, but the Musketeers quickly increased their lead to 14 points. Despite a late offensive rally, led by senior guard Veronica Hicks, the Wolverines were unable to come back. Xavier then sealed the deal with a 12-5 run to end the game.

So why is it that Michigan cannot seem to hold constant offensive and defensive pressure from start to finish? According to Borseth, the Wolverines rely too much on their three returning players: Hicks, junior guard Carmen Reynolds and sophomore guard Jenny Ryan.

“When we do throw it in (to the post), we tend to get stagnant because you want to watch that kid make some things happen,” Borseth said after Monday’s game. “But then the problem is that kid has to score on her own.”

Michigan’s mentality of getting the ball into Hicks, Reynolds and Ryan in the post is driving its sluggish play on the court. Although the veteran players have been putting up top numbers in baskets and rebounds, they can't do it all.

“We’ve got a choice,” Borseth said. “We can cash the year in after the second game, or we can go to the third game and try to play. We’re gonna put this one behind us — learn from it obviously — and try and get better around that basket.”