Junior guard Veronica Hicks got her birthday wish -- the Michigan women's basketball team notched a convincing win in its season opener.

Just minutes after the Crisler Arena crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Hicks, who turned 20 Friday, she scored the first points of the season. Her 3-pointer set the tempo for the remainder of the game, in which the Wolverines scored nearly half of Michigan's points from beyond the arc.

In an impressive performance by a team lauded only for its defensive ability last season, the Wolverines shot over 50 percent from the perimeter and forced 28 turnovers to come out with an 87-67 victory over last year's Mid-American Conference Tournament champion Ball State.

Friday was the first time that half of the team -- the six freshmen -- saw the court in a game, but it didn't show.

Team chemistry was high, and Michigan was able to find its stride early in the game. Led by sophomore guard Courtney Boylan, who took multiple dramatic charges backward, the Wolverines drew fouls often and had 23 opportunities at the line.

But despite earning whistles from the referees, Michigan shot just 48 percent from the line.

“Tonight, nerves might have been rattling so that percentage might not have been as high, but that’s something that we are definitely going to keep doing with every game,” Hicks said. “It’s a goal of ours to get to that free-throw line.”

Borseth has been stressing the importance of the team’s scoring output after the Wolverines shot a dismal 38 percent last season. And Michigan has been working extensively on taking shots in the paint.

But Ball State would not cooperate.

“They took the middle away,” Borseth said. “(Ball State) had people jamming that lane and we had people standing wide open at the arc. What are you supposed to do? That’s what they gave us and we got the right kids shooting it.”

Sophomore forward Carmen Reynolds led the team in 3-pointers, shooting 5-for-6.

“I guess I was just feeling it,” Reynolds said. “Coach emphasizes rhythm shots and if you have a rhythm shot, take it. So I got great passes from my teammates and was able to put them in.”

Michigan shot an impressive 53 percent from the arc, but the key to continuous success will be easy baskets, not 3-pointers.

“I think right now we are trying to find out what our M.O. is, and I’m not exactly sure what that is yet,” Borseth said. “We’ve got a lot of people to throw into the lineup, and it’s about getting used to playing with one another.”

Two of those people in the lineup were freshman guards Dayeesha Hollins and Jenny Ryan, who both started in their first collegiate game but didn't look like rookies. Ryan was aggressive and vocal right from the start, and was second only to Hicks in rebounds.

Hollins looked comfortable and confident right from the start, and was the only Wolverine to play the entire first half.

Hollins fought through her initial nerves before contributing 12 points.

“Oh my goodness,” Hollins said. “I was so nervous. My hands were sweating and I was shaking and I don’t know why. I don’t know. I didn’t want my emotions to start getting to me, I wanted to cry.

“After our first media timeout, everybody just asked me, ‘Are you okay?’ and all this stuff, and I started getting more comfortable.”

A season-opening win against last year's MAC champion and a team that beat two-time defending NCAA champion Tennessee in the first round of the tournament last season was a good early-season confidence booster. Whether it was season-opening adrenaline that led to better focus or simply all of the offseason shooting practice paying off, the Wolverines are going to need to keep it up if they want to show that they don’t belong last in the Big Ten standings.

“When things are going good, they’re going good. Things are flowing, we are really excited,” Hicks said. “I think as we go through the season, we are going to see what kind of chemistry we really have. But tonight, it was really good.”