Wolverines show improvement against Aggies, but can't turn corner
Tim Rohan
Daily Sports WriterNovember 20th, 2008
The Michigan women’s basketball team was inches away from tying the game and forcing overtime in a statement game of its own.
A year ago, the Wolverines lost at Texas A&M by 28 points, and faced the Aggies again last night at Crisler Arena.
The Wolverines hung with No. 12 Texas A&M (3-0) until a 3-pointer from senior forward Carly Benson bounced off the side of the rim with seconds to play. Michigan lost the game narrowly, 59-56.
Michigan (1-2) was coming off a loss against Akron, after which Michigan coach Kevin Borseth called the offense’s play “atrocious.” The Wolverines were slightly better against the Aggies.
“(Borseth) did exactly what he needed to stop aggressiveness,” Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. “That is to spread the floor and have post players who can shoot the three."
Last night, even though Michigan was spreading the floor and attacking the lane with purpose and kicking to three-point shooters, the Wolverines didn’t knock down open shots. The Wolverines shot 16 percent (4-of-25) from behind the arc and 36 percent (18-of-50) from the field.
Borseth didn’t regret his team taking so many 3-pointers, although the Wolverines missed 21 of them. He called misses “shots in rhythm,” something which Michigan didn’t have last year at Texas A&M.
The Wolverines relied on getting open looks from dribble penetration and high-post screens to hold off the aggressive Aggie defense. With about nine minutes to play in the first half, senior guard Jessica Minnfield took a pass from Benson at the top of the key, ran her defender into Benson’s screen, drove through two defenders and finished with a lay-up.
But, whenever Michigan scored a key basket, the Aggies seemed to counter with either a defensive stand or a bucket of their own. Texas A&M had 15 points off the Wolverines 18 turnovers.
Michigan played arguably its best defensive game of the season. Holding Texas A&M to 28 percent (9-32) shooting from the field in the first half, the Wolverines had a four-point halftime lead.
“We could not run our motion offense, a lot of sets we wanted, because they had one foot in the paint on almost everything we were doing,” Blair said.
But at crunch time, the Wolverines couldn’t overcome the steady Aggies , even though Texas A&M’s largest lead in the game was just five points. With 21 seconds left in the game, and Michigan down by three points, Borseth called a timeout to set up a play. The designed play to get an open 3-pointer was foiled, and Minnfield found junior center Krista Phillips open under the basket for a lay-up. The Aggies made their two free-throws, after Michigan fouled them, to close out the game.
Phillips finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds. She also played well beyond the stat sheet by setting screens and playing solid defense. Minnfield’s 14 points led the team in scoring.
With five more games against teams currently ranked in the top 25, the Wolverines will have plenty of chances to challenge the best of women’s basketball. But Borseth sees last night’s effort as something to build on.
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:47:35 -0500