Maddie may never regain the same speed or explosiveness that she had before. She still has to wear the bulky brace. She has to go through intensive preparation before each game just to be able to play, including cutting off 80 percent of the blood flow to her leg and doing leg presses to strengthen it.
But to Maddie, it’s all worth it.
Kim Barnes Arico stood in the corner of the locker room, a smile on her face.
The Michigan coach had just been asked about sophomore point guard Amy Dilk, who just led the Wolverines to a comeback win over Nebraska in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament with arguably her best game of the season — 22 points, six assists and zero turnovers.
INDIANAPOLIS — Hailey Brown walked off the court three minutes into the second quarter, her head hung low, and slammed a towel down on the scorer’s table. The junior forward turned the ball over twice in the last minute and missed her first four shots of the game.
Brown’s frustration was a microcosm of a larger issue that held the Michigan women’s basketball team back in its 66-60 loss to Ohio State on Saturday night. Throughout the game, the Wolverines secondary scorers struggled to create any offense.
INDIANAPOLIS — Four seconds remained on the shot clock when Maddie Nolan caught a cross-court pass beyond the 3-point arc. The freshman guard pump faked, dribbled once around her defender, pulled up and hit a tough shot as the shot clock expired.
The shot settled the Michigan women’s basketball team down after Northwestern had scored five straight points out of a timeout to cut the Wolverines’ lead to three with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter. It also gave Nolan 13 points on the night.
Coming out of halftime, those last three possessions of the first half had energized the Wolverines (20-10 overall, 10-8 Big Ten). They scored the first eight points of the second half and never looked back, en route to a 81-75 win over Nebraska (17-13, 7-11) in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
With Naz Hillmon on the floor and effective, the Michigan women’s basketball team has the ability to be one of the best offensive teams in the Big Ten.
But when teams shut her down, or when she is forced to sit with foul trouble, the Wolverines’ offense is missing their identity. Michigan’s offense runs through Hillmon in the post, and without her presence, open shots are often hard to come by.
Amy Dilk stood at the top of the 3-point arc one minute into the second half and surveyed her options.
The sophomore guard tried to swing a pass to junior forward Hailey Brown, but Penn State guard Shay Hagans read it from the start. She quickly jumped the pass and took it the other way for a layup to put the Nittany Lions up by two. It was the first time they led since the first minute of the game.
With Brown on the floor, Michigan State’s offense struggled to get into a rhythm. It was no coincidence that the Spartans’ two highest scoring quarters were the two that Brown only played three minutes in. Brown’s impact this season has gone unnoticed at times. But despite what the box score or Merchant said on Sunday, her role in the Wolverines’ win — both on the court and from the bench — was unquestionable.
Powered by a first quarter in which it shot 11-for-16 from the floor and 6-for-8 from 3-point range, Illinois led the Wolverines for much of the first half. Michigan didn’t take a lead until 44 seconds remaining in the half, but a coast-to-coast layup by Fighting Illini guard Brandi Beasley as time expired put Illinois back on top by one entering halftime.
But with the absence of Robbins and Rauch, almost every other player on the roster had to play significantly more minutes than they had before. While many players were able to handle playing more for a while, fatigue clearly hurt Michigan in a 62-41 loss to Rutgers on Sunday.