A quick glance at Thursday’s stats shows the balance of this squad. Freshman forward Naz Hillmon led her team in scoring with 21 points, but Munger, senior center Hallie Thome and Church hit double figures too. And junior forward Kayla Robbins and sophomore forward Hailey Brown also played key roles.
The bad luck and late-game struggles that had plagued the Michigan women’s basketball team (19-9 overall, 10-6 Big Ten) at the beginning of Big Ten play, was nowhere to be seen during their 88-76 victory over Rutgers (18-8 overall, 10-5) on Thursday night.
It’s hard to believe that, just four short weeks ago, the Michigan women’s basketball team suffered a loss to Michigan State that put its tournament hopes on life support. Just two weeks later, freshman point guard Amy Dilk went down with an ankle injury, and the Wolverines’ slim odds became even slimmer on paper.
But, just as they have shown time and time again this season, Michigan has found a way to win. On the heels of six straight victories, the Wolverines finds themselves in the mix of the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament picture.
There comes a time in every team’s season, no matter the sport, when it finds itself in a make-or-break situation.
That time has finally arrived for the Michigan women’s basketball team
With just under 30 seconds remaining in Michigan’s 67-58 win over Indiana, Kim Barnes Arico pulled senior center Hallie Thome out of the game. As Thome took a seat on the bench, her coach approached her.
“Did you get it?” Barnes Arico asked.
With 30 seconds on the clock and Indiana pushing the ball, the Hoosiers looked poised to cut into the Michigan women’s basketball team’s 63-58 lead. But then Nicole Munger stepped in. Literally.
There are few things that can be the difference between winning or losing a basketball game. The Michigan women’s basketball team has one of them down: bench play.
“The way that they’ve been able to play has been the difference between us being successful, and early on in league play, us not being successful,” said Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico after the team’s 67-61 win over Nebraska on Thursday.
Within a span of five minutes, Brown single-handedly turned Sunday’s game on its head in the second quarter — from a nine-point deficit to a one-point lead for the Wolverines by the end of the half.
Catalyzed by Brown’s performance, the Michigan women’s basketball team (16-9 overall, 7-6 Big Ten) escaped State College with a 66-62 win over Penn State (10-13, 3-9).
After notching two consecutive wins for the first time since November, the Michigan women’s basketball team (5-6 Big Ten, 14-9 overall) will host Nebraska (5-6, 10-12) Thursday night.
Currently sitting at 57 in the latest Ratings Percentage Index, and as just the fourth team out in ESPN.com’s Charlie Creme’s latest bracket projection, the Wolverines finds themselves in a position that just 10 days ago was inconceivable.
Even though things are trending upwards for Michigan, it does not mean in the slightest that the Wolverines are a shoo-in to make the Tournament.