MINNEAPOLIS — Less than a minute into the second half, the Michigan women’s basketball team found itself in a giant 17-point hole against No. 12 Indiana. The pit was eerily reminiscent of the one the Wolverines found themselves at the bottom of in Bloomington Jan. 4.
But instead of grabbing a shovel, junior guard Laila Phelia threw down a rope for Michigan, dragging the Wolverines out of the hole and pulling them to victory.
Compiling a career-high 30-point performance — highlighted by 20 second-half points all in the paint or from the free throw line — Phelia showcased why she was named to the consensus All-Big Ten First Team. Drive after drive, she attacked the Hoosiers’ defense, regardless of who was trying to stop her. She finished shots by wriggling between Indiana players and also got to the free throw line, converting 4-of-5 free throws in the second half.
“Laila has been phenomenal,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “And I think she, like our team, is continuing to get better and better and better. And I told her just walking over here how proud I am of her ability to read the screens and they were icing her, trying to force her to go left.”
No matter what Indiana threw at Phelia in the second half, they couldn’t redirect her drives to the basket. Play after play, Phelia continued getting downhill and to the hole. Despite the Hoosiers holding a 16-point lead at the time, Phelia was undeniable. She banked in her first second-half bucket, catalyzing the first of the Wolverines’ many second-half runs.
“We didn’t get off to the start we did back at home in Bloomington, but it felt good going into halftime,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said. “Also cautioned our kids that it was far from over. Then Phelia just decided to come out and sort of try to take that third and fourth quarter over.”
Taking the game by the reins, Phelia snatched up dribbles and swiped balls out of the passing lane, kickstarting her own transition offense and finishing on the other end.
While the Hoosiers tried to switch up their defensive scheme, Barnes Arico swapped Phelia and graduate guard Lauren Hansen’s roles and directed Phelia to bring the ball up the court. That switch created opportunities for Phelia to cut off senior forward Cameron Williams’ screens and drive directly to the basket, continuing to get downhill and score.
Phelia’s takeover involved more than just her own scoring, though. It also allowed for Williams to get post touches off of those actions. The attention Phelia drew sucked in defenders, leaving her teammates wide open on the perimeter for threes. Michigan buried those 3-pointers, creating a hole to bury the Hoosiers right along with them.
“Laila and Jordan, they both draw a lot of attention, so they were able to just drive and move the ball, kick it out, and we could kind of space the floor a little bit,” Hansen said. “… When you’re aggressive like that, they have to play you, and we just kept finding each other.”
Phelia commanded the arena the entire second half, and there was no hesitation with a single drive. Emerging from the Wolverines’ den, she clawed her own way up out of their halftime hole and pulled her teammates along, leading a third-quarter surge with 10 points in Michigan’s 19-8 swing.
“She’s a tremendous player,” Barnes Arico said. “And she always talked about her freshman year when the team went to the Elite Eight, those seniors like Naz Hillmon and Danielle Rauch, just like they poured into her, and they carried her through that tournament. And today I challenged her, like, ‘Laila, this is your time. This is your time to pour into those young ones and take them with you and show them what it means to compete and to compete at this level.’ And she pretty much did that today, yesterday, and it’s proud moments as a coach to see your players really, it clicked the way it has for her the last couple days.”
Phelia has been clicking on all fronts ever since the Big Ten Tournament began, averaging 26.5 points — a figure higher than her previous career high of 26. Her performance Friday night boosted the Wolverines over a team they haven’t beaten since Hillmon and Rauch took the floor by her side.
But now, this is Phelia’s time.