The No. 12 Michigan women’s basketball team had a chance to end its regular season on a high note on Sunday. With a win in Madison, the Wolverines would tie their all-time record for wins in a regular season.
But they couldn’t capitalize.
Michigan (21-8 overall, 11-7 Big Ten) fell to Wisconsin (11-19, 6-12) in a 78-70 road upset, struggling to defend the Badgers’ attack throughout the game. Missing two top offensive weapons in sophomore guard Laila Phelia and fifth-year wing Leigha Brown, Michigan couldn’t muster a strong enough offensive effort to earn a win in its final regular season game.
“The whole year you practice with them and run things specifically for (Brown and Phelia),” senior guard Maddie Nolan said. “We just have a lot of new people in different spots. So just trying to figure out who can score where, where we want to put people in different offensive schemes was kinda like a build up this week.”
As the game began, the effort to replace that offensive production came from Nolan above all else. She finished with 21 points, including 14 in the first quarter. Her scoring fueled the Wolverines on the offensive end just as it did against Rutgers on Feb. 23, the first game of the season without both Phelia and Brown.
In the end, though, her scoring wasn’t enough to make up for their absence.
“We were in a position the last couple of days to play a lot of young kids in major situations,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico told WTKA postgame. “It hurt tonight, and it pains us, but hopefully it’s gonna give us an opportunity to learn and grow from here.”
A number of players played meaningful minutes well beyond their normal rate, and the offensive unit struggled to reach its usual form from start to finish. Michigan ended the first quarter with five turnovers, struggling at times to possess, move and handle the ball against the Badgers’ defense. But Nolan’s consistent production from deep kept the game close and drove the Wolverines attack early on.
Graduate forward Emily Kiser, who scored a career high in Michigan’s win over Rutgers, looked to make a similar impact against Wisconsin. But the Badgers appeared focused on limiting her production offensively — frequently double-teaming her in the post. All throughout the game, that strategy proved somewhat successful: She finished with 17 points, but struggled early on to make an impact on the offensive end.
“Emily is one of the best posts in the country,” Nolan said. “So coming in that was a big focus from them, especially with two of our top scorers down, just trying to get the ball out of her hands and make different people score.”
At halftime, Kiser and the Wolverines went to the locker room losing 36-35. She had scored eight points, shooting just 30% from the field.
Michigan struggled to get its role players involved offensively in recent contests against No. 16 Ohio State and Rutgers, and Wisconsin appeared committed to challenging Michigan in a similar way. The Wolverines struggled to find scoring elsewhere as the Badgers keyed on Nolan and Kiser heavily in the second half. In response, sophomore guard Jordan Hobbs — starting in the place of Phelia — played one of her best games of the season. Her career high 16 points kept the Wolverines within striking distance in the third quarter.
But her effort alone couldn’t elevate Michigan’s offense.
Some late forced turnovers by the Wolverines kept their comeback hopes alive, and their ability to keep the Wisconsin lead within single digits made sure that the game wasn’t truly over despite their struggles at both ends. A three-point play from junior forward Elise Stuck put Michigan back within four, with around two minutes left.
But the effort fell short. Costly turnovers and a strong closeout from the Badgers put the game away in its final moments.
In the end, Michigan was unable to tie its regular season record for wins — even against the lowly Badgers — and finished the regular season on a sour note.