MINNEAPOLIS — In its first Big Ten Tournament game against Penn State, the No. 17 Michigan women’s basketball team found itself in another dogfight.
Many of the same issues that plagued the Wolverines in their final four games — three of which ended in losses — took center stage early on. They labored against the Nittany Lions’ press defense and struggled offensively throughout, scoring just 63 points — 11 less than their season average.
But a key difference between those previous contests and Thursday’s win was the presence of sophomore guard Laila Phelia, who saw her first game action since suffering a lower leg injury Jan. 29. She made meaningful contributions at both ends against the Nittany Lions, adding 13 points and four rebounds en route to a gritty, 63-61 win.
The return of Phelia, one of Michigan’s top offensive options this year, will also have major implications for the postseason: If she can return to form as a major scoring threat and defensive anchor, the Wolverines’ chances of making a run in both the conference and NCAA tournaments look much stronger.
Against Penn State, Phelia didn’t quite regain her pre-injury level of play — clearly re-acclimating to the game environment after a month of rehabilitation. But her presence alone made an impact.
“It gave our team some confidence,” graduate forward Emily Kiser said postgame. “She’s such a good player, whatever she could bring today. … She’s getting back into it a little bit. She had some huge plays. She changes the whole dynamic of our team with her ability to get downhill but also shoot the inside shot. The defense just has to pay so much attention to her.”
Though Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico kept Phelia out of the starting lineup, she logged the fourth-most minutes on the team with 21. The most important of those came in the fourth quarter, during which the Wolverines held their opponents scoreless for six minutes before surrendering a late run which gave the Nittany Lions a chance to win in the game’s final moments.
Phelia made just one shot in that stretch, but it was an important one.
With three minutes left, she shot a 3-pointer off a Kiser offensive rebound to put Michigan ahead by nine points. Following that make, the Wolverines scored just two more points — nearly blowing their largest lead of the night and ending their tournament run early for the second straight season.
“Laila’s a game changer for sure,” Barnes Arico said. “She just has a speed, a gear, an athleticism that makes our team different. When she’s on the court, she can affect the game on the defensive end. … She can get downhill probably as good as anybody in the country. Then her ability to knock down the three as the shot clock was running out is incredible as well.
“So what she was able to do after, I don’t know, 32 days of being out, tonight was pretty special.”
Though her impact against Penn State proved crucial, the Wolverines will likely need even more from Phelia in order to make a deep postseason run. In the immediate future, that means beating No. 14 Ohio State, something Michigan failed to twice in the regular season.
In both of those matchups, the second of which occurred during Phelia’s absence, the Wolverines failed to execute on offense and scored just 57 and 61 points, respectively. In order to flip the script against the Buckeyes — and advance past any team this postseason — they will need consistent offensive production, something she’s been able to provide in the past.
For Michigan, Phelia’s return to action represented a glimmer of hope. But much of its potential to succeed moving forward depends on her ability to return to her pre-injury form and elevate the Wolverines both offensively and defensively.
She took the first steps toward that with a promising showing against Penn State, but there are plenty more to take as March heats up.