Michigan’s biggest win of the season wasn’t without drama.
As a senior at LaSalle high school in St. Ignace, Michigan senior guard Krista Clement missed a free throw to cost her team a win in the regional final.
A similar scenario surfaced late in Saturday’s game against Kentucky, but this time, Clement had better luck.
Up two points with the clock winding down, Michigan center Krista Phillips blocked Kentucky guard Samantha Mahoney’s layup attempt.
The ball landed in Clement’s hands, and the guard was fouled with four seconds left.
Clement stepped to the charity stripe and calmly knocked down both free throws to seal the Wolverines’ victory.
“If you saw during the game, everyone was coming around me,” said Clement, who scored 12 points, pulled down a career-high nine rebounds and committed just one turnover. “They were joking about how ever since I was in first grade, I’ve dreamed about making the game-winning free throws. We were making jokes about it, so it was nice to be relaxed when I was up there.”
Michigan not only beat Kentucky 63-59 on Saturday, it beat the Wildcats (4-5) while committing 22 turnovers, the most the Wolverines have had in a win all season.
Simply put, the Wolverines made bad pass after bad pass.
The contest was marked by countless grunts from the 2,000-plus Crisler Arena crowd that was as frustrated as Michigan coach Kevin Borseth, who at one point walked down to the end of the bench and threw both fists onto an empty chair.
Four Wolverines committed three or more turnovers, including Stephany Skrba, who almost had a not-so-great triple-double – 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven turnovers.
Three times Skrba committed a turnover after grabbing a defensive rebound.
“Coach spoke to me even during the game and after and (he said) ‘Just chin the ball and then look for your dribble,’ ” Skrba said. “But what I tend to do is just get the ball and just go right away. I have to have way more patience next game.”
Although Michigan (5-3) couldn’t execute much on the offensive end, the Wolverines played hard throughout the contest, especially on the defensive end. With the Wildcats posting up 6-foot-6 senior Sarah Elliott, Michigan was forced to help on the backside and the guards had to rotate quickly to help double team Elliott.
With just under four minutes remaining, the crowd could sense the tension. Kentucky was leading 55-53, and Michigan had a chance to earn its biggest victory of the season.
After a Michigan timeout, Skrba committed a cardinal sin – turning the ball over right after leaving the huddle.
But the next time down, she nailed a jumper to knot the score. A minute later, Skrba knocked down two free throws to give Michigan a two-point lead, and the two teams traded baskets until Phillips met Mahoney in the lane.
Borseth seems to have found his permanent starting center in Phillips, who has been going back and forth between the starting five and the bench with senior Ta’Shia Walker. Not only did the sophomore have an important putback late in the game, she drew countless double teams, helping Michigan shoot 50 percent from the field.
“She has to be in there,” Borseth said. “She’s really the kid that has to make the difference for us. If we can get her a little athleticism around there, more touches, she’s going to be a bear to stop. and if she is, then the other players can feed of that as well. At this point, she’s in the lineup.”
Hopefully this win can teach Michigan that they can win games even while not playing to its full potential.
The Wolverines will try to keep its head of steam and take down Southern Cal on tonight at Crisler Arena.