WEST LAFAYETTE — Down by one point with 13 seconds left in the game, the Michigan women’s basketball team needed just one shot to seal the win. But instead, the Wolverines took three — and missed them all.
As a result, Michigan (2-1 Big Ten, 9-6 overall) fell to Purdue, 65-64.
The Wolverines have had two constant points of emphasis this season: driving the ball to the rim and winning offensive rebounds. But with a relatively short lineup, these tasks have been difficult. In Thursday’s game, a simple layup would have sufficed for a win against the Boilermakers (1-2, 10-5). But the Wolverines attempted a long jumper and two 3-point shots.
“Trying to get to the basket was a little difficult,” junior guard Carmen Reynolds said after the game. “But it’s all mental, it’s physical, we just gotta find a way to do it. As a team, we just have to get to the basket, have to pound it inside or penetrate. We just didn’t come through with that tonight.”
Although Michigan struggled to get points in the paint, Reynolds kept the Wolverines in the game by scoring from behind the arc. Reynolds led Michigan offensively with 18 points, shooting 4-for-7 from long range.
But Reynolds scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half, a clear disparity that caused the Wolverines to suffer down the stretch. And with a limited second half performance from Reynolds, senior guard Veronica Hicks and junior guard Jenny Ryan displayed a muted offensive performance — just six points combined.
“Hicks feels a lot of pressure on herself,” Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. “She was 1-for-9 and the shots she took were tough. A lot of the things she was trying to do were things that we asked her to do, to get down inside that lane. And while she was going down inside that lane she turned it over a few times and probably did a few things that were a little uncharacteristic of her game.”
Freshman Purdue point guard Courtney Moses overshadowed Michigan’s veteran players, scoring 22 points on the night. Moses, who recently earned her third consecutive and fourth overall Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week award, shot 6-for-11 from behind the arc.
With Michigan’s key offensive players lacking in production, the Boilermakers were able to hold the Wolverines to 22 points in the second half. And along with tightening its defense, Purdue stepped up its rebounding game.
Although Michigan had an 18-16 rebounding edge at the end of the first half, the Boilermakers finished the game 40-28. Purdue clearly won the offensive board battle, snagging 21 offensive rebounds that culminated in 15 second-chance points. Michigan, on the other hand, had a mere 10 offensive boards.
On the season, the Wolverines have averaged just 7.8 per game, while their opponents nearly double them with 14.8.
“I wonder whether we are blocking out, or whether we are blocking out and not looking at it, or whether we are not going after the ball and just can’t grab it, or whether we are being shoved,” Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. “But (offensive rebounding) is a concern and it’s been a concern from the beginning. The bottom line is it’s a physical game and you’ve got to move people on rebounds — you’ve got to move them and grab the ball with two hands.”
Whether the reason for the lack of offensive rebounding and inability to drive the ball to the net is evident or not, it’s something that Michigan will continue to work on. Despite the first Big Ten loss of the season, the Wolverines have shown promise over the past few weeks — defeating three ranked opponents and two conference frontrunners.
But in the case of Michigan’s loss to Purdue, it came down to just one shot. And that is something that Borseth believes can be fixed.