Spartan guard Nia Clouden came off a double screen early in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, looking to cut Michigan’s lead down from six. Taking a step-back shot from behind the arc, Clouden drilled the 3-pointer as fifth-year senior guard Akienreh Johnson struggled to keep up with her. Junior forward Naz Hillmon and junior wing Leigha Brown both sat on the bench as the game slipped rapidly out of the Wolverines’ hands.
And then, Johnson had her first block of the night.
On the next defensive possession for Michigan, Spartan forward Mardrekia Cook drove down the lane, forcing a layup that would cut the Wolverines’ lead to one. Instead, Johnson swatted Cook’s shot away from the basket, the ball falling into sophomore guard Maddie Nolan’s hands. Suddenly, Michigan controlled the game again. Brown checked back in and promptly drained a 3-pointer, bringing the lead back up to six — the margin Michigan would ultimately win by.
It’s defensive efforts like Johnson’s that have come to define this Michigan team, but against Michigan State, the defensive performance was lackluster. The inconsistency from Johnson and the rest of the team is unusual for the Wolverines and it’s something they’ll need to improve upon moving forward into a harder schedule.
Michigan is the best rebounding team in the Big Ten, averaging 14 more rebounds per game than their opponents. Even in their closest win against Nebraska, the Wolverines outrebounded the Cornhuskers by 27. Yet, Michigan State kept that margin to five and in its only loss of the season to Ohio State, that margin was just seven.
“I think they just have a motor to the basketball,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said Tuesday night. “I think you know obviously it hurt when we were in foul trouble a little bit, but they’re quicker, they play four guards, so they have a nose for the ball. I thought they shot the ball extremely well because most of their shots were in the paint tonight, so it was a high percentage of shots.”
The Spartans’ focus on scoring in the paint caused another defensive struggle for Michigan. Without a true center, senior forward Hailey Brown was left alone down low to guard Michigan State’s taller post players.
Typically, Brown holds her own against opposing post players. Tuesday, though, the Wolverines surrendered 40 points in the paint to the Spartans. Before that, the only team to surpass that mark was Ohio State, with 56.
Clouden gave the Wolverines issues too, and in an offensive scheme that revolves mostly around running guards off screens, Clouden beat Michigan defenders around those screens multiple times — finishing the night with a career high 34 points.
“(Clouden) was coming off those screens and we kept picking up fouls on that,” Barnes Arico said. “We tried our best to slow her down but she had a great night and that’s obviously an area where we have got to get better, in our individual one-on-one defense. But also, being able to make adjustments to one person hurting you, because really, I mean, they had two kids score in double figures so we could have helped off and really helped on that matchup.”
Moving forward, one-on-one defense will be instrumental to ensure the Wolverines’ success. Michigan will face good teams like No. 9 Maryland, No. 14 Indiana and a rematch with No. 15 Ohio State — all teams with capable scorers.
Hailey Brown will have to work on low-post match-ups, especially against 6-foot-4 Ohio State forward Dorka Juhász. Johnson will have to stay locked on Maryland’s 3-point shooting guard Katie Benzan — the best 3-point shooter in the Big Ten. She’ll have to battle Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, who averages 27 points per game.
The old adage says defense wins championships, but, before championships, the Wolverines will need stellar defense to get through the rest of the season. With a tough stretch to finish the season, defense will be key for Michigan.
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