The No. 9 Michigan women’s basketball team returned to Ann Arbor on Sunday with a two-game losing streak. In each of the losses, the offense struggled to fill the gaping hole left by senior wing Leigha Brown, who continues to miss time with a lower leg injury. The Wolverines’ offense looked stagnant at times, and they turned the ball over more often than usual. In topping No. 13 Maryland, Michigan’s offense shrugged off its woes to regain control of the Big Ten title race.
Preventing the losing streak from snowballing, though, didn’t always look guaranteed — Michigan turned the ball over 15 times in a grueling first half.
“In the first half, we took a lot of our possessions away by turning the basketball over,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said.
Senior guard Danielle Rauch led the Wolverines with six turnovers — all of which came in the first half. Rauch generally takes good care of the basketball, averaging just over two turnovers per game as Michigan’s primary ball-handler. But in the first half against Maryland, Rauch made uncharacteristically bad passes. From an inaccurate pass to freshman guard Laila Phelia for a backcourt violation to a poorly placed entry pass, Rauch couldn’t find her groove while facilitating the offense early.
The turnover struggles affected the rest of the team as well. Phelia and freshman guard Jordan Hobbs each picked up a traveling violation in the first half. Senior guard Amy Dilk racked up three first-half turnovers. And, despite carrying much of the offense load, Hillmon notched a pair of turnovers, too.
Yet, while turning the ball over 15 times, the Wolverines allowed just nine points off those turnovers and found themselves tied with the Terrapins at halftime. The plague of turnovers hadn’t yet cost them the game.
“We talked about, at halftime, trying to cut that number (of turnovers) in half,” Barnes Arico said. “… I thought our kids did an unbelievable job of adjusting to that in the second half. We were able to handle their pressure and we cut our turnover number in half.”
The offensive flow that had been missing in the first half, as well as in the Michigan State and Northwestern losses, suddenly reappeared. In that two-and-a-half game stretch, the Wolverines turned the ball over 53 times while accumulating just 36 assists. In the second half on Sunday, Michigan saw a positive assist to turnover ratio — racking up nine assists while turning the ball over seven times.
Coming out of the half, the Wolverines immediately looked more composed on the ball.
At the helm of the offense was Rauch, who, after her poor first half, didn’t turn the ball over a single time in the second despite playing all 20 minutes.
Similarly, Hillmon remained aggressive on the offensive end in the second half, attempting 10 free throws, and never turning it over in the process.
“Having the opportunity to sit down at halftime and really talk about the turnovers, and knowing that we can control some of those was a big thing,” Hillmon said.
This phenomenon extended to the whole team. Almost every Michigan player finished the second half with fewer turnovers than they had in the first, and they all looked more comfortable moving the ball.
Passes were flying around the court, finding open shooters, and the ball was taken care of. After scoring a meager 24 points in the first half, Michigan erupted for 47 in the second. The offense fired on all cylinders, even without Brown.
“Making adjustments is a big thing we talk about,” junior guard Maddie Nolan said. “You’re probably not going to be able to score the same way every time.”
The Wolverines certainly made adjustments, and it saw them snap a two-game losing streak with a big win against a ranked opponent. Their stagnant and careless first-half offense metamorphosed, becoming smoother and more effective while plowing over Maryland’s defense in the process.