Unable to feed the ball to Hallie Thome, Amy Dilk turned toward the baseline and put up a floater. Before it could reach the rim though, Maryland’s Shakira Austin swatted it away.
Connor Brennan
Daily Sports Writer
Women's Basketball
As sophomore forward Hailey Brown found herself cornered on the right baseline, she scanned the floor for options. Wisconsin’s defense had successfully taken away any options around the wings, but it failed to account for Michigan’s most deadly scorer.
In their last time playing at Crisler Center, senior guard Nicole Munger and senior center Hallie Thome made a statement from the start for the Michigan women’s basketball team (11-7 Big Ten, 20-10 overall) in an eventual 59-49 win over Wisconsin.
“Nicole said at the end of the summer, ‘Coach, I think we have an opportunity to be Big Ten champs next year,’ ” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “And her and Hallie debated that and wavered that and went back and forth on that and they came to common ground that that’s gonna be our message for our team this season, and that’s gonna be our goal for our team this season. And they’ve kind of stuck with that.”
“One of Dad’s friends called me after my commitment and basically said, ‘You’re a Spartan!’ ” Robbins recalls. “He assumed because he heard Michigan that I was going to MSU. Until he realized I was playing in the maize and blue, then he finally called my dad and was so confused. But he was happy for me.”
While Kevin’s friend took some time to adjust to Kayla representing the Wolverines on the court, Kevin quickly jumped on the bandwagon.
While Michigan's four seniors have taken different paths to reach the climax of their respective collegiate careers, they will all be celebrated together.
The Daily looks at three big takeaways from the Wolverines' defeat in East Lansing.
Missed opportunities characterized the Michigan women’s basketball team’s (19-10 overall, 10-6 Big Ten) 74-64 loss to Michigan State (18-9, 8-8) Sunday afternoon — the Wolverines’ first defeat in eight games.
A quick glance at Thursday’s stats shows the balance of this squad. Freshman forward Naz Hillmon led her team in scoring with 21 points, but Munger, senior center Hallie Thome and Church hit double figures too. And junior forward Kayla Robbins and sophomore forward Hailey Brown also played key roles.
The bad luck and late-game struggles that had plagued the Michigan women’s basketball team (19-9 overall, 10-6 Big Ten) at the beginning of Big Ten play, was nowhere to be seen during their 88-76 victory over Rutgers (18-8 overall, 10-5) on Thursday night.