Barnes Arico’s choice to fill Robbins’ role was sophomore guard Danielle Rauch. Rauch — typically the backup point guard to sophomore Amy Dilk — hadn’t played more than nine minutes in a Big Ten game. Sunday, she was called upon for 32. And she made the most of them.
And then, on that same possession, she found herself open behind the defense, a clear look at the basket. The ball flew over the defender and Robbins caught it. She landed awkwardly though, her right knee buckling and a shout ringing out.
Just like that, the Michigan women’s basketball team lost its best defender, its second-leading scorer and one of its most capable rebounders. Her ACL torn, the senior’s breakout season was finished. Her career, over.
The Michigan women’s basketball team has lost a key player in senior forward Kayla Robbins, who announced via Twitter on Tuesday that she tore her ACL in Sunday’s game at Nebraska.
Nolan gathered it under the basket, though, sprinting to the corner and sent one last prayer up as the buzzer sounded.
It wasn’t answered, and the Wolverines (12-6 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) fell to Nebraska (14-4, 4-3) on Sunday, 74-71.
After Sunday’s blowout loss to Maryland, the Michigan women’s basketball team needed to bounce back strong. Thursday night against Wisconsin, the Wolverines did just that.
By many standards, the Michigan women’s basketball team has had a rough few weeks.
But just five games later, Michigan’s bench looks like the inexperienced group that was its biggest question mark entering the season. Outside of a blowout win against Penn State in which reserves played the majority of the fourth quarter, the bench has scored just seven points per game in four Big Ten games.
Despite its talent, the Michigan women’s basketball team has been unable to produce against top teams, culminating in a 77-49 collapse against Maryland.
Following its heartbreaking one-point loss to Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals last season, the Michigan women’s basketball team entered this year looking for revenge.
But Sunday, Michigan’s ball security was no better than it had been in that Dec. 28 loss. After scoring on its first possession and preventing the Terrapins from getting on the board for the first 2:30, the Wolverines turned the ball over six times over a six-minute stretch, during which they only scored two points. This sloppy play allowed Maryland to jump out to an eight-point lead it never gave back, resulting in a 77-49 Michigan loss.