With games against then-No. 25 Illinois and No. 5 Vanderbilt, the No. 7 Michigan women’s basketball team had a week that could reshape the remainder of the regular season.
Although the Wolverines went 1-1, taking down the Fighting Illini convincingly at home before losing in a near-comeback nail-biter against the Commodores, Michigan learned that its young squad simply needed more experience against top-ranked opponents.
This Past Week
After an uninspiring stretch on the West Coast and against Minnesota, the Wolverines turned things around with convincing wins over Penn State and Wisconsin. Carrying that momentum into its first top-25 home matchup this season, Michigan handily took care of Illinois 85-69 with strong performances across the board.
Sophomore guard Syla Swords missed the game against the Badgers for an undisclosed reason but returned to form with 11 points and five assists against the Illini. Sophomore guard Olivia Olson and sophomore forward Kendal Dudley led the way with 16 points apiece, as senior guard Brooke Quarles Daniels added 10 rebounds. And after shooting an abysmal 2-for-21 from deep against Wisconsin, the Wolverines turned things around with an 8-for-17 performance against Illinois.
Michigan seemed to be completely back on track. Against Vanderbilt, however, the confidence built from the past three games was nowhere to be seen in the first half.
“I’m glad everyone stayed through halftime,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “We obviously struggled a little bit in the first half. I thought Vanderbilt came out and did a great job and jumped on us. I thought we settled at halftime and played a phenomenal second half. We put ourselves in a position a couple of times to win the game. We just didn’t get those shots to fall down the stretch.”
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