B1G Game 4: Gophers Visit Michigan (1-9-24)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Kim Barnes-Arico is inventively bridging the gap between the Naz Hillmon era and the Olivia Olson era. (Okay, there’s much more to the Wolverines 2024 class than just Olson, but…). Last season was Michigan’s first without Hillmon. Nevertheless, the Maize and Blue made their fifth straight NCAA tournament before losing in the second round to eventual champs LSU.

Michigan finished the conference season 11-7 tied with Illinois for 5th. Barnes-Arico accomplished this with a starting line up of Leigha Brown, Emiley Kiser, Maddie Nolan, Leila Phelia and Cameron Williams. KBA notably navigated the season without a point guard by utilizing Leigha Brown as a point forward.

The Gopher fared poorly against last season’s point guardless Michigan lineup losing 41-77 at Williams Arena. Minnesota’s quarter by quarter scoring was 11, 12, 7 and 11 points. Alanna Micheaux led Minnesota in points (15) and rebounds (8), but also turnovers (7). Amaya Battle was the only other Gopher in double figures with 10. The remainder of this season’s Gophers were forgettable. Michigan’s scoring leader was sophomore Leila Phelia with 22 which gets us to this season’s Wolverines who are 11-4 (2-1 in conference)..

Phelia and Cameron Williams were the returning starters. Losses to Mississippi in Nassau (49-60) and at Toledo (46-69) provided the impetus to bench Williams and go with a four guard line-up of: 6’-0” junior guard Leila Philia, 6’2” junior guard Jordan Hobbes, 5’9” graduate point guard Lauren Hansen, 6’-0” graduate guard Elissa Brett and 6’2” sophomore forward Chvra Evans.

The switch paid immediate dividends as they swarmed the Illini in Champaign 84-48. Jordan Hobbes led the way with 22 points while shooting 4-5 from three. Phelia scored 14 points while holding the Illini’s leading scorer, Genesis Bryant, scoreless. Collapsing on scorers is probably the strategy Michigan will use versus Minnesota. It should be noted that KBA went to the transfer portal to find a point guard and ended up with Missouri transfer Lauren Hansen. Hansen plays the point but isn’t really assist oriented. She had 5 assists versus the Illini while Aussie via Bowling Green, Elissa Brett, posted 6 assists.

In their next Big Ten game, Michigan took a key win over Ohio State in Ann Arbor 69-60. Phelia led the way with 26 points, Hansen had 17 with 5 turnovers, Hobbes 11, Brett 10 and Evans 0 points and 8 rebounds. It should be noted that Buckeye star Cotie McMahon made life easier for the Wolverines as she was called for 4 fouls in 18 minutes of play. A significant part of the credit goes to Michigan’s aggressive defense.

Michigan’s final B1G outing before meeting Minnesota didn’t go as well. Indiana powered past the Wolverines 69-80. Despite foul trouble, Mackinzie Holmes delivered 20 points in 22 minutes. Holmes was backed up by Sara Scalia’s 16 points and 6 assists. The Hoosier’s sneered at the Michigan defense knocking down 38 straight points before missing their first shot. It was 36-17 at the end of the 1st quarter.

“We were trying to be aggressive at them and trying to get (Parrish and Holmes) out of the game,” Barnes Arico said. “It’s eye-opening for the kids that are playing with us for the first time. This is life in the Big Ten regardless if it’s a top team in the country or the bottom team, everyone will throw their best at you.”

It didn’t help that Michigan was 1-9 from three while the Hoosiers were 9-19. The Wolverines are a decent three-point shooting team hitting .362 as team (112-309). 6’1” junior guard Greta Kampschroeder leads Michigan with .424 clip from behind the arc.

Anyway, Phelia chugged along, leading Michigan with 23 points in 36 minutes. By the way, Hopkins’ Taylor Woodson played 17 minutes and delivered 6 points and 2 rebounds. She’s averaging 8.6 minutes per game. She was a bridge to the end of the blowout and perhaps a part of the bridge to Michigan’s future.
Click to expand...
 

slightly important game here.. as it's our ONLY game against Michigan.. Hopefully we come out with a little more FIRE then we have the last 2 games.. like more energy and focus on defense and getting back in transition
 

mgoblue.com

Michigan to Kick Off Homestand With Minnesota - University of Michigan Athletics

he University of Michigan women's basketball team (11-4, 2-1 Big Ten) kicks off a two-game homestand on Tuesday (Jan. 9), welcoming Minnesota (11-3, 1-2 Big ...
mgoblue.com mgoblue.com


Taylor Woodson (Michigan) and Amaya Battle (Minnesota) in youth played together.

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Minnesota coach Dawn Plitzuweit (Minnesota) came up the coaching ranks as an associate head coach at Michigan (Kevin Borseth head coach) before becoming a successful head coach in several HC positions.

Kim Barnes Arico is now head coach at Michigan.

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gophersports.com

Dawn Plitzuweit - Women's Basketball Coach - University of Minnesota Athletics

The 2024-25 season will be the second season for Dawn Plitzuweit at the helm of the Golden Gophers women's basketball program. Plitzuweit was named the 13th ...
gophersports.com gophersports.com


mgoblue.com

Kim Barnes Arico - Women's Basketball Coach - University of Michigan Athletics

Kim Barnes Arico • Winningest coach in program history - 261 wins in 12 seasons • Only coach in program history with 200 wins at Michigan • Coached Michigan'...
mgoblue.com mgoblue.com
 


I am expecting a win for the Gophers. Sophie will have a lot to say about how this game plays out. Needs to stay on the floor longer. Michigan is turnover prone so the Gopher defense should shine. Need to come out confident and play like there's no tomorrow.
 



Michigan is favored by 4.5 points.

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Also, Michigan State is favored by 3.5 over Maryland.
 

This week's games should help us get a better read on this year's Gophers. Starting off the real BIG season with Iowa and Maryland was a tough draw (as is the lack of Wisconsin, Rutgers, Northwestern etc. until later in the season). As a team, Minnesota's 3-game conference-only stats are bad on offense and even worse on defense. But, of course, that small sample just reflects the schedule. Individually, Battle, in particular, has had a rough start to conference play.

Michigan, for its part, is better on defense than offense. Seems like there is the potential for Minnesota to win a grinder of a game in Ann Arbor.
 











Hot shooting start n now need better spacing and ball movement.
 






We are battling. We have had a couple nice offensive streaks but a lot of our points are off schedule...scramble situations, broken plays etc
We still have trouble getting open looks in our set offense but we have 41 points with our find a way mentality.
Gotta keep playing hard.
Braun is 4 for 6 for 14 points...another 4 or 5 shots for her would seem helpful to the cause. Still no help to get her open off any kind of sets.
41 to 35 at half. Can we score 40 again? Think we need to.
Fun to be ahead!
 








Seems like this one is being called pretty tight. Gophers are going to have to adjust.
 


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