Hey all, I wanted to throw this together because I was looking for info about the games the Women’s Basketball team will play in the Big Ten Tournament starting tomorrow and couldn’t find much. As far as my credibility to write this, I’ve been following the team for the past couple years, started mostly because Naz was/is so awesome, then my wife and I got season tickets this year and have gone to or watched all the games. However, most of this is written from my memory and a few quick searches, but here we go.

 

So the Big Ten Tourney starts today and Michigan will face the winner of the Penn State/Minnesota game tomorrow around 3pm (25 minutes after the MSU/Nebraska game ends). Michigan played both of these teams once this year, beating Penn State at Crisler at the beginning of January and beating Minnesota away at the end of January. This Michigan team should be able to beat either of these teams again handily, since they are both Not Very Good, but that will be contingent on a couple things:

 

1. Leigha Brown returns after being out for 2 games because of an “Internal Issue”. That is all that’s been said about the issue, so I won’t speculate here, but Brown’s absence was felt acutely in both the Rutgers and Wisconsin games that she missed. Michigan was able to put it together in the second half against Rutgers and pull away, but dropped the last game of the season at Wisconsin, in large part because they struggled with generating offense without Brown’s ability to find her own shot. 
   1. One side note: Coach Kim Barnes Arico went on the Michigan Insider yesterday and said that Brown “is available, which is great news obviously”, so this point is less about whether Brown will return, and more about the impact she will have.
2. Keep turnover numbers down. This has been my biggest frustration with the team this year and I’m sure is one of the things KBA works on all the time in practice, but it has been a consistent problem this season. Between missed passes out of bounds or to the other team, getting pressured into turnovers, or getting called for travels, this basketball team will turn it over in every way that will make you sigh and hold your head in your hands. Keep the ball, shoot the ball, score. Please.

 

Key Players to watch: 

 

Penn State:

• Makenna Marisa: senior leading the team in minutes, points, and assists per game
• Leilani Kapinus: sophomore leading the team in rebounds, steals, and blocks per game

 

Minnesota: 

• Mara Braun: freshman leading the team in points per game
• Amaya Battle: freshman leading the team in assists and blocks per game

 

Barring a disaster beyond disasters, Michigan should then head into the third round on Friday to face Ohio State around 3pm. Michigan lost both meetings with Ohio State this season and will probably need to win this game to get back on the 4-line for March Madness so they can host in Ann Arbor. (They were the 16 seed in the last rankings put out by the NCAA before they lost to Wisconsin and the latest projection from Charlie Creme at ESPN has them on the 5 line). Michigan lost both games to Ohio State in large part because they couldn’t break their aggressive full-court press. Here are a couple keys to winning this game as I see them:

 

1. Beat the Press. Michigan had so much trouble with OSU’s full court press during their first meeting that almost all teams tried to full-court press Michigan for the rest of the season. During their second meeting, it was clear that Michigan had improved on breaking the press, but not by much. They still tended to turn over the ball by standing and looking for passes for so long that OSU could set up in their passing lanes. They had more success when ball-handlers drove the ball up the court, but the player who was best at this was Ari Wiggins, a speedy sophomore who seems allergic to shooting anything besides layups. 
2. The return of Laila Phelia. Phelia suffered a lower body injury at the end of the Minnesota game on January 29 and hasn’t played since. Phelia is a great ball-handler and would definitely help Michigan break the press. She can also create her own shots and has developed some range from 3 this year. KBA said in the aforementioned podcast that Phelia has been asking to play and that she expects her back either for the Big Ten Tournament or March Madness. Hopefully it’s soon. The last couple games at Crisler, Phelia took some shots during warmups, but never actually suited up. 

 

Key Players to watch: 

 

Ohio State:

• Taylor Mikesell: senior leader and top point scorer this year
• Rikki Harris: point guard, assist leader, all around nuisance on defense
• Cotie McMahon: stellar freshman

 

If Michigan makes it past Ohio State, they will probably host the first two rounds of March Madness at Crisler. Go Blue!