Michigan women’s basketball breakout sophomore shines in win over SIUE

Coach Kim Barnes Arico and the Wolverines took on SIUE in their final home game until December 16. After coming off a big win over Eastern Michigan 80-44 late last week, it was going to be tough to top the most recent performance. However, they somehow managed to, as Michigan women’s basketball sophomore forward Alyssa Crockett led the team to a 103-59 victory.

Michigan women’s basketball sophomore Alyssa Crockett takes over in win over SIUE

The Wolverines may have come out on top by nearly half a hundred, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Early on, coach Kim Barnes Arico and her squad found themselves down early, trailing by as much as four.

However, all it took was one substitution and Alyssa Crockett had clearly seen enough. SIUE was up 12-8 with a little less than six minutes to go in the first quarter when the Michigan women’s basketball sophomore began her rampage.

She would go on to score 10 in the first quarter alone, while adding two assists to the tally to help her team to a 28-17 lead at the break.

The Wolverines wouldn’t look back, as the SIUE Cougars scored just 42 more in the entire game.

Big (team) win pic.twitter.com/LivUhHbbym

— Michigan Women’s Basketball (@umichwbball) November 30, 2023

On the day, Crockett did just about everything for her squad, recording 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block off the bench.

It was a major performance for the breakout sophomore, and one that continued a trend we’ve been seeing from her all season long.

The star forward has been on a rampage through 2023

As a freshman in 2022-23, Alyssa Crockett was solid. Coming out of high school as the No. 48 player in the class of 2022, there was little doubt that she had the talent to make an impact, but it was a matter of opportunity.

So, while averaging just 8.2 minutes per game, the young forward did what every freshman in the country should do – playing scrappy defense and going hard for every loose ball. In turn, she averaged 1.7 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.6 steals and 0.3 blocks per game.

While her sophomore averages haven’t seen a major jump yet, it’s not hard to see the improvement of late. After playing just 29 minutes total in the first four games combined, she’s now averaging 17.3 minutes per game over the last three.

Her numbers have soared because of it too, as she’s recorded at least one steal in each of those appearances to go along with shooting the ball at an impressive 58.3 percent from the field.

Crockett, corner pocket

Alyssa up to a career-best 13 points#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/mdwzHwU8W5

— Michigan Women’s Basketball (@umichwbball) November 30, 2023

The stars are finally aligning for the former four-star recruit out of Westfield, IN. Expect to see plenty more of the breakout sophomore as she looks to become a consistent contributor in the near future.

Thank you for reading Blue by Ninety. For more Michigan Athletics and Big Ten content from Blue by Ninety, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Publisher at [email protected]. Also, be sure to check out our shop and our podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms. It is because of your support that we have become one of the fastest-growing and most influential Michigan media outlets there is