No. 14 Michigan women’s basketball puts its 3-game win streak on the line tonight (8:15 PM, EST) when they host the one-loss, 6th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, MI.
The Michigan women’s basketball team is coming off a convincing road win in Piscataway, New Jersey last Thursday. Michigan basketball also boasts previous wins over in-state rival, the Michigan State Spartans, and the Purdue Boilermakers. The Wolverines have just one loss so far this calendar year as they fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes in a high scoring affair earlier this month.
Previewing Indiana
The Indiana Hooisers come into tonight’s matchup with an incredible 17-1 record and the winners of five-straight in their own right. The Hoosiers started the season off scorching hot, winning 12-straight games including impressive non-conference victories over Tennessee and North Carolina. Indiana’s lone loss this season came in East Lansing, when they fell to the Spartans, 83-78.
The Hoosiers are led by star senior forward, Mackenzie Holmes, who leads the team in scoring (21.7), rebounding (8.2), blocks (1.7), and shoots an impressive .668 from the field. The first step to secure a Wolverine victory tonight will be to slow down Holmes, who’s coming off excellent back-to-back games in wins over Wisconsin (29 points, 8 rebounds) and Illinois (30 points, 10 rebounds).
Indiana has three other scorers currently averaging double digits, as Yardon Garzon (12.4), Sydney Parrish (12.3), and Grace Berger (11.8) all can fill up the hoop with ease.
Michigan women’s basketball so far
Luckily, the Wolverines are equipped to slow down Indiana’s high scoring offense, as the defense has been excellent most of the year. The Wolverines have held three straight opponents to under 60 points, and 10 teams total so far this season. Unsurprisingly, the Wolverines are undefeated when doing so and have only lost one game when holding a team to less than 70 points.
Michigan is led in scoring by graduate seniors Emily Kiser (17.6), Leigha Brown (15.8) and sophomore Laila Phelia (16.7). Kiser also leads the team in rebounds (6.8), while Brown does so in assists (6.0) and Phelia leads the defense in both steals (1.7) and blocks (0.7).
A win would keep the Wolverines in contention for the Big Ten title, placing them in a three way tie for third place with Indiana — IU currently sits second behind the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes and Maryland.
Tip-off is at 8:15 pm on FS2, and will move to the Big Ten Network following the conclusion of the Wisconsin-Northwestern men’s basketball game.
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