The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Sports Tuesday, March 12, 2019 — 7 Breaking down Michigan’s key players from the 2018-19 campaign Two-thirds of the ways through the season, the Michigan women’s basketball team looked doomed for mediocrity. But the Wolverines completely turned things around, winning nine of their final 11 games. Starting with a Feb. 1 victory over No. 10 Iowa, Michigan powered its way through the Big Ten to secure fourth place in the conference standings — its second-best finish in Kim Barnes Arico’s seven-year tenure as coach. Guided by their star co-captain seniors, guard Nicole Munger and center Hallie Thome, and a pair of standout freshmen in guard Amy Dilk and forward Naz Hillmon, the Wolverines are now on the cusp of their second-straight NCAA Tournament berth. The Daily breaks down the seasons these four players put together. Amy Dilk Possibly no freshman in the country came into the season with larger shoes to fill than Dilk. Slotted into the point guard position from day one, Dilk had to replace Michigan’s all-time leading scorer, Katelynn Flaherty. While Dilk may not have been the Wolverines’ most consistent player, no game proved her worth more than Michigan’s Nov. 25 affair with Washington. In just her sixth collegiate game, Dilk registered a stat line of 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in an 80-73 victory. Oftentimes throughout the season, Dilk struggled to consistently score. But Barnes Arico overlooked her struggles and realized the importance of having Dilk on the court. When Dilk was out with a knee injury for three games, Barnes Arico noticed a difference in her team and a slight increase in sloppy play. “Amy was probably averaging about 35 minutes a game and she had the ball in her hands, especially under pressure,” Barnes Arico said after a Feb. 14 win over Indiana in which her team committed 20 turnovers. “A lot of decision making came through her.” Barnes Arico has consistently praised Dilk’s high basketball IQ and said she would not have preferred anyone else run the point position this season. Naz Hillmon Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, Big Ten media selection for Freshman of the Year, Big Ten All-Freshman Team and First Team All-Big Ten. These are the accolades that Hillmon can claim with the regular season now in the books. Despite not starting a game, Hillmon led the Wolverines in field goal percentage (.626), points per game (13.2), rebounds per game (6.9) and tied for second on the team in steals (31). She has dazzled in competition all season. In her first four games, the freshman forward shot an absurd 26-for- 31 while scoring more than 20 points in two of those games. Since then, it has been much of the same for Hillmon, whose motor leads the Wolverines’ press defense. “(Hillmon’s) energy is contagious,” Barnes Arico said after Hillmon’s 22 points and eight rebounds against Detroit- Mercy. “I think she just does a tremendous job of bringing it each and every single day. I think it’s definitely a difference-maker in our program’s success, so it’s great to have her.” Hallie Thome Coming into the season, Thome was expected to be the offensive leader of the team. And while a nagging back injury may have caused the senior center to have lackluster performances at Penn State and Michigan State, she put together a season to remember. Averaging 12.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, Thome earned First Team All- Big Ten honors — selected by the Big Ten coaches — for the third consecutive season. Along the way, Thome recorded her 2,000th career point and positioned herself in second place on the Michigan all-time leading scorers list. “2,000 points is a lot of points,” Barnes Arico said on WTKA on Feb. 19. “It means from the minute she stepped on campus, she has made an immediate impact on our program. She’s been such a special player for us. A 6-foot-5 kid that can really do anything. “I mean she has such great soft hands, able to catch any pass you throw up, finishes well around the rim, ability to offensively rebound the ball and just has a great touch and a great feel for the game.” Nicole Munger Seen as the leader of the Wolverines, Munger saved her best for her final season at Michigan. Earning Third Team All-Big Ten honors for the first time in her career, the senior averaged 9.9 points per game, good for third on the team, and shot the second-highest three-point percentage on the team (.345) despite taking nearly 40 percent of the team’s three- point attempts (168). But what Munger brought to the table this season went well beyond the stat sheet. Take the Wolverines’ Feb. 14 matchup with Indiana. With 30 seconds on the clock and a five- point lead, Munger took a charge — despite having four fouls — to give the ball back to Michigan and seal the game. Or how about on Jan. 24, also against the Hoosiers? Munger went flying into the band trying to save a loose ball, walking away with a giant bruise on her leg from diving into a tuba. Munger provided an endless supply of these high-intensity moments throughout the season, and that’s what Barnes Arico loves the most about her senior co-captain. “(Munger’s) just a special kid,” Barnes Arico said. “I think she’s been the heart and soul of our team since the minute she walked on campus. … She’s a tremendous basketball player but she’s even a better person.” With only the NCAA Tournament remaining, Dilk, Hillmon, Thome and Munger hope to lead Michigan past the first weekend for the first time in program history. Luckily for them, they’ll have help from sophomore guard Deja Church, sophomore forward Hailey Brown, junior guard Akienreh Johnson and junior forward Kayla Robbins who have all had clutch performances throughout the season. But now the burden is on Michigan’s four stars to continue their strong regular seasons into March and deliver. BENNETT BRAMSON Daily Sports Writer Wolverines knock off No. 2 UCLA but go 1-2 at Dodgertown Classic After four hours of action, the No. 16 Michigan baseball team (9-4) was looking to stay alive in the bottom of the tenth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Freshman right-hander Willie Weiss had given up a bases- loaded walk to put Oklahoma State up, 3-2, in the top of the inning, and it was now up to the bottom of the Wolverines’ order to keep the game alive. All three batters struck out swinging. “(Weiss) had the one tough inning, a couple of hits fall, you don’t get a couple of calls and end up with some walks, that happens,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “It was just magnified because it was the tenth inning, but I thought the numbers didn’t tell the whole story because he made some gutsy pitches in some huge spots.” The extra-inning loss proved to exemplify Michigan’s performance over the weekend. An impressive outing by the starting pitchers — all three gave up just two earned runs — and error-free defense kept the Wolverines in the games despite a struggling offense scoring two runs on Saturday and one run on Sunday, dropping two of three games to USC and Oklahoma State while beating No. 2 UCLA. “We certainly had opportunities to execute on this trip that we didn’t get done,” Bakich said. “Whether it was getting bunts down or moving runners over, and those are the things that need repetition. Those are the things that we haven’t been able to do in training. We need to work on those areas, we had a lot of outs on the bases from this trip, whether it be caught stealing or pick-offs. Those are very costly mistakes against really good teams.” This past weekend’s competition was against some of their toughest competition this year and proved to be a big test for Michigan early in the season. With four runs in the first inning, the Wolverines got off to a quick start on Friday against the Bruins and never looked back on their way to a 7-5 upset victory. Saturday, though, Michigan’s offense stagnated. Scoring one unearned run in the sixth inning, the Wolverines fell to USC, 4-1. Sunday, the offense scored just two runs against the Cowboys, both batted in by sophomore outfielder Jordan Nwogu, who had a great individual performance with an RBI single and a solo home run in the 10-inning loss. “Players are just out of their routine,” Bakich said. “They just aren’t getting the drill work in they normally get. The hitters aren’t hitting off the tee and getting their cage routine in. It’s just you show up to the games, you do batting practice and you get as much as you can in those opportunities.” After the weekend series, just two players have a batting average over .300, and the team went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the two losses this weekend. Junior left-hander Tommy Henry gained his fourth win of the season against the Bruins, even though he gave up his first runs of the year. The other weekend starters had similar performances, keeping the Wolverines in the game. Junior right-hander Karl Kauffmann allowed just two runs against USC on Saturday and sophomore right-hander Jeff Criswell also gave up two runs to the Cowboys, striking out 12. “We’ve been very fortunate to get the starting pitching we’ve gotten from Tommy Henry, Karl Kauffmann and Jeff Criswell,” Bakich said. “They’ve been workhorses thus far, especially Tommy and Karl.” Having won one of their last five, Michigan has work to do. “It was a let down against USC and it was a let down (Sunday),” Bakich said. “The only thing you can do when it feels like there’s a let down is learn from it, grow from it, get better from it. So that’s what we want to do. We want to find ways to keep improving as the season keeps going.” Mixed bag for ‘M’ relief pitching On Saturday, the No. 16 Michigan baseball team was locked into a defensive battle with Southern California. Through seven innings, junior right-hander Karl Kauffman allowed two runs while the Wolverines faced a one-run deficit. But in the next inning, relief pitchers sophomore left- hander Angelo Smith and junior right-hander Jack Weisenburger allowed two runs adding to the deficit. In the bottom of the eighth, Smith walked the first batter, Chase Bushor, on four consecutive pitches. Bushor then advanced to second base after a wild pitch. Four pitches later, Matthew Acosta singled up the middle, sending Bushor to third. At this moment, Michigan coach Erik Bakich saw fit to make another change, and Smith was replaced by Weisenburger. Weisenberger was unable to stop the bleeding as the Trojans would score two additional runs off a sacrifice fly and another single to put the game to bed, 4-1. “The relievers, it’s just who we feel good about in that situation against the opposing hitters that are coming up that have the best chance to put a zero up and get quick outs for us,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “And most of the time, it’s like any baseball game. You feel good about it going in, but sometimes, you don’t always get the call, or a guy bloops one in or a pitch isn’t executed or whatever happens happens.” In a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma State on Sunday, Bakich got the call right as the relievers gave up just a single run. Michigan’s traditional pillars of the program have been their defense and their pitching. Thus far this season, their hitting has been a pleasant surprise. But, at the Dodgertown Classic, the relief pitching was a mixed bag and the bats fell flat. The Wolverines have lost four out of their last five on the West Coast, and the increased competition is a good measuring stick for Michigan against warmer-climate teams with more repetitions under their belt. The relief pitching was solid Friday against UCLA with the exception of an outfield mistake that led to runs. Freshman right- hander Willie Weiss came in for junior left-hander Tommy Henry in the bottom of the seventh and was looking to close out the game up 6-2. Weiss got two outs, but had the bases were loaded before a misplayed ball in the outfield led to a bases- clearing triple for the Bruins. But this didn’t faze Weiss as he bounced back with consecutive 1-2-3 innings to close out the win. “The relief pitching we got on Friday from Willie Weiss was really good,” Bakich said. “He got three outs and we dropped a pop-up in foul territory and as kinda what happens when you give good teams extra chances, they make you pay for it. Then the guy hit the bases-clearing triple but he actually (went through) that particular inning unscathed. “I thought a huge moment in that game was where he showed some pretty good poise for a freshman after giving up three runs and having a really tough inning to come back pitch the eighth and the ninth scoreless. Put up zeros against an excellent UCLA team, maybe the best team in the country, so the relief pitching was good there.” Relief pitching is a delicate mechanism, and the season is still in its infancy. But this facet of baseball can make or break teams, and a questionable bullpen is not an issue a team wants to have when competing for championships. “We have some guys that need to mechanically iron out a few things,” Bakich said, “Haven’t gotten off to a great start but, you know, it’s early and there is plenty of season left and plenty of growth opportunities left for everyone, position players and pitchers alike.” ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily Senior shooting guard Nicole Munger has been a leader for the Wolverines this season, along with averaging 9.9 points per game shooting 34.5 percent from three. KENT SCHWARTZ Daily Sports Writer AVI RAJENDRA-NICOLUCCI Daily Sports Writer CARTER FOX/Daily Junior right-hander Jack Weisenburger and Michigan’s other relievers had an up and down weekend in California. She had the ball in her hands, especially under pressure. (Freshman Naz Hillmon’s) energy is contagious. (Munger’s) just a special kid. ... She’s been the heart and soul. She has made an immediate impact on our program. You do batting practice and you get as much as you can.