Emma Mati & Olivia Cell / Daily Design by Jack Silberman
‘M’ TOPS OAKLAND DAYS AFTER BEATING ‘CUSE IN OT
Monday, December 9, 2019 | michigandaily.com
A grueling, late-night victory against one
of the country’s most consistent powerhouses
can leave a team limping unsuspectingly
into a game two days later against a weaker
in-state opponent, ripe to be upset.
Instead, Michigan’s momentum from
the end of Thursday’s electric victory over
Syracuse continued into Sunday as the
24th-ranked Wolverines (8-1) muscled their
way to a 79-64 win over Oakland (4-4).
The victory wasn’t without its struggles.
A high-scoring first quarter ended in a tight
22-21 lead for Michigan, but a strong second
quarter gave the team essential breathing
room to sustain its lead, coming into half up,
40-28.
The Grizzlies narrowed the gap to four
points with 2:18 left in the third quarter, going
on a 13-4 run over the span of three minutes
and missing only one shot.
Just as they did in the second quarter,
though, the Wolverines slammed the door
shut with offensive rebounds and second-
chance points, freezing the heat Oakland built
up on the offensive end.
“I think just really making in-game
adjustments, that’s the biggest thing coach
has challenged us on,” said sophomore guard
Amy Dilk. “Being able to recognize how a
team is scoring, and then stopping that player
or that set from executing.”
Despite the Grizzlies shooting 60 percent
from the field in the first quarter and going
3-for-4 from beyond the arc, Michigan kept
pace by playing to two of its strengths —
one emerging in its most recent matchups,
another a season-long dominance.
The Wolverines forced seven turnovers
in the first quarter, scoring 10 points off
Oakland’s mistakes — eventually finishing
with 29 points off turnovers. Senior forward
Kayla Robbins, who is becoming one of the
team’s most impressive defenders, had three
steals in the first quarter.
Unlike the previous game, however,
Michigan found its success without laying out
its press-and-trap defense, instead reading the
Grizzlies’ passes from the start. Dilk, senior
guard Akienreh Johnson and Robbins all
converted easy, full-court runs for layups.
On the offensive glass, nothing could stop
the Wolverines, who tallied six offensive
rebounds in the first quarter alone, totaling
17 after 40 minutes. Freshman center Izabel
Varejão, at one point, put up a layup and
missed, but followed it up with a standing
offensive rebound and a second-chance layup.
“I think that’s a strength of our team,”
said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico.
“(Johnson), (Robbins) and especially Naz
(Hillmon) are just tremendous, tremendous
offensive rebounders. So don’t get
discouraged on that first shot not falling, but
keep tracking it down.”
All told, the Wolverines showed they could
bend, but not break, against a streaky offense
that could hurt them from beyond the arc.
And when they were pushed, they pushed
back — going on an eight-point run to close
out the third quarter.
Even with its overpowering starting five,
Michigan needed its bench to spur on the
starters who were dealing with their own set
of nicks and bruises from the overtime affair
on Thursday.
In the second quarter, freshman guard
Maddie Nolan checked in and, after dishing
a backward pass to Johnson, was standing
alone, unguarded, in the corner. Johnson held
onto the ball and took a long three as the shot
clock wound down, bouncing off the front of
the rim. Nolan anticipated the bounce and
was all alone to collect the rebound, split two
defenders and finished through contact.
As time wound down in the fourth quarter,
junior guard Priscilla Smeenge caught fire
and drained two 3-pointers and two layups.
“We were dragging a little bit, and we
talked about it this morning, what can we
change up if we need a little bit of a spark,”
Barnes Arico said. “We talked about maybe
putting (Smeenge) at the front of the press.
She’s just so athletic. Having her run around
a little bit and be annoying, and just give us a
little bit of a lift.”
Added Smeenge: “We’ve had a lot of back-
to-back games these past couple days, like a
lot of people were kind of tired and we had a
lot of injuries coming into today’s game and so
you never know when you’ve got to be ready
when your number’s called. It was really
exciting, I mean my teammates did a great job
of finding me and having confidence in me to
shoot it, so it was really helpful to have their
support.”
The Wolverines ultimately avoided a
collapse, springing forward and keeping
momentum from Thursday’s win.
KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer
WOLVERINES 84 ORANGE 76 (OT)
WOLVERINES 79 GOLDEN GRIZZLIES 64