BATON ROUGE, La. — In a 
packed Pete Maravich Assem-
bly Center, the scenes at the two 
benches couldn’t have been more 
different. One by one, the Michi-
gan women’s basketball team’s 
seniors checked out of their final 
game, tearing up and embracing 
each other and their coaches.
Yet just a few feet over and 
throughout the stands, there 
were palpable waves of excite-
ment, waves that had been 
building since the first quarter. 
Because No. 3 seed LSU was 
advancing to its first Sweet Six-
teen in nine years, and it had 
done so by thoroughly dominat-
ing the sixth-seeded Wolverines.
The Tigers knocked Michigan 
out of the fight early. Unable to 
generate offense for the entire 
first half and unable to keep LSU 
off the glass, the Wolverines’ 
(23-10 overall) opportunity to 

advance to their third-straight 
Sweet Sixteen quickly slipped 
away as they fell to the Tigers 
(30-2), 66-42, on LSU’s home 
court.
“They were physical and real-
ly limited our scoring and didn’t 
allow us to get into rhythm,” 
Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico said postgame. “I thought 
they did a great job.” 
Both teams initially struggled 
to take the lid off the basket, 
shooting a combined 24% from 
the field in the first quarter, with 
the Wolverines mustering just 
seven points. But LSU created 
separation thanks to star for-
ward Angel Reese, who grabbed 
seven offensive rebounds in the 
period, giving her team a multi-
tude of second-chance opportu-
nities.
Then Tigers guard Jasmine 
Carson sent the crowd into a 
frenzy, draining three 3-point-
ers in the first three-and-a-half 
minutes of the second quarter 
to help put LSU up by 14 points 

and force a Michigan timeout to 
try to stop the bleeding. But the 
Wolverines continued struggling 
to score, entering halftime facing 
a 30-15 deficit. 
The Tigers’ defense stymied 
the Wolverines, all but eliminat-
ing the looks that they had relied 
on all season by taking away post 
entry passes and tightly guard-
ing the perimeter. Not only did 
Michigan score its lowest first-
half total by a large margin, but 
fifth-year wing Leigha Brown 
and senior guard Maddie Nolan 
— the team’s leading and fourth-
leading 
scorers, 
respectively 
— entered halftime with zero 
points to their names. 
“They were really overplaying. 
I mean, overplaying, overplay-
ing,” Barnes Arico said “Then 
when we got the ball inside, they 
really doubled down and were 
just taking away passing lanes 
for any open shots. Maddie didn’t 
even get a real clear look most of 
the game.”
To 
compound 
Michigan’s 

offensive struggles, Reese con-
tinued to dominate, notching a 
double-double by halftime and 
ending the game with 25 points, 
24 rebounds, six blocks and 
three steals. And each time she 
swatted a ball into the stands or 
finished through contact, she 
further electrified the crowd by 
whipping her arms around or 
griddying as she ran back down 
the court. 
But in the first minute of the 
second half, the Wolverines 
seemed to find new life. Scor-
ing five unanswered points in 55 
seconds, including a triple from 
Brown to finally get her on the 
scoreboard, Michigan forced the 
Tigers to take a timeout. 
An ensuing game-wide scor-
ing drought nearly three minutes 
long — filled with blocks, messy 
transition play and missed open 
looks — was broken by junior for-
ward Cameron Williams’ layup, 
finally bringing the Wolverines 
within single digits and giving 
them one last chance to save 

their season. But LSU had been 
there before, in a loss just a few 
weeks prior.
“We were up 17 against Ten-
nessee (in the SEC Tournament) 
and look what happened,” Reese 
said. “We couldn’t get comfort-
able. We came out, third quarter 
pretty slow. I think they were on 
a 5-0 run. Being able to come into 
the timeout and telling us ‘Stay 
poised, stay together. We have 
to address this right now so this 
doesn’t happen again, like it hap-
pened in SEC.’ ”
Despite the Wolverines scor-
ing more in the third quarter 
than they had the entire first 
half, the Tigers’ offense quickly 
reawakened, burying Michigan 
in a 16-point hole entering the 
final quarter of play.
And in the fourth, with soph-
omore guard Laila Phelia the 
only Wolverine able to generate 
consistent offense, LSU contin-
ued to grow its lead. A couple 
well-timed 3-pointers, emphatic 
blocks from Reese and transition 

buckets ballooned the Tigers’ 
lead and fully brought Michi-
gan’s season to a close. 
As the fourth quarter wore on, 
the reality set in for the Wolver-
ines — their season was over at 
the hands of a thorough disman-
tling from LSU.
“Unfortunately, tonight didn’t 
go how we wanted it to,” Brown 
said, choking back tears. “Just 
reflecting on the past three years 
and even this season, I wouldn’t 
change a thing. I wouldn’t trade 
it for the world. Super happy to 
have all these girls by my side.”
Well before the final buzzer 
sounded, benches cleared and 
seniors hugged as the clock 
wound down on the game — and 
on Michigan’s season, too.
Because there would be no 
shot of a comeback, no final 
play to try to extend the season. 
Emphatic play after emphatic 
play, dagger after dagger, the 
Tigers had knocked the Wolver-
ines down and left no room for 
them to get back up.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, March 22, 2023 — 11
SportsTuesday

Michigan’s season comes to a close in Round of 32, 
falling to LSU, 66-42

LIZA CUSHNIR
Daily Sports Writer

KNOCKED
OUT

LSU 66
MICH 42

ANNA FUDER/Daily
ANNA FUDER/Daily

ANNA FUDER/Daily

