It’s been almost boring to watch a game with the No. 6 Michigan women’s basketball team, a team so dominant that it has handily won nearly all of its conquests. Before Thursday, they were ranked first in the Big Ten in points per game at 92.4, a statistic that finds its basis in the Wolverines’ many commanding 100-plus point performances.
With such control over the competition, it has been easy to ignore Michigan’s mistakes. Slow starts, drops in momentum and game-wide miscues are forgettable in the big picture when the Wolverines score 30-to-40 point victories. But Thursday against the Huskies, Michigan couldn’t find success where it usually conquers, and so the little things finally started adding up.
“I think our schedule is there, and we’re really going to be tested with size, with strength, with athleticism,” Wolverines coach Kim Barnes Arico said Nov. 4. “…people’s ability to really rebound basketball will be tested with our schedule.”
As stated, prior to Thursday, the Wolverines averaged 92.4 points per game. Against Washington, they scored just 52 — their lowest total of the season. The Huskies made quick work of cutting off Michigan’s passing lanes and smothering it with defense to stunt its scoring completely. Additionally, while the Wolverines usually command the glass, Washington bested them there with 43 rebounds to their 27.
Because Michigan couldn’t triumph in its usual spots, its mistakes only piled onto the madness. While the Wolverines actually committed fewer turnovers than their opponents, they gave them up at critical moments that shifted the momentum of the game entirely. In the first quarter alone, a bad pass turnover by sophomore guard Syla Swords and a travel by junior forward Ashley Sofilkanich handed the Huskies a pair of layups that extended them to an early 8-0 lead.
Later, Michigan returned from halftime with a significant deficit to climb, and instead of pulling momentum back in its favor, two subsequent lost-ball turnovers allowed Washington to claim its highest lead of the night at 20 points. These mishandlings of the ball haven’t been uncommon this season. While the Wolverines had 13 turnovers Thursday, they had 19 against both Harvard and Syracuse earlier in the season — but those mistakes didn’t matter as both were teams that they beat by 30+ points.
Fouls have also been a great deal of trouble for Michigan. Sophomore guard Mila Holloway has found herself in foul trouble a couple of times this season, and did again against the Huskies, forcing her absence for much of the final quarter. Even when fouls don’t deplete the Wolverines’ roster, they provide numerous free-throw opportunities for their opponents. Washington feasted on those, gaining nearly a quarter of their total points from free throws alone. To boot, when it does draw a foul, Michigan just doesn’t find the same success at the line, boasting the lowest free-throw percentage in the Big Ten, and only making nine of their 17 shots from the Huskies’ fouls.
“Free throws is obviously something that we have to get better at,” Barnes Arico said Dec. 13 following their win over Akron. “Like I said, we’re such a good shooting team. We should not be this poor from the free-throw line. So that’s a focus and concentration.”
Amid all of this, Michigan usually faced periods of inconsistency that allowed Washington to drive the score through monumental, but quick, scoring runs. Senior guard Brooke Quarles Daniels led the way in the Wolverines’ quality defense, recording three of their 11 steals — while the Huskies had just eight — and produced a high-pressure defense that forced a few shot-clock violations for Washington. But this sometimes high-pressure defense fell into lulls, allowing the Huskies large scoring runs that would be their primary source in drastically extending their lead.
In just two minutes in the second quarter, Washington tallied 11 points in under three minutes, an offensive showing so efficient that it seemed as though no one was there to stop it. Again, this is an issue that Michigan faced earlier in the season, especially during the second quarter of an otherwise dominant 40-plus point victory over Central Michigan.
With these issues, the Wolverines have still accumulated many high-caliber wins, a testament to the high ceiling they show when playing their best. And yet, Thursday’s matchup against the Huskies is a reminder of the other side — when all the other pieces don’t click, it’s the little things that can seal away a game for good.
