Michigan
23-10
Baylor
33-1
Wolverines Stay Close Early, but Baylor Pulls Away to End U-M's NCAA Run
3/18/2018 11:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
» Hallie Thome made her first 11 shots en route to a 22-point night, becoming the first Wolverine with multiple 20-point NCAA Tournament games.
» After trailing by eight at halftime, Michigan was within three points early in the third quarter before Baylor went on a 13-0 run.
» Katelynn Flaherty, U-M's all-time leading scorer, tallied 18 points to end her brilliant career with 2,776 points.
Site: Waco, Texas (Ferrell Center)
Event: NCAA Tournament (Second Round)
Score: #2 Baylor 80, Michigan 58
Records: U-M (23-10), BU (33-1)
Next U-M Event: Season Completed
WACO, Texas -- No. 2-ranked Baylor, the No. 2 seed in the Lexington Regional, used a 13-0 third-quarter burst to blow open a close game and end the University of Michigan women's basketball team's season, 80-58, in the NCAA Tournament second round Sunday night (March 18) at the Ferrell Center.
Junior Hallie Thome made her first 11 shots on the way to a team-high 22 points, becoming the first Wolverine ever with multiple 20-point games in NCAA Tournament play. She had 24 against Northern Colorado in the first round. Senior Katelynn Flaherty, the school's all-time leading scorer, capped her brilliant career with an 18-point night to finish with 2,776 career points.
Thome (18) and Flaherty (12) combined for 30 of Michigan's 34 points in the first half, and the Wolverines trailed by just eight, 42-34, at the break. However, Baylor shut down Michigan's top offensive threats in the second half, limiting them to 10 total points and holding Michigan to 26.7 percent shooting (8-30).
Operating against 6-foot-7 Kalani Brown, Thome used her agility and extensive repertoire of post moves to score 18 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first half to keep the Wolverines in the game. On the other end of the court, Michigan had no answer for 6-foot-4 forward Lauren Cox, who tallied 14 points with seven rebounds in the first half to lead the Lady Bears.
After Thome opened the game's scoring, Baylor scored seven straight points before back-to-back triples from Flaherty, the second in transition, gave U-M an early 8-7 edge. Her third triple of the quarter pushed the U-M advantage to five, 19-14, with 2:02 on the clock. However, Cox scored six straight points to close the quarter with the Lady Bears on top, 20-19.
Baylor carried its momentum into the second quarter with baskets by Cox and Brown preceding a Wolverine shot clock violation that prompted Kim Barnes Arico to call timeout at the 8:23 mark. Thome rattled off eight straight Michigan points, the last bucket coming after a nice feed from freshman Deja Church, and Church's fast-break layup made it 37-34 Baylor with 2:11 on the clock. However, the Lady Bears scored the last five points of the quarter to lead, 42-34, at halftime.
Thome put back a Wolverine miss and got a friendly bounce on a layup to draw Michigan within three, 44-41, at the 7:10 mark of the third quarter, but then Baylor went on its 13-0 run, racing out to a 57-41 bulge while holding the Wolverines scoreless for more than five minutes. Flaherty's deep three-pointer ended the drought, but Baylor closed the period with two buckets off U-M turnovers to lead, 63-46, after three.
Church got a kind bounce off the front iron to start the fourth quarter, and sophomore Akienreh Johnson nailed a three-pointer to pull Michigan within 14, 65-51. But Baylor's Juicy Landrum answered with a triple on the next possession, and the Lady Bears won going away to advance to the Sweet 16.
Church scored eight points off the bench for Michigan, while Johnson added six points and a team-best seven rebounds. All five Baylor starters scored in double digits, led by Cox with 18. Landrum and Alexis Morris each had 17.
