Michigan
Kansas State
Bench, Double-Digit Runs Lift Wolverines to NCAA First-Round Victory
3/22/2019 5:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
» Nicole Munger became the 28th 1,000-point scorer in program history when she connected on a three-pointer with 1:20 left in the second quarter.
» Naz Hillmon had a team-best 17 points and game-high 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.
» Michigan's bench players accounted for 38 points, and the Wolverines out-rebounded the Wildcats, 50-19.
» U-M, which advanced the NCAA second round for the second straight year, will face No. 1 seed Louisville on Sunday (March 24).
Site: Louisville, Ky. (KFC Yum! Center)
Event: NCAA Tournament (First Round)
Score: Michigan 84, Kansas State 54
Records: U-M (22-11), KSU (21-12)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 24 -- at Louisville - NCAA Tournament Second Round (Louisville, Ky.), Time TBA
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The No. 8-seeded University of Michigan women's basketball team received a big lift from its bench and used multiple double-digit runs to score an 84-54 win over No. 9 seed Kansas State in NCAA Tournament first-round action Friday (March 22) at the KFC Yum! Center. The Wolverines built a 43-28 halftime lead and maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the second half to advance to the second round for the second straight year.
Michigan (22-11) will meet site host Louisville (30-3) in the second round Sunday (March 24, time TBA). Louisville, ranked fifth in the nation and seeded No. 1 in Albany Region, was a 69-34 winner over Robert Morris in the NCAA Tournament's first game.
Michigan's bench players combined for 38 points, led by freshman Naz Hillmon, who logged a team-best 17 points and game-high 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double, and junior Kayla Robbins, who tallied 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
Senior Nicole Munger (13 points) and sophomore Deja Church (12 points) also scored in double digits, with Church adding seven rebounds and seven assists to a strong all-around performance. Munger became the 28th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, ending the game with 1,002.
Michigan dominated the glass with a 50-19 rebounding advantage, including a 28-8 edge in the second half, as 12 Wolverines grabbed at least one rebound, and U-M used good passing and 17 offensive rebounds to score 52 points in the paint.
The Wolverines trailed 8-4 after five and a half minutes of action before going on a 12-0 run kicked off by Munger's triple from the left baseline off a feed from Church. Robbins added a three-point play off an assist from freshman Amy Dilk and capped the run with a follow of Dilk's miss after a steal to make it 16-8 at the 0:57 mark. Robbins added a putback of a Church miss to give U-M an 18-11 lead after 10 minutes. Robbins finished the quarter with nine points on 4-of-4 from the field and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line and added three offensive rebounds and a steal in just four minutes of action.
Michigan scored the first four points of the second quarter to go up, 22-14, but Kansas State rained three-pointers on three of its next four possession to slash the lead to three, 26-23, leading to a Michigan timeout. Coming out the break, Hillmon cleaned up her own miss to make it 28-23 and ignite a 17-0 run. Munger tallied seven points during the stretch, capped by a three-pointer from the top of the key that gave her 1,001 career points. Church drove hard for a basket after a Wildcats turnover to push the Wolverines' lead to 20 (43-23) before Kansas State ended the drought with a basket and three-pointer for a 43-28 game at the break.
Michigan's pressure led to 11 Kansas State turnovers in the first half, and the Wolverines doubled up the Wildcats on the boards, 22-11, including 10 rebounds on the offensive end. Munger had nine points in the second quarter and 12 in the half, while Robbins (nine points), Hillmon (seven) and junior Akienreh Johnson accounted for Michigan's 19 points off the bench.
Kansas State cut Michigan's lead to 13 points a couple times early in the third quarter, but the Wolverines then embarked on a 16-4 run as the lead swelled to 25 (61-36) on Johnson's layup with 2:23 on the clock. Hillmon scored six points during the run, and Michigan carried a 63-40 advantage into the fourth quarter.
After KSU made a free throw to open the fourth-quarter scoring, Michigan put together an 11-0 run, punctuated by three-pointers from Church and Dilk, for a 74-41 edge with 8:30 to play. The Wolverines led by as many as 37 in closing out the dominant effort. The 30-point margin of victory marks Michigan's largest NCAA Tournament win, surpassing its 75-61 triumph over Northern Colorado last year.
Kansas State's Christianna Carr led all scorers with 21 points, while Michigan limited Peyton Williams, the Wildcats' leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, to three points on 1-of-6 shooting.
