Michigan
23-6,13-4Big Ten
American
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Michigan Overwhelms American for First-Round NCAA Tournament Win at Home
3/19/2022 5:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball
» Michigan defeated American in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and will move on to play Villanova in the second round on Monday (March 21).
» Hillmon led all players with 24 points, despite not playing in the fourth quarter.
» The Wolverines trailed midway through the first quarter but went on a 35-5 run over 14 minutes and took a commanding lead into halftime.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Powered by Naz Hillmon's fourth career NCAA Tournament double-double, the No. 3-seeded University of Michigan women's basketball team shook off a slow start and never looked back en route to a decisive rout of No. 14 seed American, 74-39, in the NCAA Tournament first round Saturday afternoon (March 19) at Crisler Center.
The Wolverines will play No. 11 seed Villanova in the second round on Monday (March 21) at Crisler Center. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and will be televised on ESPNU. Tickets are on sale at MGoBlue.com/tickets. Villanova advanced with a 61-57 upset of No. 6 seed BYU in the site's first game Saturday.
Hillmon did not play in the fourth quarter of what was the first NCAA Tournament game hosted by the Wolverines, but she still stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting and a team-leading 11 rebounds -- the ninth NCAA Tournament double-double in program history -- to go along with a team-leading three steals and an assist to propel the Wolverines into the second round of the tournament for the fourth straight time.
Michigan trailed midway through the first quarter but uncorked a massive 35-5 run over 14 minutes of game time leading into halftime -- including a decisive 28-5 edge in the second quarter -- to take control of the game. After starting the game 2-for-11 from the field, Michigan hit 15 of its next 24 shots as Hillmon scored 15 points while U-M held American to 2-of-18 during the same frame.
Though the competition between the two teams was less lopsided in the second half, the Wolverines still controlled the game and grew their lead to as large as 39 points in the fourth quarter.
Emily Kiser added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting with seven rebounds, and Leigha Brown chipped in 11 points, including 2-of-3 on three-pointers, to go with a team-best six assists. Powered by Hillmon and Kiser, the Wolverines had more points in the paint (48) than did the Eagles in total (39).
The Wolverines took a moment to find their stride in front of their home crowd, allowing the Eagles to jump out to an early lead, 8-4, midway through the first quarter. Michigan hit just two shots in the first five minutes of the game but took control for the remainder of the period after the first media timeout at 4:40 left.
A Brown steal led to a fastbreak layup for Hillmon that started Michigan's 7-0 run to end the quarter. Hillmon hit another layup on the next possession to tie it up, 8-8, with 3:14 to go, and Brown hit a three to give Michigan a lead, 11-8, it carried into the second period.
Hillmon kept the run going as she converted a three-point and-one opportunity right out of the gates in the second. American stopped the Michigan run at 10-0 with a jumper, but the Wolverines kept rolling as Hillmon and Kiser punished the Eagles in the paint and Maddie Nolan hit a three-pointer to open up a wide advantage, 21-10, and force an American timeout.
The momentum was not be interrupted, however, as Hillmon scored six straight points out of the break and Brown capitalized on a Kiser steal to stretch the Michigan advantage to 19 points, 29-10.
American finally broke what had ballooned to a 25-2 Michigan run with a free throw and layup, but the Wolverines responded decisively with a pair of layups from Laila Phelia and a three-pointer from Kiser on consecutive possessions to build a 23-point advantage, 36-13, and capped off the half with a Brown triple with two seconds left on the clock to take the lead to the locker room, 39-16.
Kiser scored four straight points to give Michigan a 30-point edge out of the halftime break, 43-13, but the Eagles played the Wolverines tougher for much of the third. American did not get closer than 25 points, however. Hillmon clinched her 49th career double-double late in the third quarter with her 10th board on an offensive rebound putback opportunity as she ended up scoring the last four points of the quarter to open up a 32-point advantage, 57-25.
Seven different Wolverines scored in the final 10 minutes as the Wolverines outscored American 17-14 in the period and grew the lead to as large as 39 points, 68-29, with five minutes to go in the game.
