Michigan
15-3,5-2Big Ten
Michigan State
10-8,2-5Big Ten
Wolverines Pack Crisler, Capture Rivalry Win over Michigan State
1/14/2023 5:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team forced 22 turnovers and led by as many as 18 points in a 70-55 win over Michigan State in front of 10,534 fans Saturday afternoon (Jan. 14) at Crisler Center. It is the first time in program history that Michigan has played in front of back-to-back home crowds of at least 10,000.
Michigan had four players score in double figures, led by another Leigha Brown gem -- 17 points, two rebounds, six assists and two steals. Emily Kiser went for 14 points, six boards and two assists, with Laila Phelia (12) and Maddie Nolan (10) rounding out Michigan's top scorers. U-M forced the Spartans into 22 turnovers, resulting in 22 points for the Maize and Blue. U-M shot 43.4 percent from the floor but hit nine of 20 triples, while holding Michigan State to 35.1 percent shooting from the floor and a 15.8 percent showing from distance.
MSU started fast, grabbing an 8-2 lead in the early going off a pair of three-pointers. U-M slowly chipped away at the lead, with Brown scoring five straight points and Michigan holding MSU scoreless for nearly six minutes. Brown's triple with 2:48 remaining in the period gave U-M its first lead of the day at 9-8.
U-M led 14-11 after the first quarter, with Phelia and Cameron Williams scoring the final baskets of the frame for U-M.
The Spartans regained a 15-14 lead in the early seconds of the second quarter, opening with four straight points. Michigan countered with back-to-back triples from Phelia and Nolan for a 20-15 advantage with 8:20 left in the second quarter. Michigan never trailed again in the game.
Michigan's lead grew to as many as 10 down the stretch before the half, with Ari Wiggins finding Williams underneath for a layup with 1:42 left before the break. MSU answered with four straight, but Brown beat the halftime buzzer with a hanging jumper for a 35-27 Michigan lead after 20 minutes.
MSU scored four of the first five points of the third quarter as both teams started slowly. A Nolan triple from Phelia with 5:35 remaining pushed Michigan's lead back to eight, 41-33, with Jordan Hobbs making one free throw the next time down for a 42-33 lead with 5:11 left in the third. MSU cut it to five points several times, but four straight points from Kiser forced a Spartans timeout at the 1:54 mark and Michigan's lead at 48-39.
Hobbs nailed a corner triple for a 51-39 lead with just over a minute left in the quarter, sending Michigan to the final frame with that same lead.
It was all Maize and Blue in the final stanza, as U-M's lead never shrunk below 11. Kiser paced the Wolverines with six points in the final quarter, as seven Wolverines found the scoring column down the stretch.
U-M is back in action on Thursday (Jan. 19), traveling to Rutgers to face the Scarlet Knights at 8:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on the Big Ten Network.
