Michigan
21-7,11-6Big Ten
Rutgers
11-18,5-12Big Ten
Strong Second Half Sends Wolverines Past Rutgers
2/23/2023 10:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 12-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team put up 44 points in the second half and got a career-best 34 points from Emily Kiser in a 71-53 win over Rutgers on Thursday evening (Feb. 23) at Crisler Center.
Kiser recorded the first 30-point game of her career, finishing with 34 points on 14-for-17 shooting from the floor and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of her career. Maddie Nolan turned in 15 points, hitting three fourth-quarter three-pointers, two boards, seven assists and three steals in 38 minutes of action. Seven Wolverines found the scoring column in the win, with U-Ms shooting an even 50 percent (28-for-56) from the floor.
With Michigan holding a one-point lead at the break, the Wolverines opened the third quarter by scoring 10 of the first 12 points, eight coming from Kiser, for a 37-28 lead with just under six minutes remaining.
Rutgers countered by going on a 6-2 spurt, trimming Michigan's lead back to five at 39-34 with just over four minutes left in the third. It was U-M's time to answer as the Wolverines closed the quarter on a 12-5 run, getting four points from Kiser, four from Ari Wiggins, two from Cameron Williams and two from Chyra Evans for a 51-39 lead after 30 minutes of play.
The Wolverines found their shooting stroke in the fourth quarter, going 5-for-9 from deep over the final 10 minutes to put the game away.
Rutgers scored the first four points of the final stanza to bring Michigan's lead back down to single digits less than a minute into the quarter. Elise Stuck connected on a triple at the top of the key with 7:22 remaining to push Michigan's lead back to double digits, where it stayed throughout the rest of the evening. Nolan made good on three triples in a 3:29 span in the middle stages of the fourth, giving Michigan a 68-51 lead with 2:07 remaining.
Michigan led by as many as 20 points in the closing minutes en route to the 71-53 win.
U-M used a fast start in the first quarter for an 8-3 lead, turning that into a 20-12 lead after 10 minutes. The second quarter was played to Rutgers' style as Michigan managed just seven points on 1-for-7 shooting from the floor to result in a 27-26 U-M halftime lead.
U-M closes out the regular season on Sunday (Feb. 26), traveling to Wisconsin to face the Badgers at 1 p.m. CST on Big Ten Network.
