Brown, Kiser, Phelia Honored by Big Ten
2/28/2023 12:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Leigha Brown, Emily Kiser and Laila Phelia of the No. 17-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team each earned All-Big Ten honors, as announced by the conference on Tuesday (Feb. 28). Brown and Kiser each earned first-team honors from the coaches, marking the third time in school history that U-M has had two first-teamers.
Brown was a consensus first teamer, earning the recognition from both the coaches and the media after earning second-team honors for the last two seasons as a Wolverine. Brown appeared in 26 games, starting 24 times. She leads Michigan in scoring at 18.2 points per game and assists at 5.7 per contest while also grabbing 5.4 boards in 31.3 minutes per game. She is one of two players nationally to average at least 18 points, five rebounds and five assists per contest. Brown has scored in double figures 22 times with 13 20-point games and a pair of 30-point efforts. She has five double-doubles on the year, three coming as point-assist double-doubles and two as point-rebound double-doubles. Brown was named the Big Ten Player of the Week one time and to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll six different times throughout the season.
Photo: Emily Kiser
Kiser earned All-Big Ten honors for the first time in her career, grabbing a first-team honor from the coaches and a second-team spot from the media. She is one of three Wolverines to start all 29 games, averaging 16.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 34.6 minutes per game. She has scored in double figures in 26 games, recording eight 20-point games and one 30-point game. This season marked the first time Kiser reached the 20-point mark, with the graduate forward recording a career-best 34 points on 14-for-17 shooting against Rutgers (Feb. 23). Kiser has recorded five double-doubles, including two straight heading into postseason play. She was named the MVP of the Gulf Coast Showcase and to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll three times. Kiser was also Michigan's recipient of the Big Ten Sportmanship Award.
Photo: Laila Phelia
Phelia garnered a second-team nod from both the coaches and the media after being an all-freshman team selection a season ago. Phelia started Michigan's first 22 games before suffering an injury and missing the last seven. On the season, she is averaging 17.0 points and 3.9 rebounds in 33.7 minutes per game. She scored in double figures in all but two games she played, reaching the 20-point mark 10 times. Phelia was named to the all-tournament team at the Gulf Coast Showcase and earned a spot on the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll one time.
Michigan is the No. 5 seed for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament and will face the winner of Penn State and Minnesota on Thursday (March 2) at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The game is the second contest of the first session, with tip coming 25 minutes after the completion of the first game at approximately 1:30 p.m. CT.
