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Big Ten flop: No. 5 Michigan turns back No. 2 UConn women in historic 77-66 win for program
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- Big Ten flop: No. 5 Michigan turns back No. 2 UConn women in historic 77-66 win for program
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — This second game of the regular season figured to give the UConn women's basketball team a laundry list of things to fix.
In that sense, Michigan lived up to its obligation. The fifth-ranked Wolverines, every bit as good as advertised, beat the Huskies' 77-66 before a near capacity crowd at the Crisler Center.
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"I think we have a lot to learn from this game," Sarah Strong said. "We didn't play UConn basketball at all, we just let Michigan do what they wanted to do the whole time. For the beginning, we let them do whatever they wanted to do. we didn;t fight back
Te'Yala Delfosse scored 22 points, hitting 8 of 13 from the floor and four 3-pointers as Michigan broke out of a close game early in fourth quarter. Olivia Olson scored 17, Syla Swords 10 in what could be a program-changing victory for Michigan, which nearly beat the Huskies at Mohegan Sun last year and reached the Elite Eight in March. This was the first top-five matchup in school history and Michigan, in its season opener, more than met its test in a game with 14 lead changes and nine ties.
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The Huskies were out of sync on offense and vulnerable on defense, especially during a long stretch with Sarah Strong on the bench in foul trouble. Strong was scoreless at half time, but scored 13 in the second half. Freshman Jovana Popvic scored 25, going 10 for 15 from the floor, but Strong and Popovic did not get much help from their supporting cast, which made only 12 of 39 from the floor. The Huskies (1-1) had 19 turnovers, solving Michigan's 2-3 zone defense in the first and third quarters, but malfunctioning against it in the second and fourth.
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"Michigan was way more ready from the opening tip than we were," coach Geno Auriemma said. "They were better organized, more disciplined, they ran their stuff. And to me, it was disappointing, more than anything. I'm disappointed, not at the loss, we wouldn't have scheduled the schedule we have if we didn't anticipate some losses. But it was disappointing to see how our some of players reacted when it was time to step up and make plays. Everybody stands around, looks at Sarah, looks at Jovana, and says 'bail us out.'"
.With the scored tied at 57 early in the fourth quarter, Delfosse hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Wolverines a six-point lead. Those were the seventh and eighth made three for Michigan, and Delfosse, with her 22 points, was killing the Huskies.
Olivia Olson's three gave the Wolverines a seven-point lead, then the Huskies committed two ugly turnovers, a sign things were coming apart after a long, frustrating night. Michigan led 68-59, largest separation for either team, with 4:18 left.
"It didn't look anything like what we had prepared," Auriemma said, "what we said we were going to do. I said to the players, 'I don't have an answer for you.' … We didn't even attempt to do the things we had said must be done today, and that's the most disappointing thing."
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Swords picked up where she left off against UConn a year ago, hitting a couple of threes as Michigan took the lead. Then Popovic took over on the offensive end for UConn, driving for a couple of baskets, hitting a three, completing a three-point play as the Huskies gained a 13-10 lead late in the first quarter. Both coaches gambled, leaving key players in after two fouls, and both UConn's Strong and Michigan's Kendall Dudley picked up their third fouls.
Auriemma took responsibility for leaving Strong in with two fouls in the first quarter. His assistant coaches, he said, were trying to alert him after her second, "I was so focused on the game.," he said. "Next time that happens, I told them, just sub somebody in. That was my fault, and you can add that to things I'm disappointed about."
So this figured to be a different game than what was planned, with the Wolverines shorthanded on the bench and UConn having to function without its best player. Blanca Quinonez hit a 3-pointer and freshman Olivia Vukosa came off the bench and made a couple of field goals in the paint and the Huskies finished the quarter with a little momentum, and a 21-17 lead.
The Wolverines regained the lead early in the second, as UConn struggled to get good looks, committing multiple shot-clock violations and offensive fouls in the quarter. Two more baskets from Vukosa pulled UConn even again at 29 with 2:25 to go in the half, but Michigan scored the last six points, three on Delfosse's three to take a 35-29 lead to the break. Delfosse had 12 points in the half.
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Strong was back on the floor to start the third quarter and scored her first points, a 3-pointer, then Popovic hit one to make it a one-point game, and Dudley picked up her fourth foul for Michigan. Popovic fed Strong underneath for a basket to put UConn back in front, as the Wolverines went 3:50 without scoring. Popovic was called for an offensive foul, her third, but Auriemma left her in, and she hit a three to give the Huskies a 40-38 lead.
Strong ended up scoring 11 points in the quarter, without a foul, to keep the Huskies in the game. Popovic scored at the end, and was up to 19 points, but Michigan took a 55-53 lead into the fourth quarter. She scored again to tie the game at the start of the fourth.
"We didn't play together, we played separately," Popovic said. "We need to talk about he game, watch the game and everything and talk about what happened the whole game, not just the fourth quarter."
UConn plays Iowa at home on Sunday.
