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Oregon women’s Graves, Cain on Big Ten tournament win vs. Maryland
The Oregon Ducks get an upset win against Maryland in the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament. Watch Kelly Graves and Avary Cain talk about it.
INDIANAPOLIS — After finishing the regular season with wins in four of its final five games, the third-seeded Michigan women’s basketball teams looked to set the tone at the Big Ten Tournament.
After a slow start, the Wolverines needed something to pull away from 11-seed Oregon, turning to defense.
The defensive effort aided a third-quarter run to give Michigan a dominant 80-58 win over the Ducks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, March 6.
The Wolverines held the Ducks to their third-lowest point total of the season as their press suffocated Oregon’s offense. Michigan turned 17 turnovers into 18 points as three games in three nights finally caught up with the Ducks.
Next up for the Wolverines
Michigan moves on to the Big Ten semifinals, where the Wolverines will face 2-seed Iowa on Saturday (4:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) for a spot in Sunday’s championship game. The Wolverines and the Hawkeyes squared off just 12 days ago in Iowa City, with Iowa winning by 18 points.
“We know that they’re going to defend, we know that they’re going to be physical, we know that they’re going to be gritty. We know that they’re tough as heck,” U-M coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “But our kids are super-competitive, and they want an opportunity to play against someone that beat them.”
The winner Saturday will face the winner of the early semifinal, between 1-seed UCLA and 5-seed Ohio State.
Michigan has never appeared in the Big Ten tournament final.
Balanced offense fuels the Wolverines
Throughout most of this season, Michigan’s offense has been driven by its guard trio – Olivia Olson, Syla Swords and Mila Holloway, with each member of the trio averaging more than 10 points per game.
On Friday, the Wolverines got some production from other contributors, as Ashley Sofilkanich and Kendall Dudley both scored in double digits. with 14 ad 10 points apiece. That made up for a lack of 3-point success – the Wolverines hit just four of 19 shots from beyond the arc. Dudley’s layup ignited a 7-0 third-quarter run that stretched the Wolverines’ lead to 17 points.
“Kendall just gives a different matchup. … Ashley comes in and she’s a back-to-the-basket post player, then you bring in Kendall, and she’s a face-up rip-and-drive player,” Barnes Arico said. “It gave them two different types of matchups defensively, and it played to our advantage. But that was definitely a key for us going inside and trying to establish Ashley early.”
Michigan held dominating edges in bench points (20-5) and second-chance points (20-4).
“What helps spread out the defense was just hitting inside out, like, we had a lot of, like, big time shots from Macy Brown, Syla Swords,” Dudley said. “That kind of opened up the space for us to get good post touches and give us a clear length score.”
U-M finds its power in paint
Michigan didn’t have much of a size advantage, but it had a clear edge on the glass.
“We emphasize rebounding all the time. We’re not necessarily always the biggest team on the floor, but we’re going to pursue the basketball on both ends,” Barnes Arico said.
Oregon forward Ehis Etute entered the tournament averaging 8.8 rebounds per game, tied for the best in the Big Ten. She got hers on the boards, with 11, but Brooke Quarles Daniels worked there, too, pulling down six rebounds against the Ducks.
“Brooke Quarles Daniels is usually the smallest player on the floor, and she’s usually the highest offensive rebounder,” Barnes Arico said. “She was for our team and she finished with six and four steals.”
Quarles Daniels keyed a team rebounding effort that was a microcosm of a Wolverines squad that averages the third-most rebounds in the Big Ten. Michigan dominated on the glass, 44-31.
The Wolverines were especially sharp on the offensive glass, with 12 of their 24 first-half boards there to rack up 12 second-chance points en route to a 33-24 lead at the break. Michigan finished with 19 offensive rebounds, tied for its fourth-highest total of the season. The highest? Michigan’s previous game against Oregon, back in December.
Rest shows for Wolverines
The two teams were dealing with completely different situations on Friday night.
The Wolverines were playing their first game since Sunday’s regular-season finale, while the Ducks were playing their third game in three nights – though both were coming off wins over Maryland. Michigan and Oregon also played to a near-draw in late December, with the Wolverines winning in double overtime in Eugene, Oregon.
On Friday in Indianapolis, however, Michigan brought intensity early, matched by Oregon as neither team shot well in the first half. But toward the end of the first half, the Wolverines pulled away with a 6-2 run over the final two minutes before the break. The rest didn’t turn into rust.
“We just didn’t have as much left in the tank,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said.
