Michigan
Penn State
Wolverines Headed to Happy Valley to Face Nittany Lions Sunday
1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
» Michigan is looking for its first win at Penn State since Feb. 25, 2001.
» U-M is second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in field goal percentage at 49.1.
» The game is Penn State's "Pink Zone" game. U-M will wear pink shoes and uniforms in the contest.
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The University of Michigan women's basketball team (10-6, 2-3 B1G) heads to Penn State (6-10, 1-4 B1G) for a 2 p.m. game on Sunday (Jan. 17).
• Sophomore Katelynn Flaherty has scored at least 19 points in Michigan's last 10 games. She has topped 20 points 10 times this season and scored at least 30 on three occasions. She is third in the Big Ten and 11th nationally with 22.1 points per game. Of the Big Ten's 20-point scorers, Flaherty features the highest field goal percentage at 47.5. She leads the conference in field goals made (134).
• Michigan is second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (49.1) and third in scoring offense (80.2) entering Sunday's game. U-M has topped 90 points five times this season and scored at least 80 in nine contests.
• With an appearance in Sunday's game, senior Madison Ristovski will move into the top 10 at Michigan in games played with 119. Ristovski has appeared in every game since she came to Ann Arbor. Nicole Elmblad (2012-15) holds the program record for games played at 133.
• Freshman Nicole Munger will be making her return to her home state of Pennsylvania in today's game. Other than the three Michigan natives on the roster, Munger joins Katelynn Flaherty (New Jersey) and Samantha Trammel (Minnesota) as the Wolverines to return to their home state this season.
• Michigan held No. 8 Maryland, the conference's best shooting team, to 40.8 percent shooting and to just 74 points on Thursday (Jan. 14). Michigan kept Maryland 12.5 points below its season average, and the 40.8 percent shooting from the floor was the Terps' second-lowest output of the season. Maryland entered the game as the Big Ten leader in field goal percentage at 50.3.
• Michigan is 2-3 in Big Ten play entering today's game at Penn State after falling to No. 8 Maryland, 74-67, on Thursday (Jan. 14). Michigan's three conference losses have come by nine points or less in a two-point loss to Purdue, a nine-point overtime loss at Indiana and a seven-point setback to the No. 8 team in the country. Both of Michigan's wins have come by seven points as all five Big Ten games for U-M have been decided by nine points or less.
• Through 16 games, U-M is shooting 49.1 percent from the floor to rank second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally. Michigan has shot at least 50 percent from the floor against Detroit, Xavier, USC Upstate, Hartford, Pitt, No. 20 UCLA, Miami and Iowa, while just missing the mark against Binghamton (49.3 percent), Oral Roberts (46.3) and Minnesota (47.8). U-M reached the 60 percent mark (45-for-75) against USC Upstate, marking the first time since Dec. 29, 2012, that the Wolverines shot at least 60 percent. Michigan has shot at least 50 percent in eight games this season after reaching the mark just four times during the 2014-15 season.
• Penn State (6-10, 1-4 B1G) enters the game on a four-game skid after opening Big Ten play with a win. The Lady Lions feature three double-figure scorers in Teniya Page (14.6 ppg), Brianna Banks (13.5 ppg) and Lindsey Spann (12.4 ppg). Penn State averages 70.8 points per game on 41.0 percent shooting while allowing opponents to score 71.5 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting. Penn State leads the all-time series against Michigan, 31-10.
• Michigan is looking for its first win in Happy Valley since Feb. 25, 2001. Just last season, the Wolverines snapped a seven-game losing streak to Penn State with an 89-53 win at Crisler Center.
• Freshman Hallie Thome had a career-best five blocks against No. 8 Maryland on Thursday (Jan. 14), the first time a Wolverine has swatted at least five shots since Dec. 28, 2013. Val Driscoll knocked away seven shots against Alcorn State in that contest. On the season, Thome has 22 blocks to lead the Maize and Blue.
