Michigan
20-8, 9-6Big Te
Minnesota
20-6, 9-4Big Te
Wolverines Drop High-Scoring Game at Minnesota
2/14/2018 11:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
» Michigan had five players score in double figures in Katelynn Flaherty (26), Akienreh Johnson (19), Hallie Thome (12), Nicole Munger (10) and Deja Church (10).
» The Wolverines clawed back to tie the game at 80 with just over six minutes left but Minnesota scored 13 of the next 20 points for the win.
» Michigan will now have its bye week and has just one regular-season game remaining, hosting Maryland on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.
Site: Minneapolis, Minn. (Williams Arena)
Score: Minnesota 93, #23 Michigan 87
Records: U-M (20-8, 9-6 B1G), Minnesota (20-6, 9-4 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Feb. 22 -- vs. Maryland (Crisler Center), 6 p.m.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team had five players in double figures and clawed back to tie the game at 80 with 6:01 left, but Minnesota made one final push to knock off the Wolverines, 93-87, on Wednesday evening (Feb. 14) at Williams Arena.
Senior Katelynn Flaherty scored 26 points with seven assists and three rebounds to lead five players in double figures. Sophomore Akienreh Johnson poured in a career-high 19 points with seven boards and three assists and junior Hallie Thome turned in 12 points and eight boards. Junior Nicole Munger had 10 points and freshman Deja Church posted 10 points, five boards and four assists in her first career start. Michigan was without freshman Hailey Brown, who was injured in the Michigan State contest on Sunday (Feb. 11).
Minnesota opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run and took an 80-75 lead with 6:56 left, which forced a Michigan timeout. Church corralled her own miss and laid it up on the next possession, followed by a Flaherty three to tie it at 80 less than a minute later.
After a Minnesota score, Flaherty answered back with another triple at the 5:07 mark to nudge Michigan on top by one, 83-82. Minnesota scored the next six points and went up by five with 1:27 left. Munger made a hanging jumper on a baseline out-of-bounds play with 1:07 remaining to pull the Maize and Blue back within three.
Minnesota missed a shot on its next possession but the ball caromed out of bounds off Michigan, letting Minnesota retain possession with 36 seconds left. Michigan elected to foul, which sent Kenisha Bell to the free-throw line with 31 seconds left. She missed the first but made the second, to give Minnesota a four-point lead.
The Gophers deflected the ball off the Wolverines on their ensuing offensive possession, effectively sealing the game with 15 ticks left.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Church went coast-to-coast to put U-M on top, 29-28, but Minnesota answered with a 10-2 run to regain a 38-31 lead with 3:37 left in the second period. Flaherty stopped the run with a baseline jumper, 38-33, but Minnesota answered again. The Gophers extended their lead to 10, 45-35, with 2:10 left in the quarter, but Flaherty nailed a triple at the top of the key and Johnson scored in transition with 25 seconds left to cut the lead in half. Thome stood in and took a charge with 2.7 seconds left to keep Minnesota off the board, with U-M trailing by just five (45-40) at the break.
Michigan opened the third quarter with back-to-back three-pointers from Flaherty and Munger, which caused Minnesota to spend a timeout just 59 seconds into the period with Michigan ahead by one, 46-45. Flaherty followed with a step-back triple and hit a pair at the line, pushing Michigan's lead to six, 51-45, with 7:46 to go in the third.
Munger made good on her second triple of the frame, giving Michigan a 56-47 lead with 6:48 to go but Minnesota slowly chipped away at the lead.
Flaherty nailed a triple and followed with a pair at the line, pushing U-M's lead to 73-66 with 20 seconds left but Minnesota made good on a triple at the end of the quarter to cut the advantage to four heading into the fourth quarter.
U-M will begin its bye and will not be in action again until next Thursday (Feb. 22), hosting Maryland at 6 p.m. at Crisler Center. Flaherty and senior classmate Jillian Dunston will be honored prior to the game as part of Senior Day.
