Maize and Blue to Hit the Road for Ohio State

Thursday, January 9

Columbus, Ohio

6:00 PM

Michigan

Ohio State

1/7/2020 4:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Sarah VanMetre

» Michigan will hit the road for the first time in 2020, heading to Columbus to face Ohio State in the only meeting this season between the two rivals.
» After dropping its first Big Ten contest, Michigan has won back-to-back games to move to 2-1 on the young conference season.
» U-M has topped 80 points and shot better than 50 percent from the floor in each of its last two contests.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 24-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) hits the road for the first time in 2020, heading to Columbus to face Ohio State (8-6, 1-2 Big Ten) on Thursday (Jan. 9) in the lone game between the two rivals this season. The 6 p.m. contest can be seen live on Big Ten Network.

• Michigan and Ohio State have played some close games since the 2009-10 season. Only two of the last 16 games between Ohio State and Michigan have had a margin larger than 11: a 64-49 U-M win in Columbus on Jan. 5, 2014, and a 64-51 Michigan win at Crisler on Dec. 30, 2010. The last seven games between the two rivals have each been decided by single digits. Michigan rallied for a four-point win in Ann Arbor last season, the only time the teams met in 2018-19. The last seven games have been decided by a total of 43 points (6.1 points per game).

• Michigan is looking for its second-ever three-game win streak against Ohio State after winning the last two games in the series. U-M took three straight from the Buckeyes between Dec. 30, 2010 and Jan. 7, 2012. Michigan has four wins over Ohio State since Kim Barnes Arico took over in 2012-13, accounting for 30 percent of U-M's 13 all-time wins against the Buckeyes.

• U-M has topped 50 percent shooting in the last two games, helping the Wolverines to back-to-back wins. In Michigan's 82-48 win over Penn State, the Maize and Blue shot 50.8 percent (31-for-61) from the floor to mark its first game over 50 percent since shooting 55.8 percent against Morgan State (Dec. 1). The Wolverines followed that up by hitting 56.7 percent (34-for-60) from the floor against Michigan State (Jan. 5). U-M is 5-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor. Overall, Michigan ranks fourth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage at 46.3.

• Ohio State is coming off a 72-62 loss at Maryland on Monday (Jan. 6). The Buckeyes are averaging 68.6 points per game on 43.9 percent shooting while allowing 64.3 points per game on 37.1 percent shooting. Dorka Juhasz leads the charge for OSU, averaging 12.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, with Kierstan Bell (9.5 ppg) and Jacy Sheldon (9.0 ppg) scoring at least nine per game.

• Sophomore Amy Dilk has turned it up in the last four contests, averaging 20.0 points per game on 64.7 percent shooting from the floor. She has led Michigan in scoring three times, going for a career-best 26 points against Florida State (Dec. 22) and following that up with 18 points against Maryland (Dec. 28) and 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting against Michigan State (Jan. 5). Dilk was on triple-double watch against Penn State (Dec. 31), going for 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. She is back to averaging double digits in scoring at 11.5 points per game on 49.6 percent shooting while going for 5.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. She is sixth in the Big Ten in assists per game. She was named to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll this week for her performances against Penn State and Michigan State.

• Through just three games of the Big Ten slate, there is just one unbeaten team, Indiana. Seven teams -- Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Purdue, Northwestern and Rutgers -- are 2-1. Illinois and Penn State are still looking for their first conference wins.

• Michigan has been effective on the glass this season, averaging 39.5 boards per game with a +6.9 margin to rank second in the Big Ten. U-M also paces the Big Ten in rebounding defense, allowing just 32.6 rebounds per game to its opponents. Naz Hillmon is sixth in the conference in rebounding (8.2 per game), with three other Wolverines grabbing at least five boards per game in Akienreh Johnson (5.4 rpg), Kayla Robbins (5.0 rpg) and Amy Dilk (5.5 rpg).