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Michigan's Comeback Falls Short at No. 3 Ohio State
12/31/2022 4:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team got within two points with 6:47 remaining, but No. 3-ranked Ohio State scored 12 of the next 14 points to keep the lead en route to a 66-57 win on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31) at the Covelli Center.
Maddie Nolan nailed a corner triple from Laila Phelia with 6:47 to go, pulling Michigan within two after the Wolverines were down by as many as 16 in the latter stages of the third quarter. OSU responded by scoring 12 of the next 14 points to regain a 12-point lead, 64-52, with 3:01 remaining. The Wolverines tried to make a final push but could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Cameron Williams tallied the first double-double of her career, setting new highs in both points (18) and rebounds (10). Emily Kiser joined her with a double-double, going for 10 points and 10 boards, while Nolan chipped in 10 points to round out Michigan's double-figure scorers. Phelia had nine points and Leigha Brown turned in eight points, 10 assists and five boards before fouling out. Michigan committed 27 turnovers in the contest but held Ohio State to just 66 points -- 22 below its average -- on 35 percent shooting.
Michigan opened the game on an 8-0 run, forcing an Ohio State timeout at the 5:48 mark of the first quarter. Williams scored on Michigan's third chance of its opening possession and accounted for Michigan's next basketb, with Phelia and Kiser also scoring during the spurt.
Ohio State answered with four straight points out of the stoppage but Phelia made good on a pair of free throws to push Michigan's lead back to six, 10-4, with 2:41 on the first-quarter clock. Ohio State scored the final five points of the frame to give the Wolverines a 10-9 lead after 10 minutes.
Ohio State hit the half with a 30-27 lead after hitting a three-pointer to beat the buzzer, outscoring Michigan by four, 21-17, in the period. U-M got 12 first-half points from Williams and weathered 15 turnovers to be down just three at the break.
OSU converted a three-point play to start the third quarter for a 33-27 lead just 24 seconds into the period. Williams answered in transition but OSU used an 11-1 run in the middle stages of the third quarter for a 46-32 lead, forcing a Michigan timeout with 2:55 on the clock. Ohio State converted off a Michigan turnover out of the break, giving Ohio State its largest lead of the game at 16.
Michigan countered with a 9-2 run to end the quarter that included five free throws from Williams and Brown. Ohio State turned it over on its final possession of the third quarter, with Brown finding Nolan in transition for a bucket as time expired to cut the OSU lead to 50-41.
U-M continued its run in the opening stages of the fourth behind four points from Kiser and a bucket from Williams to force an OSU stoppage with 8:05 remaining and the Wolverines within five, 52-47. Nolan hit the triple with 6:47 remaining to set up the final sequence of events.
Michigan is back at Crisler Center for the first time in nearly three weeks on Tuesday (Jan. 3), hosting Penn State at 1 p.m.
