Michigan
1-1,0-0Big Ten
Lehigh
1-1,0-0Patriot
Wolverines Knock Off Lehigh in Home Opener
11/8/2024 10:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team outscored Lehigh 25-9 in the third quarter to run away with an 86-55 win on Friday night (Nov. 8) at Crisler Center. Freshman Syla Swords ended the third on a personal 9-0 run, hitting a three-pointer right before the buzzer to put the exclamation point on the quarter.
Swords recorded her second straight 20-point game, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and a steal in 30 minutes. Jordan Hobbs recorded the first double-double of her career, going for 17 points and a career-best 11 rebounds, with Olivia Olson turning in 17 points, four steals and three assists. Brooke Quarles Daniels was a spark off the bench, going for 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals in 27 minutes. Michigan shot 56.3 percent from the field in the game, holding Lehigh to 32.7 percent from the floor. U-M held a 37-30 advantage on the glass in the contest.
Following a back-and-forth first half that saw Michigan take a 38-31 lead into the locker room, Lehigh scored first in the third quarter while the Wolverines came up empty for several minutes to cut into Michigan's lead.
Strong drives to the basket by Hobbs on back-to-back offensive possessions ignited a 10-2 run that saw Michigan's lead balloon to 17, 52-35, on a Swords layup with 3:55 left in the third quarter.
With Lehigh back within 14 points and just over two minutes remaining, Swords embarked on her own 9-0 run to end the quarter and put the game essentially out of reach. She hit a triple at the 1:14 mark and then converted a three-point play with 52 seconds left in the stanza. Her final act came in the closing seconds as she caught a baseball pass from Hobbs and turned in a triple on the right wing for a 63-40 lead after 30 minutes.
Michigan scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, highlighted by eight from Olson and six from Quarles Daniels as the Wolverines recorded the 31-point victory. U-M's margin of 31 was its largest of the game. All 10 active Wolverines saw the floor, with nine finding the scoring column.
Michigan continues its five-game homestand on Thursday (Nov. 14), hosting Central Michigan at 7 p.m. in a game that will be streamed live on B1G+.
