CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team scored a program-record 35 points in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way in a 76-68 win over No. 6 North Carolina in the inaugural Jumpman Invitational Tuesday evening (Dec. 20) at the Spectrum Center.
Leigha Brown led the way for Michigan with 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Laila Phelia joined her in double figures with 20 points, three boards and a steal. Emily Kiser turned in nine points, five boards and a team-high six assists, with Chyra Evans chipping in seven points, nine boards and four blocks in 22 minutes. U-M shot 46.7 percent from the field (28-for-60), while holding UNC to 32.4 percent shooting (23-for-71).
The teams traded buckets in the early going before a pair of free throws from Phelia with 8:42 left in the first gave Michigan a lead it kept the rest of the first half. Michigan grabbed an 11-6 lead on a transition bucket from Brown to Evans with 6:31 remaining in the period. UNC cut Michigan's lead to one, 12-11, at the 5:57 mark before the Wolverines uncorked a 23-9 run to end the period.
U-M's lead grew to 24-13 on back to back triples from Brown and Evans with 2:49 left in the first. Brown drained another triple and hit a pull-up jumper as time expired to give Michigan a 35-20 lead after 10 minutes.
Michigan got a pair of triples from Alyssa Crockett, sandwiched around a Kiser free throw, for a 47-24 lead on the heels of a 10-0 run at the 5:16 mark as North Carolina was forced to call timeout.
North Carolina answered with eight straight points, with Michigan enduring a five-minute scoring drought. Greta Kampschroeder found Evans for a layup off the out-of-bounds play with just three seconds remaining to send Michigan to the half with a 49-24 lead. Brown led the way with 18 points and Phelia turned in 11 as Michigan hit 17-of-29 shots in the first 20 minutes.
Michigan hit the fourth quarter with a 60-48 lead after the Tar Heels outscored U-M 16-11 in the frame.
Kiser scored out of the fourth quarter break for a 62-48 lead, but UNC completed a five-point possession with 8:17 left in the contest to bring the Heels within nine, 62-53.
Cameron Williams scored underneath to stop the UNC run on Michigan's next possession to push Michigan's lead back to double digits. North Carolina continued to threaten the rest of the way, but Michigan always had an answer.
After North Carolina cut Michigan's lead back to single digits, Brown hit a jumper to beat the shot clock and Maddie Nolan hit her only three of the contest for a 69-56 lead at the 5:38 mark.
Michigan kept its lead to at least two possessions the rest of the way, with Phelia scoring on a long pass from Brown with four seconds remaining to record Michigan's ninth win over a top-10 team in school history.
U-M will resume Big Ten play after the holiday break, heading to Nebraska on Dec. 28 for a 6 p.m. CST tip. The game can be seen live on Big Ten Network.
19 дек 2022
