Without Phelia, Brown, Michigan falls to Wisconsin in regular-season finale
Michigan traveled to Madison, Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon as it finished off the regular season with a bout agains the 10-19 Badgers. The Wolverines were once again without their two leading scorers in Leigha Brown (internal issue) and Laila Phelia (lower body injury).
The absence of the two stars was clear in the regular-season finale, as Michigan fell to Wisconsin, 78-70.
Maddie Nolan was the story of the first quarter. The senior had eight points on 2-4 shooting. Emily Kiser added six points of her own, and the two teams were tied at 18 points through the first 10 minutes.
Wisconsin bested Michigan by a point in the second quarter, and the Badgers led by one as the teams broke for halftime.
Nolan led the Wolverines in scoring through the first two quarters. The 6-foot guard scored 14 points on 4-7 shooting from distance.
Emily Kiser was mostly held in check after her 34-point explosion on senior night at Crisler Center on Thursday. The fifth-year senior had just eight points on 3-10 shooting at halftime.
The game started to get away from Michigan in the second half. Michigan's defense was no match for Wisconsin's Julie Pospisilova. The Badger guard finished with 25 points in the upset victory.
The loss doesn't impact Michigan's Big Ten Tournament seed — it was locked into the fifth seed regardless — but it certainly will impact the team's NCAA Tournament seed.
Michigan was in line to enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, which would mean it would host the first and second round games, but the loss could move Michigan back to a No. 5 seed.
The Wolverines will next play on Thursday, March 2 in the Big Ten Tournament.
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