Wolverines raise Sweet Sixteen banner in Saturday's 82-46 win at home

On Saturday, as much as the Michigan women's basketball team came together to persist from what looked to be a shocking injury in the season-opener, cohesion was key in the 82-46 blowout against St. Francis Brooklyn at the Crisler Center.

"I was really happy with the way we set the tone and established ourselves," head coach Kim Barnes Arico said.

The Wolverines bullied their way to 52 points in the paint and 19 points off second chance opportunities. Outside of three-point shooting in which Michigan was 6-of-24 (25%), the team did go nearly 50 percent from the field overall

Rebounding became routine for the No. 10/11 ranked Wolverines who collected 47, including 14 offensively, compared to 30 total from the Terriors.

Naz Hillmon recorded 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists and former four-star Laila Phelia posted a 11-point and two-rebound performance.

Another solid outing for the freshman, who saw 23 minutes of playing time just days after making her NCAA debut against IUPUI on Tuesday, one-of-nine Michigan players to tally double-digit minutes. Emily Kiser continued her authority in the paint with 12 rebounds for a new career-high and one point shy of her first-career double-double.

"That's a thing we talked about this week is just having the confidence for [Kiser] to shoot," Maddie Nolan said. "We talked about Emily needing to score in order for us to be successful and I think she really took that and went with it with this game."

Michigan jumped out to a 20-point 11 seconds into the second quarter on a layup from Phelia to begin a 24-9 run that would close out the half. Michigan enjoyed a 43-13 lead after getting seven points from Hillmon, a Nolan three-pointer, and Phelia layup in just a four-minute span.

Clamps defensively propelled the shooting woes of St. Francis, who made its first-ever appearance in Ann Arbor in program history, going 18-of-57 (32%) from the field and 5-of-23 (21%) from three-point range. The Terriers would commit 22 turnovers with one player scoring more than six points.

The last time an opponent scored fewer than 50 points was back on February 17, 2021, in Michigan's win over Purdue.

Nolan opened the third quarter with five of the Wolverines' nine points en route to 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Nolan, the junior guard from Zionsville, Indiana, has started in back-to-back games to fill the role left by last year's Big Ten All-Defensive Team selectee Akienreh Johnson.

"Maddie brings a super-high IQ level," Kiser said. "It's really fun to play with and makes everyone around her better for sure. She's been shooting the lights out."

Michigan went to its bench leading by 40 halfway through the third quarter with junior center Izabel Varejão making her season-debut, after missing most of the previous season due to travel restrictions from her home country of Brazil, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Elise Stuck, Whitney Sollom, and Taylor Gibson also made their season debuts in the win.

"We were in a position for people to step up and get some minutes," Barnes Arico said. "Anytime you have an opportunity for everyone to get out there is good to see. It was great, I thought some people stepped in and gave us some positive minutes and that's encouraging moving forward."

The Wolverines return Tuesday when they host UMass Lowell before embarking on their road matchup against Central Michigan on November 20.

Injury Report Update: Amy Dilk Listed As Day-to-Day

According to an official spokesperson for the team, Dilk has been moved to day-to-day following an injury to her leg suffered in the season-opener on Tuesday against IUPUI.

Dilk was assisted to the locker room less than a minute into the first quarter after attempting to grab a defensive rebound. She did not return to the game. Senior guard Leigha Brown would come in prematurely and finished with 18 points.

"Amy is one of the best point guards in the country," Barnes Arico said. "Anytime you lose a player like that, it's hard to replace with any individual person. She's excited and just trying to do everything she can to get back to playing her senior year. I'm excited that she's in good spirits and is doing well."

Dilk, the 6-foot-0 senior guard from Indiana, was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list for the second straight year after averaging 7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game through the 2020-21 season.

Michigan Lands Three-Women 2022 Recruiting Class

The Wolverines officially announced the signing of Kate Clarke, Alyssa Crockett, and Chyra Evans on Thursday.

"We are really excited about the addition of these three to our program," Barnes Arico said. in a press release. "This is another class that gives us length and versatility on both ends of the floor. In our game, which is now changing to positionless basketball, I think these three can really have an impact for us."

The additions to the incoming class include two on the HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW Top-100 in Clarke and Crockett. The two aforementioned each landing four-star ratings with the latter coming in at No. 48 overall and Clarke sitting 99th overall.

Crockett, the 6-foot-1 forward from Westfield High in Indiana, recorded 17.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as a junior. She's already topped 1,000 career points and was named to the 2021 IBCA Supreme 15 Underclass team. Crockett is the No. 2 ranked senior in the state of Indiana by Prep Girls Hoops.

Clarke, a 6-foot-0 guard from Carmel, Indiana, is the No. 3 ranked senior in her home state by Prep Girls Hoops and was tabbed to the Indiana Junior All-Star Team after averaging 18.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Evans is a native of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, where she recently earned a gold medal as the top scorer at the 2021 Under 20 Australian Junior Championship, totaling 18.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Evans also participated in the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup, leading Australia to a silver medal run.

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