Michigan senior Krista Phillips covers her face with a towel as she sits on the bench after fouling out during the second half of their 76-59 semifinal loss to Miami.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
The waning seconds ticked off the Crisler Arena scoreboard. The raucous cheers that had filled this building during the Michigan women's basketball team's unexpected run in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament were subdued into silence.
Krista Phillips, the team’s leader on and off the court, sat at the end of the Wolverines’ bench unable to do anything more than hold her head in her hands with a towel draped over her face. The run was over. Michigan lost to Miami, 76-59, Wednesday night in the semifinals, just one round away from playing for the program’s first-ever title in anything.
The Wolverines, picked by the media in a preseason poll to finish last in the Big Ten, understood this postseason success could mean big things in the future, especially since there was only one senior with significant minutes this season.
But that didn't mean the loss didn't hurt.
“I’m looking at this stat sheet, and I’ll probably be staring at it for the next six months,” Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. “Just trying to figure out the hows and whys. I thought our kids played hard tonight. … But we didn’t beat ourselves.”
Phillips, a 6-foot-6 center who has shown flashes of dominance throughout the tournament, was held to four points in a slim 22 minutes.Â
Michigan junior Veronica Hicks flies past Miami freshman Morgan Stroman for a layup during the second half of their 76-59 semifinal loss to Miami.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Her lack of production wasn’t necessarily a product of Miami’s great defense. Phillips caught her fourth foul four minutes into the second half, and she played only played six minutes after the break.
“You can’t really replace (her),” an emotional Veronica Hicks said after the game. “You need that size in the post. When she’s not in, we’re not as aggressive. … It was very frustrating for her, I think.”
Without her in the game, the Michigan defense loosened up. By the time Phillips came back in at the 7:17 mark, the Miami shooters were hot, and they hit three quick 3-pointers to put the game out of reach for good.
The Hurricanes did not have a player over 6-foot-2 who logged significant minutes last night, so they knew Phillips would pose a difficult matchup problem in the paint.
“I didn’t think we had a chance unless we got her (in foul trouble),” Miami coach Katie Meier said. “That was part of the gameplan. We noticed on tape that she’s very physical in the lane, so we just had her run into us, and we drew some fouls.”
Phillips wasn’t the only player whose foul trouble affected Michigan’s gameplan. Freshman Dayeesha Hollins, who Borseth called “our athlete,” was a huge part of Michigan’s early run, which put the Wolverines up 11 points.
Meier said the Hurricanes were stunned by the Wolverines’ ball movement in the first five minutes, during which Hollins scored eight quick points.
But two fouls got her a seat on the bench, and she seemed out of sync for the rest of the game.
“When ‘Day’ came out, that really hurt us,” Borseth said. “That lead just went away.”
That coupled with Miami’s hot shooting was the bottom line in a game that just slipped away. The Hurricanes’ Riquna Williams hit seven 3-pointers, finishing with a game-high 26 points, to lead her team to victory.
Miami will play in the WNIT finals Saturday night, against the winner of tomorrow’s California-Illinois St. game.
Get the Ann Arbor RSS Feed
AnnArbor.com