The Michigan Wolverines fought hard and got a career night from freshman star Syla Swords, but depth once again proved to be an issue as they fell to top-ranked UCLA on New Year’s Day, 86-70.
After she sat out last game with a leg injury, Swords’ 30 points on 11-25 shooting was a career-high in her young career. The French phenom is now averaging 16.4 PPG while shooting 45.4% from the field and 93.3% at the free throw line. Olivia Olson and Jordan Hobbs added 17 and 10 points, respectively, with 9 from Mila Holloway. Olson covered the box score left-to-right with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
But an excellent showing from the Wolverines’ four best weapons wasn’t enough to take down the country’s best team, and after getting drubbed by USC 78-58 and Juju Watkins on December 29, they are now 0-4 against ranked opponents (all are currently top 10). Coming in at #24, Michigan dropped to 10-4 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.
Nonetheless, there are a few things to be proud of in the defeat.
Michigan Wolverines Extolled by UCLA Bruins Coach
While the final score might not indicate a strong performance, UCLA coach Cori Close praised the visitors’ grit:
“I thought they out-toughed us tonight and we may have more talent pieces and may have won the game, but they won the toughness, togetherness battle and I told our team we didn’t win enough teamwork plays — transition D, 50-50s, rebounding, executing the scouting report, bench energy.”
The Wolverines stayed in the game despite shooting just 40.9% to the Bruins’ 55.6%, including 26.3% vs 38.9% on threes. Only in the fourth quarter did the better team pull away for good, establishing a 29 to 20 margin in the final period.
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The 14-0 Bruins are a deep squad with one of the best talents in the league in center Lauren Betts, who finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks. On the season, the 6’7” junior is scoring 19.3 PPG to go with 9.8 RPG and 2.0 BPG. A monster in the paint, she is making 60.2% of her shots.
Bruins guard Kiki Rice added 16 points and 10 assists.
Going up against clearly superior competition, Michigan held its own for most of the game. Eliciting commendation from the 14th-year coach of the number one team is nothing to be ashamed of.
Syla Swords & Co Show Important Sign of Improvement
The Wolverines also did something they haven’t done all season against elite foes: won a third quarter. So far, the second half has been a killer–against South Carolina, against Oklahoma, and against USC, who torched them 44-27.
Down 11 to the Bruins at the break, the Wolverines battled back to keep the contest competitive. After falling behind 52-37 midway through the third, baskets by four different players sustained an 8-0 run, and they kept the deficit at seven by taking the period 21 to 17.
Resilience and scrappy play like coach Close described is the character they have to embody to give themselves a chance.
Unfortunately, the lack of tertiary options on offense continues to be a problem. Across their four ranked losses, they have mustered just 24 bench points. Against UCLA, Swords, Hobbs, Olson and Holloway accounted for 66 of the Wolverines’ 70 points. By contrast, five Bruins notched double figures, with nine different players contributing to the scoreboard.
Close has eight players averaging over 7.5 points to rely on, whereas Michigan has only four such scorers.
After a week off, the team next faces #10 Ohio State at home, where the Wolverines will look to improve to 2-2 within the Big Ten.
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