The Next Step
[Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos]
When I started getting into sports, Tennessee was women's basketball. The legend Pat Summitt coached all-time greats like Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings, Kara Lawson, and Candace Parker to three straight national championships from 1996-98, back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008, and near-annual Final Four appearances in between.
I grew up vaguely aware Michigan had a women's basketball program. The only way to see them was to go to a game in person. Finding someone else interested in watching one of the athletic department's least successful programs was difficult even if one scraped up the motivation to try. They were ignored in favor of football, hockey, men's basketball, softball, baseball, swimming, wrestling—most everything, really.
The three-seed Tennessee team that took the court yesterday wasn't a peak Summitt squad. The uniforms still read "Tennessee"; Kellie Harper, their second-year head coach, was the starting point guard for those back-to-back-to-back champions; they boasted a national player of the year candidate in Rennia Davis, another all-SEC wing in Rae Burrell, and a 6'5 board-crasher and shot-eraser in Tamari Key.
Six-seed Michigan had never made a Sweet Sixteen in program history; they'd reached the second round only five times. Even in the best of years, this is when the Wolverines can't overcome the talent gap.
Good morning.
--------------------
Erase the history and Michigan looked like the perennial power. The Vols led for five minutes early on as Michigan adjusted to their size, then trailed for the game's last 33.
The Wolverines played four quarters of lockdown defense. Akienreh Johnson spearheaded an effort that limited Davis (4/17 FG) and Burrell (4/12) into a couple of their worst performances of the season. Tennessee looked like the Michigan team that had faded over the latter half of the season, throwing bodies into the paint and hoping second-chance points could keep them afloat while the defense backed off shooters and formed a bleeping wall.
Newly minted All-American Naz Hillmon posted a typical Naz Hillmon stat line: 19 points on 18 shooting possessions, six offensive rebounds among her 15 total, two assists, and only one turnover while going the full 40 minutes. The team's shortcomings have never been on their star, though, but the supporting cast coming up short; they lost when Hillmon scored 50 against Ohio State, after all.
But in this game, Hillmon arguably wasn't the best Michigan player on the court. After a solid seven-point first half, Leigha Brown went off for 16 after the break, picking up points every which way inside the arc, whether on transition drives to the hoop or late-clock pull-up jumpers. Brown dished out a team-high five assists, showing enough feel to make her an able lead ballhandler in the stead of injured starting point guard Amy Dilk.
All seven players to see the floor made significant contributions. Johnson struggled with her jumper but had eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals while sacrificing her body to ensure Davis couldn't get easy looks. Hailey Brown drained 4/6 three-pointers, including two in the first quarter when the offense was otherwise scuffling. Danielle Rauch, starting in place of Dilk, played the role of effective pest with five steals, six rebounds, three assists, and a dagger fourth-quarter three-pointer when UT threatened to cut the margin to single-digits.
My general nature and years of press box training have led me to watch most sporting events, even ones I care about deeply, while projecting a certain level of external calm and stony silence. When Rauch's three went down, I slammed my fist on my desk and yelped "RAUCH!"
--------------------
Yesterday was the biggest win in program history. There isn't a close second. If I'm being honest, I didn't expect Michigan to advance—not just because the opponent was Tennessee, but because of the Wolverines themselves. In the program's five prior second-round games, the closest they'd come to their foe was an 81-74 loss to two-seed NC State in 1990, and the four since then all had final margins over 20 points. When all else is equal in women's basketball, pick the powerhouse.
No matter what happens this weekend, Michigan now has a firm toehold on their climb to the top. Watching Hillmon get emotional about her team earning validation when she's already the most decorated player in program history is more than enough to make me emotional, too:
Two-seed Baylor, a bona fide national championship contender this season, is up next. They're the reigning NCAA champions (2019, since there was no 2020 tourney) and have two other national titles under coach Kim Mulkey (2005, 2012). The Bears have gone at least as far as the Elite Eight in seven of the last nine tourneys. They're 20-2 and loaded with WNBA talent.
In all likelihood, this is where we see the gap to the next level Michigan wants to reach under Kim Barnes Arico, and it's the toughest one to traverse: from regular tournament team to real national contender. Then again, Baylor has lost those two games, and they weren't to blue bloods, but to four-seed Arkansas (which was upset in the first round) and seven-seed Iowa State. It's not unreasonable to believe in this team can pull off a momentous upset and extend the best season in program history.
Enjoy it. It may not be the best season in program history for too long.
Originally published on MGoBlog.
