The No. 9 Michigan women’s basketball team wasted no time against Wisconsin. The Wolverines raced out to a 6-0 start midway through the first quarter, prompting a Badgers timeout. The breather did nothing to slow Michigan down, and the Wolverines forced a second timeout after another 10 points, amassing an insurmountable 16-0 lead.
That lead only grew during the next three frames, despite sophomore guard Syla Swords, an everyday starter listed as questionable in the pregame Big Ten availability report, not dressing for the game.
Even with Swords’ absence, Michigan (14-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) controlled the pace and the game against the Badgers (11-6, 3-3) from the opening tip, dominating end-to-end in the 86-60 win.
Sophomore wing Te’Yala Delfosse earned her first career start in Swords’ place after scoring 17 points off the bench in the Wolverines’ Thursday night win against Penn State. Delfosse’s first-quarter impact against Wisconsin doesn’t jump off the stat sheet, with just two points from a transition layup, but her length was a major factor in Michigan’s game-altering press in tandem with senior guard Brooke Quarles Daniels.
The Wolverines began trapping the Badgers early, utilizing their size advantage to cut off passing lanes. Wisconsin fought for every foot up the court, resulting in low-efficiency shots and a shockingly poor 0-for-9 start from the floor.
“Getting back to what we do as far as trapping 94 feet and being able to force turnovers,” Delfosse said of what went well defensively.
During the 16-0 stretch that began the game, Michigan forced seven turnovers and drew 10 fouls, entering the bonus less than four minutes into the game.
Those trends — forcing turnovers and drawing fouls — continued in the second quarter. Building on the foundation of transition, Michigan’s defense fueled its offense and consistently found paint opportunities to score.
Again flexing their size advantage, the Wolverines crashed the offensive glass. Concluding the first half with 26 points in the paint, 18 points off turnovers, and eight second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds, Michigan was thoroughly in command.
“Us being able to get downhill, us being able to force the turnovers which led to transition, which allowed us to be fouled, and also the offensive rebounding allows you to be fouled,” head coach Kim Barnes Arico said postgame. “So those are two ways to draw fouls and get to the free throw line.”
Sophomore guards Olivia Olson and Mila Holloway were both in double figures at halftime — Olson with 17 points and Holloway with 11 — and the Wolverines showed no signs of slowing down, up 46-21. Olson’s second-quarter triple came during a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line, marking 13 second-quarter points. Senior guard Brooke Quarles Daniels also notched her 1000th career point alongside a stat sheet-filling eight total points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.
While the second half slowed Michigan’s pace somewhat, the Wolverines’ scrappy identity remained the same. They attacked the basket, finding success amid a storm of 3-point troubles. Aside from Olson’s second-quarter three, the Wolverines had perhaps their worst shooting performance from range of the season, going 2-for-21 overall at 10%, and the second three falling with just 1:18 remaining in the game.
“We talk about that a lot, ‘If we’re not shooting the ball, well, how are we going to win?’ ” Barnes Arico said. “ ‘How are we going to grind it out?’ And we have to be able to do it on the rebounding and defensive ends.”
Which is exactly what Michigan did. The Wolverines dominated every other facet of the game, extending its lead in each frame. The Big Ten’s best scoring offense only finished three points shy of its 89.1 per-game average, winning 86-60 without its second-leading scorer and the 3-point threat. Olson finished with 21 points and Holloway with 18, but Delfosse’s 18-point, 10-rebound double-double was the statistical highlight.
Nearly matching her career high in her first start, Delfosse stepped up exactly when Michigan needed her. Particularly in Swords’ absence, Delfosse impacted the game on all fronts. Beginning with first-half defense and culminating in second-half offense, while rebounding throughout, Delfosse was whatever the Wolverines needed her to be.
“She’s a sponge,” head coach Kim Barnes Arico said postgame. “She wants to get better. She can be the best defender, she could be the best scorer. She just could be anything that she wants to be. And I think she really wants to be great.”
So on a Sunday afternoon when they were missing their second-leading scorer, Delfosse ensured Michigan had more than enough.