The 6-1 Hokies face the 6-1 MIchigan Wolverines in the Fort Myers Tip-Off Shell Division Championship game at 7:30 PM today. Michigan lost their first game of the season to South Carolina and is in on a six game winning streak. the Hokies lost their second game of the season to Iowa and are on a five game winning streak. The ESPN matchup predictor gives the Hokies at 29% chance to win this one.
MIchigan is young/old team; they start 3 freshmen and 2 seniors. the Wolverines have the height to match up against the Hokies; only 5'10" Mila Holloway is under six feet and their tallest player is 6'3" senior Jordan Hobbs
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Except for South Carolina, Michigan has played a typical early season schedule with all home games against competition they expect to beat. They do have 5 players scoring in double digits, led by freshman Syla Swords at 18PPg. The Wolverines are scoring at 87.1 ppg to the Hokies 82.7. They allow 53.1 ppg to the Hokies 62.9. So they have scored more and defended better than the Hokies. On the season they have won the rebound battle by 15.5 rebounds per game; the Hokies by 8.1. Michigan averages 19.3 assists and 16.7 turnovers per game; they have forced their opponents into 22.6 turnovers per game.
I think the Ladies are going to have to play better than they have been to win this game. Against what I assume is similar competition, Michigan has accumulated better statistics. VT has eight players averaging 20 or more minutes per game; Michigan only plays 6 that many minutes. Are we deeper or have we played more players as Coach Duffy learns about her team against lesser opponents?
I did not watch the Michigan-Belmont game yesterday; but I think the Lieutenant did. Maybe he can chime in with some comments. I think to win this game we are going to have to cut down on the turnovers and Wenzel needs to make her layups. And we need to match the Wolverines in rebounding, especially on defense; we cannot allow them to dominate the boards like they have against their othe opponents.
A win today would be a statement for this team and a real confidence builder for this relatively young team. I am trying to decide whether I put this game or the football game on the TV and watch the other on my computer. There is also an important women's Elite Eight soccer game at Duke at 6PM on ESPN+, if you have that.
LET'S GO HOKIES!
Comments
Forgot to mention that Megan Duffy was an assistant coach at Michigan 2014-2017. And current Michigan assistant coach Juntine Raterman was on Coach Duffy's staff at Marquette.
Don't like the time here. Have limited option to get this up because of it being on the WSN. Originally thought this was a 530 game.
Down 24-15 after one quarter
honestly based on the gamecast that is an improvement
32-17. Getting run out of the gym literally. Michigan keeps getting odd number rushes on fast breaks.
43-28 at the half
Hokies shooting 29%. Michigan shooting 60%
Micheaux, Baker and Petersen each have 2 fouls. Not a good game in the paint so far.
Ladies come out firing and have closed it to 43-37
Feed keeps jumping backwards like 4 minutes. Really hard to watch
61-47 after 3rd quarter. Hokies had better moments in third but couldn't sustain it
Ladies lose 76-65. Just never recovered from the 1st Quarter
Shooting percentage was the big difference. 54% to 38%
Coach Duffy has some work to do, both in coaching the current players and finding some new players.
Ekh is the one that concerns me most. She did a lot of standing around tonight and just doesn't seem in sync. I know she scored 13 but Hokies aren't going to win often when her and Wenzel combine to go 7 for 23.