Women’s Basketball: Michigan Caps Non-Conference Play with Decisive Win over Delaware State

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan women’s basketball team hit the 100-point mark for the first time this season to extend its win streak to seven games in a 105-36 win over Delaware State on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 21) inside Crisler Center. U-M closed out its non-conference schedule with an 11-2 mark, giving the Wolverines 11 non-conference victories for the fourth time in program history.

Michigan hit the century mark as a team for the 16th time in program history, and the first time since its 107-35 win over Niagara last season.

Nine of the 10 players that saw game action scored, led by 22 points from senior Katelynn Flaherty, who matched her season high in three pointers with five. It marked the 10th 20-point performance for Flaherty this season. Junior Hallie Thome finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. Three other Wolverines joined Flaherty and Thome in double figures, as sophomore Kayla Robbins and freshman Hailey Browneach put up 12 points and junior Nicole Munger chipped in with 11 points. Robbins’ 12 points matched her career high, while sophomore KeAsja Peace set a new career best with nine points.

The Wolverines shot a season-high 61 percent (43-for-70) from the field, shooting 60 percent for the first time since the 2015-16 season, when they hit 60 percent (45-for-75) of their attempts against USC Upstate. U-M recorded a season-high 27 assists, led by a game-high seven from Flaherty and five from senior Jillian Dunston.

Michigan was down 4-0 to start the game but relied on a Flaherty triple and four straight points from Brown to take a 7-6 lead at the 5:35 mark. U-M never trailed again, getting six points from Brown, five from Munger and four from Thome in the opening 10 minutes for a 25-14 lead after one.

The Wolverines held Delaware State off the scoreboard for nearly eight minutes in the second quarter, leading the Hornets by as many as 34 points in the period. Flaherty heated up in the frame, hitting 4-of-5 triples en route to 14 second-quarter points. Delaware State shot just 2-for-18 in the quarter as U-M took a 50-18 lead into the break.

Michigan outscored the Hornets, 15-0, to start the third quarter with eight of those points coming from Thome. DSU’s first points of that period came at the 4:13 mark to make it 65-20 in favor of the Maize and Blue. Sophomore Akienreh Johnson capped the third quarter by sinking a running three pointer from 45 feet at the buzzer. The Wolverines held Delaware State to just four points in both the second and third quarters.

Eight of Robbins’ career-high 12 points came in the fourth quarter to help Michigan outscore Delaware State, 23-14, in the final 10 minutes.

Michigan kicks off Big Ten play next Thursday (Dec. 28), hosting Penn State at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game are just $1. The contest can also be seen live on the Big Ten Network.

Release From MGOBLUE.com