Michigan in the Big Ten Conference Tournament
Michigan and Penn State will tip off in the first game of the Big Ten Conference Tournament Thursday at noon.
The winner takes on Iowa Friday at 11:30 a.m. The Hawkeyes, the No. 2 seed, have a bye in the first round.
The Wolverines are the No. 7 seed earning their best position in the postseason tournament bracket since 2004. A year ago Michigan was the 10th seed and lost to Wisconsin 81-59 in the first round.
Penn State's chances of advancing as the No. 10 seed aren't promising on paper. Two seeds are 2-11 when they've faced No. 7 seeds in the tournament history. In fact, no seed lower than No. 5 has even won the postseason championship.
Michigan coach Kevin Borseth goes into the postseason with an 0-0 record in Big Ten Conference tourney games. In his first year in the conference, Borseth has lifted the Big Blue from a 10-20 record to a 16-12 mark overall. The Wolverines improved from 3-13 in the Big Ten to 9-9 earning the seventh seed thanks to a tiebreaker over Wisconsin.
Penn State won its first meeting with Michigan 68-57 on Jan. 20 then took a downward spiral with 11 straight losses. The Lions had four players in double figures in that first game. Brianne O'Rourke was high with 14 points followed by Tyra Grant, Mashea Williams and Kam Gissendanner, each with 12 points.
Michigan's big center Krista Phillips made eight of 14 attempts to gain game-scoring honors with 18 points but was whistled for a technical foul with 4:16 remaining in the game. O'Rourke converted all four free throws extending a Lady Lion lead that held up for the rest of the contest.
The two teams met again on Feb. 7 in Ann Arbor and Michigan won 68-53. In the second meeting only Kam Gissendanner (18 points) and Tyra Grant (13 points) were double digit scorers. Michigan's Carly Benson made eight of 12 from the field for 18 points, Phillips had 16 and Janelle Cooper had 12 points.
Michigan put together an 18-0 run that stretched from the end of the first half into the second and Phillips provided all 16 of her points after intermission.
Penn State had to play as the No. 8 seed in the first round of the Big Ten Tourney in 2006 beating No. 9 seed Wisconsin 80-73 before losing to No. 1 Ohio State 64-46 in the quarterfinals.
A year ago, the Lady Lion were the No. 5 seed winning a quarterfinal contest with No. 4 Illinois 61-49 then threatened but fell to No. 1 seed Ohio State 73-71 in the semis.
The Big Ten Tournament will take place March 6-9 in Indianapolis. The first nine contests will be shown on the Big Ten Network with the championship game airing on ESPN2.
Stay Loose,
MJ