» Michigan finished the game on a 23-5 run.
» The Wolverines made a season-high eight three-pointers.
» Leigha Brown scored 28 points, 24 of them coming in the second half.
Site: San Antonio, Texas (UTSA Convocation Center)
Event: NCAA Tournament First Round
Score: #16 Michigan 87, #24 Florida Gulf Coast 66
Records: U-M (15-5), FGCU (26-3)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, March 23 -- vs. #13 Tennessee (San Antonio, Texas), TBA
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team used a 23-5 run in the fourth quarter and got 29 points from junior Leigha Brown -- 19 in the third quarter -- to cruise past Florida Gulf Coast, 87-66, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon (March 21) at the USA Convocation Center.
The Wolverines snapped the Eagles' 25-game win streak, shooting 53.6 percent (30-for-56) from the field and making a season-high eight three-pointers with four different players draining two each. Leigha Brown ended her stellar outing with a game-best 28 points on 12-for-16 shooting and junior Naz Hillmon notched her 28th career double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds despite playing only 23 minutes due to early foul trouble.
Graduate student Akienreh Johnson also recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while adding six assists, two steals and one block to her stat line in just 20 minutes on the floor. Hailey Brown scored 10 points, all in the first half.
Michigan (15-5) outrebounded FGCU, 43-23, grabbing 13 offensive boards and scoring 15 second-chance points.
Michigan used a 6-0 run and shot 7-for-12 to start the game to take a 19-10 lead with just over two minutes to play in the opening quarter. The Eagles pulled within seven, 24-17, with a last-second jumper to end the first quarter.
Florida Gulf Coast (26-3) came out hot in the second quarter, using a 6-0 run of its own to knot the score at 29 at the media break with 4:59 left to play in the half. In a half that was defined by runs, the Wolverines put together seven straight points starting with a second triple from Maddie Nolan to take a 38-31 advantage.
U-M could not find a basket for the final two and a half minutes of the first half and another last-second shot, this time a three-pointer from FGCU, kept it a two-point game with Michigan leading, 38-36, at the halftime break.
Hailey Brown led Michigan with 10 points in the opening 20 minutes, including two three-pointers, while Nolan added six with two triples, and Hillmon and Johnson notched six points each.
In the third quarter, the Eagles took their first lead since the opening tip, but Michigan had an answer, hitting five of its next seven shots, capped off with a Leigha Brown mid-range jumper to put U-M up, 50-44, with just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter. She came out of the media break scoring 11 straight points with an and-one play at the end it and extend the Michigan lead to 61-52 with over two minutes left in the stanza.
Florida Gulf Coast scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, but the Michigan offense heated up quickly with a 12-0 run to take a 15-point lead, 76-61, and force the Eagles to use a timeout in an attempt to stem the tide with 6:52 left in the first-round contest.
Coming out of the timeout, Michigan brought the run to 23-5 over nine minutes and went on to defeat FGCU.
U-M advances to the NCAA Tournament second round and will take on No. 13-ranked and No. 3-seeded Tennessee on Tuesday (March 23). Start time and network designation are to be announced.
The Link LonkMarch 22, 2021 at 04:38AM
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Michigan Cruises Past FGCU with Big Second-Half Run - University of Michigan Athletics - MGoBlue
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