The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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16 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2019 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Women's basketball senior guard Ni- cole Munger played a huge role in the Wolverines making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013 last year, checking in third on the club in scoring (9.1 points per game) and fourth in rebounding (4.4). With a blowout win over No. 21 Mis- souri already on their résumé for the 2018-19 campaign and a 7-3 overall mark, Michigan looks to be on the right track to heading back to the Big Dance. "This season is flying by," Munger noted. "It only goes by faster as you get older, but it's been a lot of fun so far, be- cause our team is very connected both on and off the court. "We have a lot of goals for ourselves, but we're just trying to get one percent better every single day. If we do that the rest of the way, we'll be able to achieve what we set out to do." While Munger is busy setting new per- sonal records on the court, including a career-high 27 points in a win over Washington Nov. 25 and a season-long clip of 12.8 points per game, she has also found incredible academic success off it. She was named Academic All-Big Ten as both a sophomore and junior, and explained how much her success in the classroom has meant to her. "Getting into the Ross Business School tops my list of achievements, but being named Academic All-Big Ten meant a lot as well," she said. "It's obviously hard being a student and having a full-time basketball workload, so seeing all that hard work pay off has been very reward- ing. It means even more at a place like Michigan." Munger admitted the transition to the demands of the collegiate lifestyle was difficult at first, but that she eventually found strategies that helped her man- age the academic and athletic workload. "I realized I needed to plan out every- thing in all my classes," she said. "Once I would get the syllabi at the beginning of each semester, I would write out all my assignments in the university planner. "Being able to see things in both the long term and short term allowed me to decide whether each week was going to be busy or light, and from there I'd plan accordingly. That strategy has helped me so much." Like many students, she arrived at U-M unsure of her preferred major, but has since found her niche and will graduate with a degree in communications. "I actually didn't know what I wanted to major in as a freshman or sophomore, but took a class in communications and found it very interesting," she revealed. "The class was about studies and how we analyze them, and what we can take away from the numbers. "One of my friends was pairing their degree with a Ross minor, and I knew that was something I'd like to do as well. I just like so many of my classes, which is something I don't think many people can say. "I still don't even think I recognize how much the Michigan degree will mean to me. As I grow older, it's becoming more and more of a reality, though. The con- nections of this university and the mag- nitude the degree holds is something I'll always be thankful for. I'm seeing it in the work field already, even though I'm still only a senior." — Austin Fox Student-Athlete Of The Month Women's Basketball Senior Guard Nicole Munger Munger has started all 10 games so far this season and averaged 12.8 points per contest to rank second in the team. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Michigan's offense improved significantly in 2018 after struggling in 2017. The Wolverines had similar numbers in 2018 to the first two seasons of the Jim Harbaugh era. S&P+ is a rating system created by Bill Con- nelly that adjusts for opponents to combine a team's efficiency, explosiveness, field posi- tion and finishing drives to rank teams. Points per scoring opportunity refers to how many points Michigan scored each time it reaches the opponent's 40-yard line. Here's a look at some of Michigan's offensive numbers from the last four seasons: Year Offensive S&P+ Points/Scoring Opp. Rushing S&P+ Passing S&P+ Points/Game Yards/Play 2018 24th 4.71 33rd 10th 36.83 6.2 2017 86th 4.44 14th 87th 25.23 5.2 2016 41st 5.01 49th 28th 40.31 5.9 2015 32nd 5.04 43rd 8th 31.38 5.7 — Andrew Hussey 2018 Offense Among Best Under Harbaugh Junior quarterback Shea Patterson has led a Michigan offense that averages 6.2 yards per play, the highest clip of Jim Harbaugh's tenure at Michigan. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL