The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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women's basketball threes like crazy. They try to slip screens. They're a really good team, and they're having a great year." If the Wolverines defeat Villanova in the first round, they will almost surely get No. 1 seed Stanford in the round of 32 — and on Stanford's home court, no less. The odds are stacked against Michigan advancing to the Sweet 16. Since the women's tournament expanded to a 64-team bracket in 1994, No. 8 and No. 9 seeds are a combined 3-72 against No. 1 seeds in the second round. Wolverines Advance To Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals After the Wolverines beat Michigan State in the regular season for the first time in five years, it was the Spartans who got the last laugh. Michigan fell to Michigan State 62‑46 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals March 8. The Spartans went on to upset No. 1 seed Penn State, 54‑46, before falling to Purdue, 62‑47, in the title game. The Wolverines kept pace with Michigan State in the first half, going into the locker room down 30‑25. But that's when the stalwart Spartan defense ramped up, limiting the Wolverines to just 7-of-25 shooting (28.0 percent) in the second half. The Spartans targeted senior guard Kate Thompson early, keeping pressure on the shooter all game. She finished 1 of 10 from beyond the arc and scored just eight points in the game. "Michigan State played pretty well tonight," Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico said. "They really took us out of what we wanted to do offensively, and we struggled defensively at times. We made some runs, but we weren't able to sustain anything." This year's conference tournament was another rocky experience for the Wolverines, who have never been particularly successful in the event. In the 19-year history of the women's Big Ten Tournament, Michigan has been bounced in its first game eight times. The Wolverines have never won more than one game in a Big Ten tourney, and they have made the semifinals only three times: 1998, 2000 and 2001. In each case, they earned a bye in the first round and won their quarterfinal game. Michigan ranked eighth in the conference in wins in the tournament (11) and is one of four teams that has yet to play in the Big Ten championship game, along with Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwestern (newcomer Nebraska made the title game in its first year, 2012, losing to Purdue). The Wolverines' all-time record in the tournament is 11-19. The Boilermakers, winners of the last two Big Ten Tournaments after Ohio State won three in a row, have been the dominant team in the tournament, historically. Purdue has won nine conference tournament titles — the rest of the teams have 10 combined — and has posted a 37-10 overall record in the tournament. Although the Wolverines did not perform as well as they would have liked in the tournament, they were