GAMEDAY Womens Basketball
Michigan 71, Nevada-Las Vegas 59
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
BATON ROUGE, La. - Emily Kiser had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Maddie Nolan added 18 points, and sixth-seeded Michigan beat 11th-seeded UNLV 71-59 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament, snapping the Rebels' 22-game winning streak.
Leigha Brown scored 17 points for Michigan (23-9), which had lost three of its previous four games. The Wolverines used their advantages in size and physicality to build and keep a double-digit lead for much of their opening game in the Greenville 2 region.
Guard Laila Phelia, wearing a brace on her left knee and playing in her just her third game since missing seven with a leg injury, exerted her influence on the game defensively, grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds to go with her eight points - less than half of her scoring average of 16.9.
UNLV (31-3) came up one short of the longest winning streak in program history. Its Mountain West Tournament title victory had tied a mark reached previously in the 1978-79 and 1989-90 seasons.
The Rebels came in unbeaten (27-0) when scoring 69 or more points - a total they could not reach against a Michigan team that outrebounded them 41-31.
Essence Booker scored 16 points for UNLV, while Justice Ethridge and Desi-Rae Young each scored 11.
Michigan took the lead for good when Phelia's offensive rebound set up Brown's second-chance layup to make it 9-7 in the first quarter.
The Wolverines led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter before Kenadee Winfrey and Ethridge each hit 3s during an 8-0 run that helped UNLV get as close as five points.
Michigan led 28-20 at halftime. The Wolverines took a 17-point lead when Kiser scored eight points on a free throw, two layups and a 3 during a 12-0 run that made it 48-31 late in the third period. UNLV only got as close as nine points after that.
BIG PICTURE
UNLV: Shot 28% (7 of 25) from 3-point range, well below its season-long average of 33.8% coming in. ... Shot 38% (23 of 60) overall, also well below its 46.3% average for the season.
Michigan: Converted 12 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points. ... Finished with a 20-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
March 17, 2023
| UNLV | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| D. Young | F | 32 | 5-12 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 4-8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| A. Brown | F | 30 | 3-11 | 0-0 | 2-8 | 2-9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| E. Booker | G | 39 | 7-21 | 1-1 | 1-7 | 0-3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 16 |
| A. Durazo-Frescas | G | 32 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 0-4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| J. Ethridge | G | 26 | 4-6 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| K. Jackson | 22 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | |
| K. Winfrey | 14 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| K. Wilfred | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| E. Collins | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| J. Lott | 0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 198 | 23-60 (.383) |
6-7 (.857) |
7-25 (.280) |
8-31 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 59 | |
| Michigan | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| E. Kiser | F | 38 | 6-13 | 4-6 | 2-3 | 3-10 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| C. Williams | F | 16 | 3-5 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| M. Nolan | G | 37 | 7-10 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 0-3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
| L. Brown | G | 36 | 6-16 | 5-6 | 0-3 | 0-3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| L. Phelia | G | 32 | 3-11 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 6-11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| E. Stuck | 22 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| J. Hobbs | 11 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| G. Kampschroeder | 4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C. Evans | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Totals | 198 | 26-59 (.441) |
13-16 (.813) |
6-15 (.400) |
12-41 | 15 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 13 | 71 | |
Officials: , ,
