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Patricia Babcock McGraw's Bio: Patricia Babcock McGraw is a women's basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network. Submit your comments below or e-mail her at the right, then come back all season for her views on all Big Ten women's hoops. |
| Dec 15 2008, 2:31 PM | Topic: Women's basketball |
| Well, the Wolverines showed me, didn't they? Two days after I pointed out that the Big Ten missed an opportunity to make a statement on the national scene by winning only one of seven games against Top 25 opponents during the previous week, Michigan goes out and knocks off No. 8 Notre Dame (63-59 in overtime) on Wednesday. It was Michigan's first win over a Top 10 team since beating Louisiana Tech in 2000. Meanwhile, Notre Dame, which is now 2-5 all time at Crisler Arena, took its first loss of the season. Power forward Stephany Skrba was a load in the post, dropping a game-high 20 points on Notre Dame by making 10-of-11 field goal attempts. The Wolverines (6-4) have now played four games against Top 25 teams – most in the Big Ten – and are 2-2. They beat then-No. 12 Vanderbilt in November. Michigan coach Kevin Borseth is a Lou Holtz type and seems to like to worry aloud about his team and its shortcomings. But the Wolverines are clearly much better than advertised and should make conference play interesting. INJURY UPDATE: Early on in overtime against Michigan, Notre Dame guard Brittany Mallory collapsed to the floor and was in obvious pain. Your heart went out to her as her cries rang through the hushed gym. Turns out Mallory tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. The sophomore had played in seven games so far this season, which makes her eligible to apply for a redshirt year since she played in less than 30 percent of Notre Dame's 28 regular season games. WHO'S HOT: Beside Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana have been on fire lately. Indiana (7-2) has won six straight games and Wisconsin (10-1) has won 10 in a row after starting with a loss in its season opener. The Badgers got perhaps their biggest win of the season this week in a 67-48 victory over Marquette, a Big East team that is always a quality opponent. Once again, defense made the difference for Wisconsin, which got instantly better in that department with the addition of Kathi Bennett to the staff as an assistant coach. The Badgers, who are allowing a Big-Ten low 54.6 points per game, held Marquette to a 23.2 percent shooting clip from the floor while winning the battle on the boards, 40-34. ON TAP: Where did the preseason go? Already, conference games are creeping up on the Big Ten master schedule. Northwestern and Indiana will kick off league play for the 2008-09 season with a Big Ten Network game on Saturday (4 p.m. Central). There will be two other conference games this weekend, both Sunday: Michigan Sate at Penn State and Michigan at Ohio State. Both games will be televised by the Big Ten Network, at 11 a.m. CT and 1 p.m. CT, respectively. The non-conference game of the week goes to Illinois, which will take on No. 2 North Carolina Saturday at the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach. A win would be a huge pick-me-up for the Illini, who have lost six of their last seven games. |
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