Phelia, Hansen lead Michigan women to 69-60 upset of No. 17 Ohio State

Dec 30, 2023, 07:49 pm

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- — Laila Phelia scored a career-high 26 points and Michigan pulled away in the fourth quarter to upset rival and 17th-ranked Ohio State 69-60 on Saturday.

Phelia hit a 3-pointer and Lauren Hansen, a graduate transfer from Missouri who finished with 17 points, made a pair of layups in a 9-0 run that gave the Wolverines a 60-51 lead with 2:48 to play.

Ohio State made just three of its last 11 shots in the final five minutes. Elissa Brett, a grad transfer from Bowling Green who had 10 points, made four free throws and Hansen made three in the final minute for the Wolverines.

Jordan Hobbs added 11 points for Michigan (11-2, 2-0 Big Ten Conference), which made 8 of 12 shots and 9 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Celeste Taylor scored 16 points to lead Ohio State (10-3, 1-1) and Taylor Thierry scored 15, but just six after the first quarter. Rikki Harris added 10 points.

The Buckeyes were 2 of 10 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter and finished the game 5 of 24. They came up well short of their season average of 82.7 points a game.

Despite Thierry scoring the first seven points in a 13-0 run that carried into the second quarter, Ohio State trailed 27-26 at the half.

Michigan, behind Phelia's two jumpers, scored the first seven points of the second half. Hansen had a 3-pointer and a jumper and Hobbs made a free throw to cap a 10-2 run that made it 37-28.

Harris had five points and capped a a second 13-0 run with a three-point play that left the Buckeyes leading 45-42 entering the fourth quarter.

Ohio State was 8 of 12 from the field but had six turnovers in the third quarter, while the Wolverines were just 5 of 15 from the field and 4 of 10 from the line.

Michigan plays at Indiana on Thursday and Ohio State goes to Northwestern on Friday.

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