Michigan women's basketball falls to LSU in NCAA Tournament

The Michigan women’s basketball team was looking to make its third straight Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but LSU got in the way with a dominating performance.

LSU’s Angel Reese, an All-American, had 25 points, 24 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead the third-seeded Tigers to a 66-42 win over sixth-seeded Michigan on Sunday night on their home court at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Michigan, which has made five straight NCAA Tournaments and reached he Elite 8 last year, finishes the season 23-10. LSU is 30-2 and reaches the Sweet 16 for the first time in nine years.

It was a disappointing performance for the Wolverines who were led in scoring by sophomore Laila Phelia who had 20 points. Leigha Brown, who entered the game as the Wolverines’ leading scorer averaging 18 points, was held to three points on 1-of-7 shooting, and Emily Kiser, also one of the Wolverines’ most productive scorers, was 2-of-7 for four points.

“They were physical and limited our scoring and didn’t allow us to get in rhythm." Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. "They did a great job. But proud of our team. At the beginning of the year, we weren’t picked to be in this position with the loss of our All-American (Naz Hillmon), and (Kiser and Brown) led our team to a tremendous season. It was great to be in this position."

The Tigers dominated Michigan in rebounding 46-26, and were 22-5 on the offensive boards that led to 18 second-chance points.

"It was the offensive rebounding that really killed us, and their second-chance opportunities that really hurt us," Barnes Arico said.

Michigan, after struggling in the first half, opened the second on a 5-0 run that cut LSU’s lead to 10 points (30-20) and forced the Tigers to call a timeout with 8:59 left. That was the closest the Wolverines would come.

"Our kids gained a little bit of confidence. We were able to execute on two different sets coming out of the break. Once we had it at 10, we felt pretty good, but then there was an exchange of probably four or five possessions where neither team was able to score, so then we went on a little bit of a scoring drought again. When we had it at 10, we were feeling pretty good, but then things didn't really go our way."

The Tigers dominated every aspect of the game, while Michigan struggled with its shooting. The Wolverines did not score the final 4:03 of the game going 0-for-6 from the field.

“LSU did a great job of taking away a lot of things we wanted to do, whether that’s pushing us off passing lanes. riding us off of screens, just making everything difficult that we wanted to do," Brown said. "When you’re facing that for 40 minutes, it just kinda wears you down and takes you out of rhythm and what you want to do."

The Tigers led by as many as 17 in the first half and went into halftime ahead 30-15. Reese had 13 points and 14 rebounds — one more than Michigan — to lead the Tigers. Michigan was never able to disrupt her pace.

"It was super physical," Kiser said. "I struggled a lot just blocking out. She can jump out of a gym. Super physical player. She finds a way to get her shot off. Wish I did a better job."

angelique.chengelis@detroitnews.com

Twitter.com: @chengelis