Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico has experience coaching only one player on her entire roster in significant minutes, especially in big moments. Besides senior guard Jordan Hobbs, the rest of the Michigan women’s basketball team’s starting lineup is a puzzle Barnes Arico has to decode. Which players can she trust to play with two or three fouls, and who needs to come out of the game? And most importantly, how long should she keep her starters on the bench when they are battling foul trouble?
The Wolverines’ management of foul trouble in their two most recent matchups illustrate the necessity of answering those questions correctly. In Thursday’s road win against then-No. 23 Minnesota, four players picked up two fouls in the first half. Three players were even saddled with four fouls down the stretch. But none of them fouled out, and Michigan went on to control the final minutes and close out the contest.
Saturday against No. 21 Michigan State at home, however, the Wolverines grappled with foul trouble once again. Granted, both teams struggled to play disciplined defense in the first quarter, resulting in choppy play and free throws aplenty for Michigan. But as the game progressed, the Spartans figured out how to play aggressive defense without fouling, and the Wolverines didn’t in a 30-point loss.
That meant freshman guards Syla Swords and Olivia Olson — Michigan’s two leading scorers, both averaging over 15 points per game — were trapped on the bench for extended periods of time. Olson picked up an early foul just four minutes in, and she sat on the bench for the next two. When her second foul came with one minute left in the frame, she sat for 11 more, including the entire second quarter.
Olson ultimately didn’t pick up another foul, playing the entire second half. By remaining in the game, she settled into a groove, elevating her production from just two first-half points to 12 in the second. But her early foul trouble meant Olson totaled just 27 minutes, compared to 39 against the Golden Gophers, likely hindering her rhythm and overall production.
Swords, on the other hand, bounced in and out of the game throughout, logging a substitution each quarter. She picked up her second foul two minutes into the second quarter and joined Olson on the bench until the second half. While her first-half absence didn’t put Michigan in a hole, the unexpected extended rest threw Swords off her game. She scored just four total points, going only 1-for-9 from the field.
“It’s hard mentally coming in and out,” Swords said after the loss. “For me, I pride myself on my defense. That’s where I get a lot of my energy from. That’s something I can work on, for sure, is making sure I’m not affected mentally on the offensive end if I’m out for however long.”
It’s impossible to say that if Barnes Arico had played Olson and Swords during the second quarter, then the outcome would have been any different. After all, Michigan led by four at halftime, but the Spartans outscored the Wolverines 59-25 in the second half — with Olson in the game for every minute and Swords sitting for just two.
“When Liv and Syla went out for a long period of time — and Liv was out really long — it does affect them, and I think that’s just natural,” Barnes Arico said. “But that’s the position that (freshman guard Mila Holloway) has been in before, but those two guys haven’t been in. So just our ability to handle that.”
Holloway is a perfect example of growth in the discipline area. Often caught in foul trouble in nonconference play, Holloway learned how to play more disciplined defense. In turn, Barnes Arico learned how much leeway to give her. Holloway hasn’t fouled out recently.
“We got into foul trouble early, I think it made us have a bunch of different rotations in the first half, which caused us to go on a bunch of different runs,” Barnes Arico said Wednesday postgame at Minnesota. “We had some lineups in there that we typically don’t have because of foul trouble. But I thought our discipline in the second half was outstanding. (Holloway) got one quickly, but then she settled in, and we tried to continue to switch matchups.”
With Holloway and Hobbs both in early foul trouble against Minnesota, the Wolverines rotated their defense to compensate, and Olson was tasked with guard Amaya Battle. It worked like a charm. Even with four Michigan players entering halftime with two fouls, not one fouled out — despite three players finishing with four, Holloway included.
Saturday’s loss was a learning opportunity for the Wolverines. They allowed 19 attempts at the free-throw line to the Spartans. While no one fouled out, that doesn’t mean Michigan’s process can’t be improved to mimic the management against the Gophers.
Like Barnes Arico said, Olson and Swords haven’t been in the foul trouble situations Holloway struggled with early on. That means that instead of doing it in December, the Wolverines now have to figure out foul management while battling top teams — when it matters even more.
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