With 9.8 seconds left and her No. 19 Michigan Wolverines up 74-68 on the No. 6 North Carolina Tar Heels, Leigha Brown threw a deep inbound pass from her baseline to Laila Phelia near mid-court. Phelia caught it like a wide receiver just ahead of two defensive backs and took it in for a layup that sealed the deal on a 76-68 victory Tuesday night in the Jumpman Invitational at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Wolverines (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten) had led by as much as 23 and only had to sweat late. Brown scored 13 points in a first quarter that saw her go 3-of-3 from deep and Michigan go 12-of-16 from the field, and she finished with a game-high 25 points to go along with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Phelia scored 11 points in the first and finished with 20 to go along with three helpers. Leading scorer and rebounder Emily Kiser was held to nine points and five boards, but made a key play down the stretch and dished out a game-high six assists. Chyra Evans rounded out Michigan’s key contributors with seven points, nine boards and four blocks.
A 5-0 run by UNC’s Kennedy Todd-Williams cut the Tar Heels’ deficit to seven with 20 seconds remaining and Alyssa Ustby cut it to six with a layup at the 9.8-second mark.
Fortunes began to change for…
