Laila Phelia reveals key to Michigan's Big Ten Tournament win vs. Minnesota

Michigan defeated Minnesota 76-57 on Thursday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Junior guard Laila Phelia scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting during the contest as the Wolverines controlled the game from the opening tip and did not trail. Phelia praised her teammates abilities postgame, revealing the key to victory for Michigan on Thursday.

“The biggest thing for us was just to stick together and understand that this was gonna be a tough game for us,” Phelia said postgame. “But as long as we get up and down in transition, and we’re on the same page on defense, we’ll be able to come out with the win … That’s the one thing that we realized in practice and we’ve been working on it a lot.”

The Wolverines were able to control the game’s pace from the start and would go on to lead by as many as 20 points during the game. It’s a good sign for Michigan, who have started to come into their own at just the right time through this point of the season.

“We do have a lot of new pieces is continuing to like build confidence in my teammates because I definitely feel like that’s it’s very helpful,” Phelia continued. “A lot of people in the past they’ve always got confidence in me. I feel like that was just the biggest thing for me, just continuing to build confidence even when I’m unsure.”

The win was a massive one for the Wolverines, who are currently on the bubble for next week’s NCAA Tournament. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme currently lists Michigan among the teams earning the last four byes into the big dance.

Michigan won’t have to wait long for its next chance to impress the selection committee ahead of the bracket reveal — but their opponent is one they’re all too familiar with in the tournament’s 3-seed, Indiana. The two conference foes met on Jan. 4 in Bloomington, where the Hoosiers blew out the Wolverines 80-59. Phelia also scored 23 points during that matchup, but it was all for not as Indiana cruised to its 11th-straight win at the time.

The two teams will feature as the quarterfinal nightcap, scheduling to tip-off at 9 p.m. ET live on the Big Ten Network. The winner between Michigan and Indiana will face the winner of Iowa and Penn State in the semifinals.