Michigan
Phelia scores 30 to rally Michigan to 69-56 win over No. 12 Indiana in Big Ten tourney
Laila Phelia scored 20 of her career-high 30 points in the second half when sixth-seeded Michigan erased a 17-point deficit and raced away from third-seeded and No. 12-ranked Indiana 69-56 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday night.
Michigan (20-12) will take on No. 3-ranked Iowa, the second seed, and Caitlin Clark, in Saturday’s semifinals. The Wolverines lost at Iowa 106-89 on Feb. 15 in their only regular-season meeting when Clark scored 49 points and became the NCAA women’s career points leader.
The Hoosiers were mostly without leading scorer and rebounder Mackenzie Holmes, who suffered a knee injury against Maryland in a regular-season finale on Sunday. She dressed for Friday’s game but was on the bench while her teammates built a 35-21 halftime lead.
Yarden Garzon opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to give Indiana (24-5) its largest lead of 17. That’s when Phelia rallied the Wolverines, scoring 10 points in the period to cut the deficit to three and then adding 10 more in the fourth when Michigan outscored Indiana 29-13.
Indiana called on Holmes with six minutes remaining and trailing 52-48 but Michigan continued to extend its lead with Lauren Hansen hitting a trio of 3s on her way to finishing with 16 points. Holmes returned to the bench with two minutes left without scoring.
Jordan Hobbs and Cameron Williams added 10 points each for Michigan, which outscored Indiana 24-6 off turnovers.
Sara Scalia scored 14 points, Sydney Parrish added 13 and a game-high nine rebounds and Chloe Moore-McNeil added 10 points for Indiana.
Lexus Bargesser, who started in place of Holmes, scored all eight of her points in the second quarter when the Hoosiers’ took their 14-point halftime lead. Both teams shot under 30% in the first quarter with Indiana squeezing out a 12-9 lead.
Michigan’s College Football Playoff hopes and dreams were dashed last Saturday, but a high-profile non-CFP bowl game awaits.
We’ve been rounding up various bowl projection lists over the past few weeks, which have been shockingly consistent. The Wolverines already seem destined for one place and one place only — the Citrus Bowl. This was all but confirmed on Saturday afternoon, as On3’s Brett McMurphy reported that Michigan was locked into being the Big Ten’s representative for the Citrus Bowl.
Here are the latest projections following the madness that was Conference Championship Weekend.
Folks, we have ourselves a consensus.
As a reminder, the Citrus Bowl has the first choice of Big Ten and SEC schools to not make the CFP. While Michigan will likely be ranked near USC and the Trojans beat the Wolverines head-to-head, USC is still bound to grandfathered Pac-12 tie-ins for the 2025 season (likely the Alamo Bowl). The Citrus Bowl will likely be choosing between Michigan and Iowa to be their Big Ten representative.
As for the SEC, Texas has been the trendy pick for quite some time. The 9-3 Longhorns missed out on the CFP due to their loss to lowly 4-8 Florida. However, they proved their resilience in a 27-17 win over then-No. 3 Texas A&M. Arch Manning and company would certainly be a test for a young Michigan team looking to go into the offseason with some momentum.
Should Michigan indeed go to the Citrus Bowl, other possible opponents include the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Tennessee Volunteers. However, Texas seems very likely to be the choice at this point.
The Citrus Bowl is set to take place at 3 p.m. ET on Dec. 31 in Orlando, Florida.
Police in Muskegon, Michigan, are investigating after a man and woman were killed, and three other people were injured in a shooting on Saturday.
According to officials, the incident happened on the 600 block of Jackson Avenue. Responding officers found “multiple individuals” who had been shot, police said.
A 25-year-old man died at the scene, according to police, and a 22-year-old woman was taken to the hospital where she later died.
Two other 25-year-old men were taken to the hospital in critical condition, officials said. A 4-year-old with minor injuries was also transported there.
Investigators said the shooting doesn’t appear to be random, though it hasn’t yet been disclosed whether an arrest has been made.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Muskegon Police Department at 231-724-6750 or Silent Observer at 231-722-7463.
Muskegon is around 197 miles northwest of Detroit.
East Lansing — A couple of familiar faces are staying on with Pat Fitzgerald’s first football staff.
Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi and safeties coach James Adams will remain on Michigan State’s staff next season, first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel and confirmed by an MSU spokesperson.
Rossi, 46, joined Jonathan Smith’s inaugural staff in December 2023 after six seasons as defensive coordinator for Minnesota. Rossi originally signed a three-year contract worth $4.8 million in base salary. The Detroit News reported Friday that MSU athletic director J Batt added an extra year worth $1.7 million to Rossi’s contract two days before this season’s opener against Western Michigan, one of four wins in a 4-8 (1-8 Big Ten) season.
A 5-19 record over two seasons resulted in Jonathan Smith’s firing Sunday, and Fitzgerald took over Monday. Rossi’s current contract carries a buyout that would exceed $3.5 million if Michigan State had replaced him as defensive coordinator.
At the end of the 2025 season, Rossi’s defense allowed 29.9 points per game, which ranked 103rd out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams and 15th out of 18 Big Ten teams. An average of 378.7 yards allowed per game ranked 73rd in the FBS and 14th in the Big Ten.
Adams joined Smith’s staff in January after leaving Wake Forest, where he was an associate head coach and safeties coach. He began his career at Wake Forest as a graduate assistant in 2009 before making stops at Wofford, Charlotte, Western Michigan, Navy and Purdue. His contract, signed through Jan. 31, 2027, would have carried a buyout of $285,416.67.
Fitzgerald agreed to terms on a minimum five-year, $30 million contract that could automatically extend to eight years, $54 million if he wins seven games in his first three seasons. Fitzgerald previously coached at Northwestern from 2006 to 2022, a Big Ten West opponent of Rossi’s old Minnesota teams. Fitzgerald also coached against Adams in 2021, when the latter was at Purdue.
Of 11 assistant football coaches under contract with Michigan State, five are on contracts that expire Jan. 31. If Michigan State were to turn over the remaining staff beyond Rossi and Adams, it would cost the university $2,524,000.
That is on top of the estimated $33.5 million owed Smith, which Batt told The News on Thursday will be paid by athletic department funds.
All those contracts, including Smith’s and Rossi’s, are subject to a mitigation clause in which the salary paid by the coach’s next job offsets the buyout amount owed by Michigan State.
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
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