By RICHIE HALL
When college basketball players become sophomores, the responsibility level can increase.
That was the case for Emily Kiser, who just completed her sophomore season for the University of Michigan women’s basketball team. After a freshman season where she appeared in just over half of the Wolverines’ games, Kiser played in 29 of Michigan’s 32 contests during her sophomore year.
“Freshman year was kind of spotty minutes here and there,” said Kiser, a 2018 Noblesville graduate. She would usually get into the game when the Wolverines were up by so many points. But things became different in the 2019-20 season – “This year I definitely had to have more of a ready mentality,” she said.
“Even though I didn’t get a ton of minutes all the time this year, I think they’re definitely pretty important minutes,” said Kiser. She knew that she had to play a different role, and do the little things like getting rebounds, taking charges and defending the post.
Kiser came off the bench in each of her games, but always added something when she got on the court. She reached double-digit scoring for the first time on Dec. 14, when the Wolverines hosted Appalachian State, scoring 10 points and also collecting seven rebounds.
Kiser also scored nine points in three early-season games, and handed out four assists when the Wolverines played Kent State. Kiser also said she is developing an outside game and has been stepping up from the 3-point line a little more. She took 11 3-point shots last season and made four of them.
All of this comes from the inevitable differences between high school and college.
“In high school, you’re one of the biggest people,” said Kiser, who stands 6-foot-3. She’s still one of the tallest at Michigan, but the Wolverines have quite a bit of total size: Eight of the 11 players on the Michigan roster stand 6 feet or taller.
The Wolverines finished the season 21-11 and were 10-8 in Big Ten play. But Michigan made noise at the Big Ten Tournament when it upset No. 11-ranked Northwestern in the quarter-finals. The Wildcats had swept the Wolverines in the regular season, but Michigan turned the tables on them in Bankers Life Fieldhouse with a 67-59 win. The Wolverines won their first Big Ten Tournament game 81-75 over Nebraska before beating Northwestern, then fell to Ohio State 66-60 in the semi-finals.
“The whole Big Ten Tournament this year was a ton of fun,” said Kiser. While she didn’t play in the Northwestern game and got in briefly in the other two contests, she was happy to see the team get success after working all year long.
“Northwestern was really, really good,” said Kiser. “It was fun to see our team accomplish that.”
Academically, Kiser declared that she was majoring in communications, with a minor in business. She said that she was exploring her different options before deciding on communications. Kiser said that her academics are going well.
“The professors at Michigan are out of this world, especially with how helpful they are,” said Kiser. That’s especially true with all the traveling that student-athletes do during the course of the season.
The travel part is also fun. While the Wolverines usually stay in the Midwest during the season, they did get to play in Mohegan Sun Arena, the home of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, located in Uncasville, Conn. Michigan took on No. 8 Florida State in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase on Dec. 22, and gave the Seminoles a battle before falling 79-69.
“That’s been super fun,” said Kiser. “With the budget we have at Michigan, we fly everywhere.”
Unfortunately, the Wolverines didn’t get to travel to what would’ve been a first-round NCAA game, as the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was disappointing not to go to the NCAA Tournament,” said Kiser.
Since no gyms are open, players have had to get creative with their training, and Kiser is among those doing that. She’s been using the good old-fashioned basketball hoop in her driveway, and also said that she “created my own little weight room in my garage, trying to maintain some muscle mass.”
Kiser is also looking forward to next season. The Wolverines graduate one senior, with another returning for her fifth year. Michigan also has four freshmen coming into the program, as well as a transfer from Nebraska, Leigha Brown, who was the “Sixth Player of the Year” in the Big Ten last season.
“We’re just going to continue to build that chemistry and add some new faces to the team,” said Kiser.