MT. PLEASANT - Simply put, Michigan center Pollyanna Johns is dominating her opponents.
The 6-foot-3 junior has led the Wolverines to their strong 6-1 start, pacing Michigan in both scoring and rebounding.
Johns was averaging 16.0 points and 10.2 rebounds heading into yesterday's game against Central Michigan.
And against the Chippewas, she continued her overpowering play, scoring a season-high 27 points and grabbing 13 boards. Johns' performance yesterday follows one of the most productive weeks in Michigan women's basketball history.
Johns became only the third player in school history to be named the Big Ten Player of the Week. Johns shared the honor with Wisconsin's Keisha Anderson.
In Michigan's three games at the Wahine Classic, Johns ripped apart her competition in the post, putting up 16.3 points, snatching 11.7 rebounds and swatting away 1.7 shots per game.
Johns is the first Wolverine to earn conference player of the week honors since Carol Szczechowski in 1990.
Fantastic freshman: Though it's no surprise that Johns is leading the Wolverines in both scoring and rebounding, it may shock fans to learn just who is right behind her in both categories.
Stacey Thomas.
Michigan's freshman guard has been lighting up her opponents, and igniting her teammates in the process.
The flashy Thomas trails Johns with 14.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She also averages two steals per contest.
Not bad for a freshman - especially on a squad loaded with upperclassmen.
Central Michigan coach Fran Voll acknowledged Thomas' ground-breaking strides into Michigan's starting lineup.
"(Michigan has) young people coming in," Voll said. "(Thomas) comes in, and (Michigan's) bumping seniors to the bench. That's pretty good."
Far and away: It's been a long time since the Michigan women's basketball team has played in the friendly confines of Crisler Arena.
And it's going to be an even longer time until the Wolverines get back.
Following Michigan's Nov. 25 regular-season home opener against Rice, the Wolverines hit the road to Hawaii. But after that dream vacation, Michigan is going to wait an entire month before it heads home again.
The wandering Wolverines don't get back to Ann Arbor until Jan. 3, when they face Northwestern. By then Michigan will have traveled to Houston, Ohio State and Minnesota.
Charity stripe: Free throws definitely have not been any sort of aid to Michigan's cause so far this season.
The Wolverines had made only 60 percent of their foul shots heading into the Central Michigan contest, and didn't improve much there either.
Michigan connected on 13 of 21 from the line - a 62 percent clip.
However, Michigan coach Sue Guevara tries to downplay the situation. It seems that in this case, repetitiveness solves nothing.
"I'm trying not to keep saying it's a problem," Guevara said. "Sometimes the more you say it, the more it becomes a bigger problem."
And indeed, there is some more free-throw shooting in the Wolverines' future, Guevara said.
"We work on it every day in practice."