CB West Alum Munger Delivers for Michigan in WNIT Title Game

Former Central Bucks West standout Nicole Munger played a key role in the University of Michigan’s 89-79 win over Georgia Tech in Saturday’s WNIT title game.
(Game action shots provided courtesy of the University of Michigan. Postgame photos provided by Kathy Krueger.)

Nicole Munger is…well, she’s Nicole Munger.

The University of Michigan sophomore came off the bench to score seven points in the third overtime of Saturday’s WNIT final against Georgia Tech, helping to propel the Wolverines to a 89-79 win over Georgia Tech at Calihan Hall on the campus of the University of Detroit Mercy. Her 3-pointer from the corner on the first possession of the third OT gave the Wolverines a lead they would not lose.

Yet ask Munger if she dreams about moments like the one she had on Saturday, moments on the big stage when the thousands of shots she regularly takes paid dividends in front of a national television audience, and her answer is telling.

“It was really exciting,” the sophomore guard said in a phone interview on Saturday night. “I think - just the look on everyone else’s faces. We couldn’t play on our home court today because they had an event going, so we played about an hour away in Detroit.

“The amount of Michigan fans that were there and the times they got ‘Go Blue’ chanting and ‘The Victors’ - which is our fight song - going and how loud it was. Just seeing everyone’s faces - our coaches’ faces, my teammates’ faces. Just that was worth it. It was just the moment that I will remember forever because of how special it was as a group at Michigan, how tight I really felt everyone was connected and how happy everyone was and just the pure excitement.”

Munger is no stranger to the spotlight. She spent her high school basketball career making one big play after another, leading her Central Bucks West squad to a District One 4A title and a state runner-up finish her senior year. It was never about making the big plays for Munger, but instead it was the joy of playing the sport.

On Saturday, Munger added a WNIT title to her impressive resume. Her three to open the third OT – which bounced off the rim before falling through the net – forever swung momentum in Michigan’s favor.

“It felt great – I thought it was going in from the moment it left my hand, and then it hit the rim, and I’m like, ‘No, but it bounced in,” Munger said. “It was a great bounce. I got lucky.”

Also in OT, the sophomore reserve sank a pair at the foul line and scored on a nifty reverse layup on an inbounds play under her team’s own basket. Not bad for a player who had seen limited action in the first two overtime periods.

“I kind of had the advantage going into it because all the other nine girls had been playing a lot of extra minutes than I had, so I was pretty fresh,” said Munger, who finished with 12 points, four rebounds and two steals. “I kind of thought I had more energy than them – just bring a spark, just play with passion like I usually do.

“(Teammate) Jillian Dunston actually told me, ‘You’ve got to play the most confident you’ve ever played and hit shots.’ Once somebody tells you that, it’s kind of hard not to have confidence. They wanted me to shoot the ball and just play like myself, so I tried to do that.”

Saturday’s  WNIT title helped erase the sting of missing out on an expected bid to the NCAA tournament for the Wolverines.

“The night that we found out we didn’t make the NCAAs we actually had a team party, and we watched (the selection show), and our name was never called,” Munger said. “It was horrible.

“I was crying – it was just a rough night, but we came back to practice the next day and said, ‘We need to win it. We need to show them what they’re missing out on, and we need to win for our seniors – Danielle (Williams) and Siera (Thompson).’ Everything they’ve done for this program – words can’t describe. To hang a banner not only for us but for them is what really counts.

“There are no banners in the gym for us, so it’s the first banner that (Michigan) women’s basketball ever had. It’s pretty historic.”

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