Michigan finishes regular season strong, sets program record for Big Ten wins

The final four games of the No. 8 Michigan women’s basketball team’s season were all against ranked opponents. Although the Wolverines dropped a game in Iowa City to No. 13 Iowa in what was a defensive clinic by the Hawkeyes, Michigan ended the season strong with two emphatic wins over top-15 opponents.

“I thought somebody was mad at us for a minute, because I’m like, ‘How did we get this schedule?’” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “We played against four of the best teams in the country down the stretch in our last four games. So to be able to come out of this week the way we have, and to be able to finish at home with another win, I just think speaks a lot about our team.”

In overtime, the Wolverines took down rival No. 13 Ohio State on the road before coming home to honor the program’s third player this season — Katelynn Flaherty — and defeat No. 14 Maryland in an 18-point blowout. Flaherty is Michigan’s all-time leading scorer, men’s or women’s, and was a three-time consensus All-Big Ten First Team honoree in four seasons from 2014-15 to 2017-18.

Now, as the Wolverines head into the Big Ten Tournament, they’ll be riding a wave of momentum from finishing the regular season strong.