Hosting the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history, the No. 2 seed Michigan women’s basketball team took care of business in Ann Arbor and is headed to the program’s third Sweet 16. The Wolverines took down No. 15 seed Holy Cross and No. 7 seed NC State with ease, albeit with some early struggles to pull away, ultimately cruising to two lopsided wins.
Now, with a Sweet 16 banner already claimed and set to be raised to the rafters after the season, Michigan isn’t getting complacent. The Wolverines know that they’re capable of competing with and beating some of the top teams in the nation, and will look to do that on the rest of their road through the NCAA Tournament.
“You come to Michigan because you want to hang a banner, and now we’re going to hang a banner,” senior forward Alyssa Crockett said Sunday. “I think just knowing that in the back of our minds is just amazing. But that doesn’t mean we stop now. We can’t get comfortable. We’re super confident in ourselves.”
Heading down to Fort Worth, Texas, for the second weekend, Michigan still has everything out in front of it as it looks to make the program’s first Final Four appearance.
NCAA Tournament First and Second Round
The Wolverines handily took care of business in the first game, taking down the Crusaders 83-48. After Michigan ended the first quarter with a 27-6 lead, it didn’t really matter how the remaining periods went, as the Wolverines just kept doing what worked.
Michigan finished the game with 10 more offensive rebounds and 11 fewer turnovers, allowing for more shot opportunities that were knocked down all afternoon. Sophomore guard Mila Holloway was the star of the show with five made threes and 20 total points as five other Wolverines finished in double figures.
“Our pressure obviously was something that they’re not accustomed to, and we were able to really jump on them in the beginning,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “Sometimes young players have a tendency to play the score or relax and take their foot off the gas a little bit, and I don’t want to say that we necessarily did that because I think Holy Cross is a really good team, and they made us do that because of their execution. I think it was a combination of those things.”
The first half against NC State, on the other hand, was a game of runs. The first quarter left little separation between the two teams before Michigan started on a 7-0 run to open up the second quarter. After committing six turnovers in the first five minutes of the frame, the Wolfpack turned it around and responded with a 7-0 run of their own over a nearly four-minute span. Michigan held a narrow 28-25 lead at the half, but sophomore guard Olivia Olson had 0 points, and sophomore guard Syla Swords only got going during the run in the second quarter.
Then the Wolverines completely took over. By the end of the game, Michigan had 27 more shots than NC State, largely due to the Wolverines forcing 22 turnovers compared to their six, and hauling in 15 offensive boards compared to the Wolfpack’s three.
“That’s our goal every day to try to force 20 turnovers,” Barnes Arico said Sunday. “I thought in the first half, we sat back, we were nervous to do it. … Once we decided to press, which really was the second quarter, we said we’re going to get up regardless of what the situation is, I think the tide started to turn a little bit. They made a run at the end of the second quarter, but we got up ten in the middle of the second quarter because of our defensive pressure.”
In the third quarter alone, NC State had 10 turnovers as Michigan’s full-court press caused major issues for a Wolfpack team that unexpectedly lost its starting point guard before the game.
After going scoreless in the first half, Olson ended with 27 points as Swords trailed just behind with 26. The Wolverines’ offense kicked into a new gear, largely thanks to 35 points off turnovers, as Michigan’s 64 second-half points were more than NC State scored all game at 63, and the Wolverines ended with a 92-63 win.
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