The Wolverine

February 2025

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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46 THE WOLVERINE ❱ FEBRUARY 2025 BY ANTHONY BROOME M ichigan's youth movement and offseason of change brought about hope for the future, but the recent stretch of games against elite competition has been a learning experiences for the young Wolverines. The women fell, 72-62, to No. 10 Okla- homa in the Jumpman Invitational on Dec. 17, then went through a three-game losing streak against top-10 conference opponents, with road losses at No. 4 USC (78-58) and No. 1 UCLA (86-70) during its Los Angeles road trip from Dec. 29-Jan. 1. It followed with an 84-77 loss to No. 9 Ohio State at home on Jan. 8. The U-M women feel like they're close to a breakout moment. "This has been a long stretch," senior guard Greta Kampschroeder said after the loss to the rival Buckeyes, via The Michi- gan Daily. "We've had to play four of the top 10 teams in the country in the past five games. "Playing Ohio State at home, no mat- ter what number's in front of their name, you want to beat them, especially on your home court. And we were close. We were really close. "But we're really tired of saying that we're close. We had them in the first half, and it felt like we just kind of gave it away." Ranked opponents have outscored the Wolverines by a margin of 10 points this season, and the loss to OSU included sur- rendering 53 second-half points after building a 13-point lead at halftime. "Teams go on runs at the end of the game, and we can't let up in those in- stances," Kampschroeder said. "We tend to hold them to fewer points in the first and second quarter of games, and then we kind of let up in the second half." A rededication to playing strong on the defensive end of the floor paid off the next time out, with Michigan grabbing an 87-60 win at Purdue on Jan. 11. Head coach Kim Barnes Arico saw a few lapses early, but her team recovered, leading to a strong wire-to-wire effort to get back in the win column. "We spent the last couple days trying to work on our defense," Barnes Arico said. "We had a couple of mistakes during the first quarter that I thought it was impor- tant to emphasize and talk about. … We want to really get better at things, and we want to really emphasize them in the mo- ment. I took those two timeouts early to really talk about those things." One of the brightest spots in the up- and-down year has been freshman guard Olivia Olson, who had 18 points and 7 re- bounds in the victory. The double-digit performance was her 13th of the season through 16 games and boosted her scor- ing average to 15.9 points per game. "I think her confidence is continuing to grow and grow as the season goes on," Barnes Arico said. "She's blossoming. It's just amazing to see. She led us in re- bounding against Purdue, and she got to the free-throw line. She just did a little bit of everything. She's becoming more consistent with her shot. She was always a great shooter. She just had to find that rhythm." With the win at Purdue, U-M improved its record to 11-5 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have a busy month with five more games in January — three home and two on the road. ❏ ❱  WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Michigan Fights Through Stretch Versus Four Top-10 Teams In Five Games 2024-25 MICHIGAN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time Oct. 27 Northwood (Exhib.) W, 81-52 Nov. 4 vs. South Carolina* L, 68-62 Nov. 8 Lehigh W, 86-55 Nov. 14 Central Michigan W, 99-62 Nov. 17 Oakland W, 88-42 Nov. 20 LIU W, 96-31 Nov. 24 Long Beach State W, 111-56 Nov. 29 vs. Belmont^ W, 68-58 Nov. 30 vs. Virginia Tech^ W, 76-65 Dec. 8 Northwestern W, 60-54 Dec. 14 Detroit Mercy W, 100-54 Dec. 17 Oklahoma# L, 72-62 Dec. 20 at Akron W, 96-55 Dec. 29 at USC L, 78-58 Jan. 1 at UCLA L, 86-70 Jan. 8 Ohio State L, 84-77 Jan. 11 at Purdue W, 87-60 Jan. 15 Washington (B1G+) 7 p.m. Jan. 18 Rutgers (BTN) Noon Jan. 22 at Minnesota (B1G+) 8 p.m. Jan. 25 Michigan State (BTN) Noon Jan. 29 at Wisconsin (B1G+) 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 Oregon (B1G+) Noon Feb. 6 at Nebraska (Peacock) 8 p.m. Feb. 9 at Michigan State (FS1) 2 p.m. Feb. 12 Indiana (B1G+) 7 p.m. Feb. 17 at Maryland (BTN) 6 p.m. Feb. 22 Penn State (BTN) Noon Feb. 26 Iowa (B1G+) 7 p.m. Mar. 2 at Illinois (B1G+) 3 p.m. Mar. 5-9 Big Ten Tournament** TBA All times Eastern; * Hall of Fame Series, Las Vegas; ^ Fort Myers Tip-Off, Fort Myers, Fla., on Women's Sports Network; # Jumpman Invitational, Char - lotte, N.C.; **Indianapolis Freshman guard Olivia Olson, who had 18 points and 7 rebounds in the victory at Purdue, led Michigan through Jan. 11 with a scoring average of 15.9 points per game. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS

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