The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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36 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2025 BY ANTHONY BROOME M ichigan (22-10 regular sea- son) is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tour- nament in 13 seasons under Kim Barnes Arico with its selection as a No. 6 seed in the bracket revealed on March 16. It entered the first round not knowing its opponent, pending the result of a play-in game between 11-seeds Iowa State and Princeton. There was a time last spring when U-M did not know who would be on its team, let alone what the outlook might be. A tournament berth in a year that featured three freshmen in the starting lineup in Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and Mila Holloway now serves as a foundation for the future. "Any experience they can get in post- season play is valuable, and we always talk about being in those situations," Barnes Arico said on Selection Sunday. "We had a great first-round game against Washington [in the Big Ten Tournament], who's a really good team. We played ex- ceptionally well against Maryland, which led to the USC game, and USC was able to take some things from the Maryland game that we may have struggled with and presented those challenges for us on another level. "Those were really great opportunities for our freshmen to be put in situations. I even talked to some of them after the game about the importance of being in those situations and learning how to deal with them. But if you're never in them, you don't know. So, it was great for them to have a little postseason play before we head to that [NCAA] stage." One of the biggest takeaways from this year is that U-M could put a lot on the plate of its freshman trio. It is a group that wants the grind and the challenge of play- ing championship-caliber basketball. "They're competitors, they're gamers, and you saw that from the first game of the year against [defending champions] South Carolina," Barnes Arico said. "It's not like they're intimidated or they're super nervous. They want this. That's what they came to Michigan for. They're excited to be in these positions every single time. They're going to be OK. But you never know until the lights go on in the tournament." Barnes Arico went through a stressful offseason, but this team seems to have rejuvenated her, at least according to her mother. "When she saw me, she said I look so good for February. She hasn't seen me in February in many years. I was like, OK, thanks. I guess that's a compli- ment," she laughed. "But it speaks to our team this year. It's been great." Barnes Arico's challenge with the Wolverines has not only been to get them into the NCAA Tour- nament, but to keep them there and to keep pushing the program forward. With eight tournament berths in a row, it seems that con- sistency has been achieved. "When we got to the tourna- ment at St. John's, we had not been there in forever, it was the worst of the worst, and I was so excited after winning the game," Barnes Arico said. "[UConn head coach] Geno Auriemma walked past me, and whis- pered in my ear, 'It's easy to win a game, it's easy to get here; the hard part is stay- ing here.' And at that moment, I was like, whatever. I'm happy to be here. You can't say anything to change my mind. "But now 20 years later, to have that type of consistency, that's the ultimate goal for any coach to build a program and for the team to build something that lasts year in and year out. And that's what we try to do at Michigan." ❑ ❱ WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Kim Barnes Arico Leads Her Team To NCAA Tourney In A Retooling Year Olivia Olson (right) was named Big Ten co-Freshman of the Year and was joined on the all-conference second team by classmate Syla Swords (left). Senior Jordan Hobbs and freshman Mila Holloway each received honorable mention. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Date Opponent Time 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 W, 82-69 Jan. 18 Rutgers W, 87-71 Jan. 22 at Minnesota W, 70-65 Date Opponent Time Jan. 25 Michigan State L, 88-58 Jan. 29 at Wisconsin L, 82-75 Feb. 2 Oregon W, 80-48 Feb. 6 at Nebraska W, 78-60 Feb. 9 at Michigan State W, 71-61 Feb. 12 Indiana W, 70-67 Feb. 17 at Maryland L, 85-77 Feb. 22 Penn State W, 78-68 Feb. 26 Iowa L, 79-66 Mar. 2 at Illinois W, 78-69 Mar. 6 vs. Washington** W, 66-58 Mar. 7 vs. Maryland** W, 98-71 Mar. 8 vs. USC** L, 82-70 Mar. 21 Iowa State or 11:30 a.m. Princeton (ESPN2)! All times Eastern; * Hall of Fame Series, Las Vegas; ^ Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off; # Jumpman Invitational, Charlotte, N.C.; ** Big Ten Tournament, Indianapolis; ! NCAA Tournament, South Bend, Ind. 2024-25 MICHIGAN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE (22-10 Overall; 11-7 Big Ten)