The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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66 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MARCH 2026 BY ANTHONY BROOME T he No. 8 Wolverines came up just short against second-ranked UCLA on Feb. 8 in Ann Arbor, losing a heart- breaking 69-66 decision after a furious rally to give themselves a chance late. Trailing by nine points with less than 30 seconds to go, sophomore Olivia Ol- son hit a three-pointer in transition to cut the deficit to 69-63 with 23 seconds remaining, followed by a steal at the other end that led to a triple from class- mate Syla Swords with 16 seconds left. After UCLA missed both free throws at the other end, Swords missed a three- pointer that would have tied the score before the final horn. Olson led the Wolverines with a game-high 20 points and 7 rebounds, topping the 1,000-point mark for her career. U-M led 17-13 after the first quarter, but the Bruins would win the next two quarters and head into the fourth with a 54-45 advantage. The defeat was the second time this season Michigan has lost by three points to a top-two opponent, dropping a 72- 69 decision to No. 1 UConn on Nov. 21. Still, U-M was encouraged by how it hung with one of the top teams in the nation. " I thought UCLA was one of the best teams in the country, and we did a heck of a job, put ourselves in a position to tie the game," head coach Kim Barnes Arico said after the game. "At the end, it was a game of runs. We came out and did a great job at the start. And then the second and third quarters, they took advantage of us. And then in the fourth quarter, we really rallied back. "It was a great basketball game. We are super disappointed that we didn't come out on the [winning] end of it, on the other side of it. We're growing, we're getting better. We're a team that continues to improve. And it was just a great game tonight." Despite going through stages of growth with a younger team, the Wol- verines have spent much of the season inside the top-10, and the hope is that these experiences shape wins on these stages down the road. "I think us losing these games by three points shows a lot of growth from last year. When you play an older and experienced team, they just have that different path and experience within the game," Barnes Arico said. "Our sopho- mores are going to be great, and it's just more growth for the team that's going to help us later in the tournament. "When you lose some of these gut- wrenching ones, they grow, they get better, and they figure out a way to win them. "If we had said at the end of last year, what are our goals coming in? We wanted to be a top-20 team. We wanted to potentially host in the NCAA Tour- nament. We didn't think we would be a top-10 team all season long and No. 6 in the NET rankings. "Where we are right now is a little bit ahead of schedule, but it's continuing to work and continuing to grow and con- tinuing to improve. They're bummed. They don't want to be on this side of another three-point loss." Michigan has now learned — twice — how unforgiving the final seconds can be against the best in the country. The next step is making them pay. ❑ ❱ WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Young Wolverines Continue To Learn Against The Elite Sophomore guard Olivia Olson led the Wolverines with a game-high 20 points and 7 rebounds in the loss to No. 2 UCLA on Feb. 8, and topped the 1,000-point mark for her career. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY ❱ Remaining 2026 Schedule (20-4 overall; 11-2 B1G) Date Opponent Time (TV) Jan. 15 ILLINOIS W, 85-69 Jan. 19 vs. Vanderbilt% L, 72-69 Jan. 22 at Rutgers W, 94-60 Jan. 25 USC W, 73-67 Jan. 29 at Indiana W, 95-67 Feb. 1 at Michigan State W, 94-91 Feb. 4 NEBRASKA W, 88-76 Feb. 8 UCLA L, 69-66 Feb. 12 at Northwestern 9 p.m. (Peacock) Feb. 15 MICHIGAN STATE 4 p.m. (FS1) Feb. 22 at Iowa 12 p.m. (Fox) Feb. 25 at Ohio State 8 p.m. (Peacock) Feb. 28 MARYLAND 2:30 p.m. (FOX) Mar. 4-8 Big Ten Tournament$ TBA % at Coretta Scott King Classic, Newark, N.J. $ at Indianapolis All times Eastern