The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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44 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2026 BY ANTHONY BROOME S ophomores Olivia Olson and Syla Swords earned consensus All-Big Ten first-team honors when the confer- ence awards were announced on March 3. Senior Brooke Quarles Daniels was also named to the Big Ten all-defensive team, and Mila Holloway was an All-Big Ten honorable mention choice by the coaches. Senior Alyssa Crockett was the team's Sportsmanship Honoree. It is the fourth time in program his- tory that two U-M players have earned first-team honors from the coaches in the same season. Olson was fifth in the Big Ten in scor- ing during the regular season with 19.6 points per game, and scored in double figures in all 29 games, 16 of them with 20 points or more. She was named Big Ten Player of the Week twice this year including the final week of the season, where she averaged 29.5 points, 8.5 re- bounds and 4.0 assists per game in a pair of wins, headlined by the game-winning layup with 3 seconds to go in an 88-86 overtime victory at No. 13 Ohio State on Feb. 25. Olson became the 32nd Wolver- ine to reach the 1,000-point mark for the Maize and Blue. Swords' first-team honors come after a second-team nod last season as a true freshman. She started 28 games, scor- ing in double figures 22 times with four 20-point games, averaging 14.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per con- test. Swords leads the Wolverines in three-pointers made (74) heading into the NCAA Tournament and ranked fifth in the Big Ten with 2.4 triples made per night. She enters the tournament 39 points shy of the 1,000-point mark for her career. Quarles Daniels was a consensus pick for the all-defensive team, becoming the fifth Wolverine all-time to earn a place on the squad. U-M's defense was sixth in the league in points allowed a contest, and Quarles Daniels led the conference in steals at 2.4 per game with at least 3 steals in 14 games this season. Holloway started in all 29 regular-sea- son games and was third in scoring for the Wolverines at 12.4 points per contest. Crockett averaged 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in 8.1 minutes per game this season. The two-time Academic All- Big Ten honoree is studying movement science. WOLVERINES BOW OUT IN BIG TEN TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS U-M received a double-bye to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals in India- napolis, grabbing an 80-58 victory over 11th-seeded Oregon on March 6 before a 59-42 loss to No. 2 seed Iowa in the semifinals on March 7. Michigan held a 36-35 lead over the Hawkeyes heading into the fourth quar- ter before Iowa closed out the game on a 24-6 run. The Wolverines rallied back from an 11-point first-half deficit but were unable to hold on down the stretch. "Obviously, we're bummed and dis- appointed about the outcome of the game," head coach Kim Barnes Arico said afterward. "We feel like we have a really great basketball team. Iowa just got the better of us today, especially in the fourth quarter. They really took over the game. "They're a great team, and we have a ton of respect for them. But we're ex- cited to move on and to play in March Madness. We feel like we play in the best league in the country, and this conference and this tournament have prepared us for March. We're excited about that." U-M enters the postseason as the No. 6 team in the NCAA's NET rankings with 9 Quad 1 wins on the season. It will host the NCAA first and second rounds in Ann Arbor after finding out its draw on March 15. "I think we're really prepared," Swords said after the Big Ten Tournament loss to Iowa. "After the last Iowa game we played, we talked in the locker room and said we could either crumble these last couple games when we play ranked opponents or we could come out prepared for March. "Today didn't go our way, but we have so much basketball left. We're just look- ing forward to the opportunity to still be playing." ❏ ❱ WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Two Wolverines Make All-Big Ten First Team Sophomore guard Olivia Olson was named a consensus All-Big Ten first-team pick along with classmate Syla Swords (not pictured). Olson also earned second-team All-America honors from The Athletic. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY