The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 47 2026-27 BASKETBALL PREVIEW fortably with another year of experience. Stanford transfer Courtney Ogden and Australian freshman Dallas Loughridge are others who are expected to make an impact. U-M will begin the season without Hol- loway, who is out indefinitely after a Sep- tember injury, and senior Macy Brown, who was injured late in last season's NCAA Tournament. Barnes Arico did not have a timeline for Brown's return during her ap- pearance at Big Ten Media Day. "Macy Brown is the heart and soul of our team," she said. "She is the glue to our team. She is the senior leader of our team. She keeps everyone together." Senior Dallas Loughridge has taken on some of the point guard responsibilities in the meantime. "She's another one who just wants to win, who wants to be a part of something special, and she's embraced the Michi- gan way," Barnes Arico said. Swords, Olson and Dudley will also share ballhandling duties. "All hands on deck at point guard," Barnes Arico said. "So I think our ver- satility is something that will be really special." 'WE'RE REMINDED OF IT EVERY DAY' The Elite Eight run put Michigan in rare company, but the blowout loss to Texas has not faded. "We're reminded of it every day," Ol- son said on the Big Ten Network. "Coach reminds us about it every day, and we've watched it so many times on film, with our individual player development coaches or as a team. We've watched it a million times and seen so many things that we need to get better at." There's no reveling in the glow of an otherwise great season, though. These Wolverines went right back to work. "The basking definitely ended a cou- ple of months ago, because we're deep into the season now," Swords said. "But it's definitely a confidence boost, know- ing we've taken the program to places it hasn't been many times before." Expectations remain high for a group that wants to make a push toward the first Final Four in program history. "We came in as freshmen wanting to help build this program and take it to places it hasn't been before," Olson said. "This year, we've prepared ourselves knowing we still need to win games to make it back there and push past it to make it to the Final Four." Swords and Olson became stars as soon as they arrived on campus two years ago, but neither seems to care which of them gets the spotlight. "A lot of times somebody wants to be the one, but we have so many 'the ones' at Michigan," Swords said. "Who wouldn't want to lay the ball off a ball screen to her right hand and let her pull up? You can't be afraid of not being the top scorer, not being the top rebounder, because at the end of the day, we're all pushing each other to be better." ❏ No. Wolverine Pos. Ht. Class Hometown 1 Olivia Olson G 6-1 Jr. New Hope, Minn. Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2024-25 averaged 18.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.8 steals en route to All-Big Ten first-team and All- America third-team honors in 2025-26. Was third-fastest Wolverine to 1,000 points. 2 Macy Brown G 6-0 Sr. East Grand Rapids, Mich. Played in 30 games off the bench, delivering 2.5 ppg and 1.3 rpg before season-ending injury in NCAA Tournament. Has 72 career ap- pearances in U-M uniform. 3 Mila Holloway G 5-10 Jr. Charlotte, N.C. All-Big Ten honorable mention selection in 2025-26 averaged 12.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.8 apg and 1.5 steals per game in 35 starts. Handed out 167 assists last season, good for fourth on U-M's single-season list. 4 Dallas Loughridge G 5-6 Sr. Bena, Victoria, Australia Most recently played for the Casey Cavaliers in the NBL1 South, averaging 25.8 ppg, 5.3 apg and 3.6 rpg. Represented Australia at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup and the 2022 FIBA U18 Asian Cham- pionship Division A. 7 Jessica Fields F 6-1 So. Kennesaw, Ga. Played in 18 games off the bench in 2025-26. Four-star recruit out of high school and McDonald's All-America Game nominee as a senior who led Mount Paran Christian School to three state basketball titles. 12 Syla Swords G 6-0 Jr. Sudbury, Ontario MVP of the 2026 FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament for Team Canada over summer break. All-Big Ten first-team selection in 2025- 26, averaging 14.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.4 apg and 1.6 steals in 34 starts. 15 Ashley Sofilkanich F 6-3 Sr. South Amboy, N.J. Started all 35 games at U-M in 2025-26, averaging 7.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 1.1 blocks per outing. Patriot League Player of the Year at Bucknell in 2024-25 as a sophomore, and All-Patriot League third team as a fresh- man in 2023-24. 22 Kendall Dudley G 6-2 Jr. Manassas Park, Va. Made 32 appearances, with two starts, as a sophomore in 2025-26. Ap- peared in all 37 games, with one start, at UCLA as a freshman in 2024-25. 23 Ciara Byars F 6-2 So. Paris, Ky. Played in 15 games off the bench as a freshman in 2025-26. McDon- ald's All-American Game nominee in 2024-25, the first in George Rogers Clark HS history. 24 Devin Cosgriff G 5-10 Fr. Livermore, Calif. Four-star recruit at Archbishop Mitty HS was a two-time WCAL cham- pion. Attended the 2024 USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team minicamp. 32 Fope Ayo F 6-5 Fr. Methuen, Mass. Four-star recruit at Austin Preparatory School earned 2025-26 Gato- rade Massachusetts Girls' Basketball Player of the Year honors after 22.3 ppg, 17.3 rpg senior season. 33 Te'Yala Delfosse G 6-3 Jr. Ewing, N.J. Has 59 appearances with one start in two seasons at U-M. Averaged 8.7 ppg and 4.7 rpg in 2025-26 with 16 double-figure scoring games. 34 Aaiyanna Dunbar F 6-2 Jr. Murfreesboro, Tenn. Has 17 appearances off the bench in two seasons at U-M. Led Blackman HS to Tennessee Class AAA state championship as sophomore in 2021. 40 Courtney Ogden G 6-1 Gr. Atlanta, Ga. Stanford transfer has two years of eligibility remaining. Averaged 12.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 2.1 apg for Cardinal in 2025-26. Member of Stanford's 2023-24 Pac-12 championship team. 2026-27 Michigan Women's Basketball Roster