MICHIGAN FALLS BY DOUBLE-DIGITS IN SOUTH BEND, AS NOTRE DAME DOMINATES IN ROUND OF 32

March Madness has come to an end for the Michigan women’s basketball team, who lost in the Round of 32 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 76-55.

Led by Niele Ivey, the Fighting Irish finished the regular season ranked eighth in the AP Poll. They picked up impressive non-conference wins over USC, Texas and UConn — all ranked in the top-five at the time — and finished first in the ACC with a 27-5 record. This was a difficult matchup for the Wolverines, playing in enemy territory against one of the top guards in the country in Hannah Hidalgo, averaging 24.2 points per game (fourth in the country).

In one of the toughest environments Michigan has played in this season, the Wolverines looked a little rattled right out of the gate. The team recovered, but Notre Dame took an early 15-point lead and never looked back.

First Half

Kim Barnes Arico called timeout after her squad fell into a six-point hole in the opening minutes, after the Wolverines missed their first four shots. Buckets from Olivia Olson and Jordan Hobbs limited the damage, but the Fighting Irish jumped out to an early six-point lead after a stretch of four made shots in a row.

Notre Dame’s lead quickly snowballed to double digits, with Hidalgo, Sonia Citron and Liatu King combining for 24 points in that first frame. The Fighting Irish finished the first quarter with a commanding 32-12 lead, thanks to an 15-2 run to close the quarter. Michigan shot just 4/15 in that first quarter.

Mila Holloway and Olson helped Michigan get back into a bit of rhythm with buckets early in that second quarter, cutting Notre Dame’s lead to 14 and forcing Ivey to call a timeout. Michigan got stops in that stretch, forcing three turnovers in a four-minute span.

Back-to-back buckets by Hidalgo — one of the best guards in the sport — helped boost ND’s lead back to 16. Like the men’s team in last night’s win over Texas A&M, the Wolverines missed a lot of opportunities at the rim. Michigan trailed, 46-28, at the break, with Olson leading the Wolverines with 12 points and the Fighting Irish making 58.1 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes.

Second Half

Buckets from Olson and Syla Swords to open the half provided a bit of a spark, but Michigan couldn’t do much to dig into that commanding Notre Dame lead. Some turnovers early in the half helped the Fighting Irish get their lead back up to 20.

A scoring drought that stretched nearly six game minutes in that third quarter squandered Michigan’s chances at a comeback, with Notre Dame extending it’s lead to as high as 28 points in the third quarter. The Fighting Irish led by 25 at the end of the third quarter, with an 11-0 run playing a big part in that large lead.

The lead ballooned up past 30 at the start of that fourth quarter, and the Fighting Irish cruised to a 21-point victory. Freshman Olivia Olson led the Wolverines with 20, and Syla Swords had 17, but no other Wolverine scored in double figures; 55 total points is a season-low for the Wolverines, with U-M only making 36.8 percent of it’s shots.

The end of the road

With this loss, the Wolverines end the season with a 23-11 record, placing tied for fifth in the Big Ten. This was the final Michigan game for seniors Jordan Hobbs, Greta Kampschroeder and Ally VanTimmeren.

I do think the season as a whole was a success; Michigan only returned four players from last season, and a team with three freshmen in the starting lineup made it to their eighth straight NCAA Tournament. As we’ll cover in the coming days, the future is incredibly bright for this program as All-Big Ten second teamers Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and point guard Mila Holloway continue to develop. Also, don’t sleep on fellow freshman Te’yana Delfosse.

This will be a fun team to follow the next few seasons, and with Kim Barnes Arico, the winningest coach in Michigan basketball, at the helm, the sky is truly the limit for what this program is capable of. Stay with Maize N Brew for coverage of this team throughout the off-season.

2025-03-23T19:17:16Z