Michigan women's basketball a 6-seed in March Madness, will play Iowa State or Princeton
Michigan women's basketball heads back to the NCAA tournament for the fifth year in a row under head coach Kim Barnes Arico.
Michigan will face an 11-seed to be determined — either Iowa State or Princeton — as the No. 6 seed in the Birmingham-3 region, with the game set for Friday in South Bend, Indiana. The Wolverines won two games in the Big Ten tournament, beating Washington and Maryland, before being knocked out by JuJu Watkins and USC in the semifinals. Michigan finished the season 22-10 and tied for fifth in the Big Ten standings, closing the season by winning four of its final six games.
If the Wolverines beat the Cyclones or Tigers (who will tip off in a play-in game in South Bend on Wednesday), they will face the winner of Notre Dame and Stephen F. Austin. Notre Dame topped the polls just a few weeks ago, but fell the to a 3-seed in Sunday's bracket reveal.
Michigan ranks 22nd in the country in scoring (78.1 points per game) and is one of the top shooting teams from deep with a 35.7% 3-point percentage. Overall, Michigan is one of the more efficient offensive teams in the country, ranking in the top 50 in offensive rating and field goal percentage.
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The Wolverines are led by a phenom freshman guard duo in Syla Swords and Olivia Olson. Olson leads the Wolverines, averaging 16.2 points per game while pulling over five boards. She shoots 39.8% from 3-point range on just under three attempts per game. Swords averages 16.1 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 35% from deep on 6.1 attempts per game. Senior Jordan Hobbs is the third Wolverine double-digit scorer, averaging 13.4 points per game.
Last year, Michigan was knocked out in the first round of the tournament by Kansas as a No. 9 seed. The Wolverines are looking to make it past the first weekend for the first time since 2022.
Iowa State is also making its fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance. The Cyclones won their first-round matchup last season before falling in the second round. This season, ISU went 22-11 and finished seventh in Big 12 play. The Wolverines and Cyclones have a shared non conference opponent, with ISU beating Central Michigan by 26 in December and Michigan topping CMU by 37 in November.
Princeton is making its fourth straight NCAA appearance after a first-round exit last season. The Tigers went 21-7 overall and finished second in the Ivy League, then lost to eventual champion Harvard in the Ivy semifinals. Princeton is no stranger to Big Ten foes; the Tigers topped in-state foe Rutgers by 17 in late November. Michigan, meanwhile, bested Rutgers by 17 in mid-January.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X or Bluesky, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan women's basketball 6-seed in March Madness, foe not set yet
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