ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 3-seed University of Michigan women’s basketball team (24-6) heads to Wichita to face No. 10 seed South Dakota (29-5) in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The teams will square off on Saturday (March 26) at INTRUST Arena at approximately 5:30 p.m. CT. The game can be seen live on ESPN2.
Joining Michigan and South Dakota in the Wichita Regional are No. 1 seed Louisville and No. 4 seed Tennessee.
Wolverine Notes
• Michigan is making its second consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16 after wins over American and Villanova at Crisler Center. The Wolverines fell in overtime to Baylor in last year’s NCAA Tournament. These last two appearances are the only Sweet 16 appearances in program history.
• Michigan is heading to Wichita for the regional semifinal against South Dakota, marking the first trip to Kansas for the Wolverines since a Nov. 22, 2009, contest at Kansas. Joining the No. 3 seed Wolverines and No. 10 seed Coyotes in the Sunflower State are No. 1 seed Louisville and No. 4 seed Tennessee. Michigan and South Dakota have never played each other, while Michigan faced Louisville earlier this season and played Tennessee in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
• For the second straight season, both the Michigan men’s and women’s basketball teams have advanced to the Sweet 16. U-M is the only school to do this in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, as North Carolina and Iowa State join Michigan with both teams in this year’s Sweet 16.
• Michigan has won 24 games this season, the second-best total in program history. Over the last two seasons, Michigan has gone 40-12, good for a .769 winning percentage.
• For the second consecutive year, the Big Ten Conference will be sending a conference-record four women’s basketball programs (Indiana, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio State) to the Sweet 16 (regional semifinals) of the NCAA Tournament. This year’s four Sweet 16 participants ties for the most from any conference in the country — prior to 2021, the previous Big Ten record of three Sweet 16 teams had been accomplished four times (2003, 2004, 2005 and 2009).
• Naz Hillmon has led the way for the Wolverines all season and throughout her career. She recorded her 50th career double-double and fifth in NCAA Tournament action with 27 points and 11 rebounds against Villanova (March 21). She is one of eight active players in NCAA Division I with at least 50 double-doubles in a career. Hillmon has scored in double figures in all but one of her 29 games played this season, averaging 21.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. She is the only player in Michigan history — man or woman — to have 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. She is second all-time in scoring (2,148) and first in rebounding (1,042) in women’s basketball history.
• Leigha Brown made her return to the lineup at No. 21 Iowa (Feb. 27) after missing five games due to an injury. She has played in the last four games, highlighted by a 20-point performance against Villanova (March 21). She had 11 points and six assists, with a +25 plus/minus in just 12 minutes against American (March 19). On the season, LB is averaging 14.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. She has 19 double-figure scoring games on the season, highlighted by a quartet of 20-point performances.
• The No. 10-seed Coyotes knocked off No. 7 seed Ole Miss and No. 2 seed Baylor to advance to the Sweet 16. South Dakota has not lost since Feb. 5, winning its last 11 games. The Coyotes are averaging 69.5 points per game on 44.2 percent shooting while allowing just 53.1 points per game on 36.2 percent shooting. They feature three double-figure scorers in Chloe Lamb (16.1 ppg), Hannah Sjerven (15.0 ppg) and Liv Korngable (12.7 ppg). Michigan and South Dakota are meeting for the first time.
• South Dakota head coach Dawn Plitzuweit spent five seasons at Michigan as the associate head coach under Kevin Borseth from 2007-12.
