Although Michigan took a while to get going, they played their game. In doing so, they took N.C. State out of their comfort zone. The Wolverines played a joyful, dominant second half, beating the Wolfpack 92-63 in front of a raucous home crowd to advance to the third Sweet Sixteen in program history.

“We committed to Michigan to do this,” said Olivia Olson. “And we committed to Coach [Kim Barnes] Arico to do it for her and for each other. You could see how much fun we were having, and that's what it's about, and that's how close our team is.”

Nobody embodied the dual nature of this game more than Olson, who refused to allow a scoreless first half — her first of the entire season — to impact her confidence. She poured in 27 points on 9 of 14 shooting in the second half. Michigan scored 64 points in the final 20 minutes, evenly split with 32 in the third and fourth quarters. You may note that’s more than N.C. State produced in the entire game.

Olson led a magnificent performance from the sophomore trio that committed to Michigan as a group. Syla Swords led the offense through a rough first half and finished with 26 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Mila Holloway didn’t allow her own poor shooting to impact the way she ran the offense, ending the game with 13 points, nine rebounds, a team-best six assists, and only two turnovers.

“This will be another banner. Every team has a special place, and every team helped lay the foundation to where we are today,” said Kim Barnes Arico. “That sophomore core group of kids came because of what Naz Hillmon did. Naz Hillmon came because of what Katelynn Flaherty did and Hallie Thome did. They wanted their own legacy, but they wanted to be a part of what the Michigan faithful, the Michigan players did before as well.”

Great teams find a way.

With Olson struggling with both her shot and two early fouls, Michigan scuffled to a three-point halftime lead against an N.C. State squad missing star guard Zoe Brooks. The U-M full-court press helped force ten first-half turnovers but they only came away with two fast break points.

Missing reliable backup guard Macy Brown, on the bench with crutches after an injury suffered in Saturday’s practice, Barnes Arico stuck to the gameplan and found ways to adjust. In the first half, she deployed a rarely used three-forward lineup, letting Te’Yala Delfosse hound point guard Zam Jones with Ashley Sofilkanich and Kendall Dudley lurking on the back end of the press.

Pressing and trapping proved even more effective in the second half as N.C. coughed the ball up 12 times. This time around, Michigan took advantage on the other end of the floor. Olson and Swords were magnificent, hitting six of the team’s eight second-half three-pointers.

Great teams capitalize on mistakes.

Late the third quarter, N.C. State’s Devyn Quigley scored and-one layup to cut U-M’s lead to ten points pending the free throw. Inexplicably, Wolfpack All-ACC forward Khamil Pierre threw the ball at Kendall Dudley after the whistle, drawing a technical foul.

After Quigley sunk her free throw, Swords made both technical free throws, then finished a long possession with a triple. NCSU point guard Zam Jones double-dribbled under duress and Olson beat the buzzer with a hanging jumper. In a blink, it was 60-44, Michigan, after three.

That sequence shattered N.C. State’s will. U-M’s lead would never dip below 16 in the fourth. Olson’s final three-pointer induced a massive crowd pop and an emptying of the bench. The starters earned a hero’s sendoff and cheered as hard as any fan while senior Alyssa Crockett and freshman Ciara Byars extended the final margin to 29 points.

While ABC cruelly cut away as Brooke Quarles Daniels danced in the postgame celebration, we have video showing even the Coach Arico participated in the festivities.

“We got to sit and watch how loud the crowd [was], how excited our teammates were, and just soak it all in,” said Swords. “What we've built but also what Coach Arico has been building throughout the years.”

They’ve built something special.

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Setting the tone. With Brooks absent for N.C. State, the looming question was how Michigan would handle the imposing frontcourt of Pierre and 6’6” center Tylda Trygger. Solfilkanich made an emphatic statement, blocking Trygger and Pierre on the first two Wolfpack possessions, sandwiched around a Quarles Daniels putback bucket.

Pierre, the leading rebounder among high-major conference players, needed 14 field goal attempts to score 15 points and grabbed only one offensive rebound. Trygger managed just six points and four boards, none on offense. As a team, N.C. State rebounded only three of their 28 missed shots (10.7%).

The Brooke Quarles Difference. In her final game at Crisler, BQD had one of her finest performances. She scored all six of her points in the first quarter when the team badly needed someone to get buckets, even sinking a rare jumper when the Wolfpack defense backed off of her.

“She's relentless,” said Barnes Arico.

BQD added six rebounds, four on the offensive end, along with five assists and five steals. Her — shit, I gotta find a synonym for relentless — unrelenting pressure gave NCSU’s guards massive problems all afternoon.

PUFFS ACTIVATED. After a 1-for-5 first half, Delfosse made 2 of her 4 second-half attempts, including a putback of her own miss that initiated this delightful team celebration:

Delfosse was only credited with one steal, which greatly undersells her impact on defense. While Jones had nine assists, she also committed seven turnovers, and Delfosse’s disruptive length and athleticism at the top of the defense played a major role.

A tight rotation. The three-forward lineup was a great adjustment to Olson’s early foul trouble and the absence of Brown, who doesn’t look like she’ll be ready to play any time soon. (Unfortunately, nobody asked for a status update in the postgame presser, but crutches are a bad sign.)

Michigan didn’t use a backup guard until garbage time, limiting the rotation to the five starters, Delfosse, and Dudley. The multi-position versatility of Olson, Delfosse, and Dudley gave Barnes Arico plenty of lineup flexibility, so you can expect more of the same going forward. Should U-M need another guard, McKenzie Mathurin will be the main option off the bench.

Plenty of support. Some former Michigan WBB stars came back to see what they’ve helped build.

“Naz [Hillmon] was back in the building, Leigha Brown was back in the building,” said Barnes Arico. “Our alums and our fans and our former players, they are all connected to this group.”

Yaxel Lendeborg made it on camera celebrating a Mila Holloway three; he was apparently joined in the stands by the entire men’s team and staff, who are getting ready for their own Sweet Sixteen appearance next weekend.

Making the question her own. I loved this response from Barnes Arico, who took a question clearly aimed at the men’s teams — the men’s hockey squad won the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday — and turned it into a shoutout to her fellow U-M legends of women’s coaching:

Hutchins and Plocki retired after leading U-M to national titles in softball and women’s gymanstics, respectively. Bernstein has 12 Big Ten titles in her 18 years and counting coaching the women’s tennis team, which made their first Final Four in 2025. Their careers are all the more impressive considering…

…support women’s sports, please. Michigan is lagging behind the competition at funding this amazing women’s basketball program.

There’s no excuse for an athletic department as rich as Michigan’s to not be funding the program as much as any school in the Big Ten. Instead, they’re getting routed by Iowa.

I wrote much of this while keeping an eye on the back-and-forth battle between three-seed Louisville and six-seed Alabama for the right to play Michigan on Saturday. Louisville survived, 69-68, when Alabama’s prayer wasn’t answered at the buzzer after the Cardinals missed two free throws, forcing a long heave that may have been too late regardless.

Tipoff time and broadcast information have yet to be announced. I’ll have a full preview later this week.