Michigan women’s basketball is moving to the second round of the NCAA Women’s tournament for the first time since 2022.
After a second-quarter run gave Iowa State the lead, the tandem of Michigan senior guard Jordan Hobbs, and freshmen Oliva Olson and Mila Holloway jarred the 6-seed Wolverines to a comeback to clinch an 80-74 victory over the 11-seed Cyclones on Friday afternoon in South Bend, Indiana.
Hobbs’ new career-high 28 points has Michigan advancing to the next round, where it’ll play Sunday against 3-seed Notre Dame on the Irish’s home court. Notre Dame waxed Stephen F. Austin, 106-54.
Jordan Hobbs hot start keyed by defense
The Wolverines forced seven Iowa State turnovers in the first quarter and caused some early foul trouble for Iowa State’s frontcourt of Audi Crooks and Addy Brown. Both had two fouls halfway into the quarter forcing them to be benched until the second.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Hobbs had the hot hand for Michigan finishing the quarter with 10 points.
Despite her teammate’s shooting struggles early on, Hobbs still motivated her team throughout the game.
“I think just telling them if they’re missing them, then the percentages are the percentages — they’re going to make the next one,” Hobbs told reporters postgame. “We’ve been in that situation so many times this year.”
Cyclones dominating turnaround
Crooks, 6 feet 3, found her rhythm as she returned to the game in the second quarter, allowing Iowa State to surge to the lead with under three minutes left until halftime.
Michigan found itself in early foul trouble, committing six in the quarter, notably some from senior center Yulia Grabovskaia.
“We thought that matchup would be better for her than it was our guards,” Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico said about Grabovskaia’s fouls. “But once she picked up those three quick fouls, we found out that we were going to keep Greta (Kampschroeder) and Jordan on them.”
The Cyclones built their momentum after Brown hit a field goal in the final three minutes, bringing the game to a 29-all tie. Crooks stayed near the paint and hit a free throw to take the lead.
“First half we were still a little excited. We let them rush us into some bad decisions,” Brown said. “Second quarter came around, we got to slow down. I think we were really connecting inside and transition. I was bringing the ball up more, reading the help side. We were able to create some things there.”
Iowa state used a 10-3 run to end the quarter, after Hobbs hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds, bringing the halftime score to 37-32.
Michigan’s fourth-quarter rally
ISU led by as many as nine points in the third quarter, but Michigan began to claw back, cutting the deficit to 56-53 headed into the fourth.
Olson hit a jumper to allow the Wolverines to take a 60-58 lead with eight minutes to play. Both teams continued to match each other, but a Hobbs 3-pointer pushed U-M’s lead to six and forced an Iowa State timeout.
“I think we had to continue to find the holes in their defense,” Kampschroeder said. “They did a good job covering some of our sets that we had planned on running throughout the game. Then we started to figure out where we needed to move to.”
Both teams battled and Brown brought ISU within three, forcing Barnes Arico to take a timeout with the score 77-74.
Olson iced the game hitting a 15-footer with 20 seconds left for a 79-74 edge, and Syla Swords later made a free throw to send Michigan to the next round.
Hobbs’ career performance is a highlight for Barnes Arico, seeing everything the senior has overcome.
“She started the bench mob,” Barnes Arico said. “She was the greatest teammate and the energy giver when she didn’t play a minute. She didn’t play much her sophomore year. Now for her to have 28 points in the NCAA tournament as a senior, holy cow, that’s special. And that’s what our program has been built on.”
Contact Eric Guzmán: eguzman@freepress.com; 313-222-1850. Follow him on X: @EricGuzman90
.
Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress).
Stay connected and stay informed. Become a Detroit Free Press subscriber.
