Michigan
Kansas State
Michigan to Face Kansas State in NCAA First Round
3/20/2019 1:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball
» Michigan is making its second straight and eighth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, earning a No. 8 seed.
» U-M will face No. 9 seed Kansas State in the first round, the first time the two schools have faced each other since 1995.
» Hallie Thome needs nine points to move into second all-time at Michigan in scoring, with Nicole Munger 11 points away from reaching 1,000 in her career.
THIS WEEK
Friday, March 22 -- vs. Kansas State - NCAA Tournament first round (Louisville, Ky.), 2 p.m.
TV: ESPN2Â | Live Stats | Live Video
• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team (21-11) earned its second straight NCAA Tournament berth and will face Kansas State (21-11) in the first round on Friday afternoon (March 22) at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The game is set for approximately 2 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2.
• U-M is making its second straight and eighth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament in this year's event. It is just the third time that Michigan has earned back-to-back bids (1999-2000 and 2000-01; 2011-12 and 2012-13; 2017-18 and 2018-19). U-M is 4-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round in 1990, 2001, 2013 and 2018. Michigan has received a No. 8 seed for the fourth time.
• Head coach Kim Barnes Arico is making her seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament, with the first four berths coming at St. John's. Barnes Arico is 7-6 in the NCAA Tournament, with her teams winning at least one game in all six of her prior appearances. She is 2-2 as the Michigan head coach in the NCAA Tournament as U-M knocked off No. 9 seed Villanova, 60-52, in the 2013 Tournament and defeated No. 10 seed Northern Colorado, 75-61, last season. KBA is now tied with current Central Michigan head coach Sue Guevara for the most NCAA Tournament appearances in school history with three.
• Michigan is one of six Big Ten schools to make the NCAA Tournament, joining No. 2 seed Iowa, No. 3 seed Maryland, No. 7 seed Rutgers, No. 9 seed Michigan State and No. 10 seed Indiana. It is the second straight season that the Big Ten has put six teams in the Big Dance. Michigan joins Iowa and Maryland as the Big Ten teams to also make last season's tournament. The Big Ten ended the regular season as the No. 4-rated RPI conference in the country.
• Seniors Hallie Thome and Nicole Munger each have a few milestones in sight entering the NCAA Tournament. Thome needs nine points to move into second on Michigan's all-time scoring list. Thome has 2,067 points, with Diane Dietz currently in second with 2,076. Ironically, Katelynn Flaherty (2,776 points) passed Diane Dietz to become Michigan's all-time leading scorer at the KFC Yum! Center during the 2017-18 season.
Munger enters the NCAA Tournament with 989 points, needing 11 more to become the 28th member of Michigan's 1,000-point club.
• Kansas State (21-11) closed its season strong, winning eight of its final 10 games. KSU is averaging 64.8 points per game on 40.7 percent shooting while allowing 63.8 points per contest on 38.3 percent shooting. The Wildcats feature a pair of double-figure scorers in Peyton Williams (15.9 ppg) and Kayla Goth (12.6 ppg), with Rachel Ranke and Christianna Goodrich chipping in 9.9 points per game and 9.5 points per game, respectively. The all-time series between Michigan and Kansas State is tied at 1-1, but the teams have not faced each other since 1995.
• The winner of Friday's contest will face either No. 1 seed Louisville or No. 16 seed Robert Morris on Sunday (March 24). Michigan is 2-3 all-time against Louisville and has never faced Robert Morris.
