Michigan to Kick Off 2021-22 Season With IUPUI at Crisler

» U-M opens the season at home for the eighth straight season, hosting IUPUI on the first day of college basketball.
» The Wolverines return their two leading scorers from last season in Naz Hillmon (23.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg) and Leigha Brown (18.2 ppg), a pair of preseason All-Big Ten honorees.
» The Wolverines begin the season ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press poll and No. 10 in the USA Today/Coaches poll.

THIS WEEK
Tuesday, Nov. 9 -- vs. IUPUI (Crisler Center), 7 p.m.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team kicks off the 2021-22 campaign at Crisler Center, hosting IUPUI Tuesday (Nov. 9) at 7 p.m. on the opening night of college basketball.

Wolverine Notes

• Michigan kicks off the 2021-22 season hosting IUPUI at Crisler Center, marking just the second meeting between the two teams. U-M has won its last seven season openers, all coming at Crisler. The Wolverines were 9-1 at home last season, including a 3-0 mark in the non-conference portion of their schedule.

• The Wolverines return 11 players from last year's 16-6 squad, including their two leading scorers, Naz Hillmon (23.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg) and Leigha Brown (18.2 ppg). In addition, Amy Dilk (7.7 ppg), Maddie Nolan (4.5 ppg), Emily Kiser (2.4 ppg) and Danielle Rauch (2.3 ppg) are back to give U-M an experienced nucleus of players.

• A year after being listed in both the Associated Press and USA/Today Coaches Polls for the entirety of the season, U-M begins the 2021-22 season ranked No. 11 by the Associated Press and No. 10 by the coaches. The AP ranking ties the highest in program history in that poll, with the No. 10 ranking from the coaches representing the first time the Wolverines have been in the top 10 in any poll. Michigan has garnered a preseason ranking from the AP in each of the last three seasons. U-M was picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten by both the coaches and media.

• Naz Hillmon, the 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year and the program's first-ever All-American, was named the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year to kick off her senior season. Hillmon averaged 23.9 points and 11.3 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per game last season, scoring in double figures in all but one game. She is already ninth in school history in both scoring and rebounding with 1,531 points and 765 rebounds. Hillmon has a chance to be the first Wolverine in program history to record 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. For her career, she has averaged 17.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

• The Wolverines have five Indiana natives on their team in Amy Dilk (Carmel), Leigha Brown (Auburn), Maddie Nolan (Zionsville), Emily Kiser (Noblesville) and Ari Wiggins (Indianapolis). Nolan and IUPUI's Rachel McLimore played together at Zionsville High School during the 2016-17 high school season, helping the Eagles win a sectional title.

• IUPUI is coming off a 15-5 season, falling to Wright State in the championship game of the Horizon League Tournament. The Jaguars averaged 70.1 points per game last season and bring back their top three scorers in Macee Williams (18.9 ppg, 9.8 rpg), Rachel McLimore (13.9 ppg) and Destiny Perkins (7.9 ppg). It will be the first meeting between Michigan and IUPUI since 2004, a 20-point U-M win at Crisler. The Jaguars recorded a 98-50 exhibition win over IU-Northwest Thursday (Nov. 4).

• Michigan has three new assistant coaches on the sidelines in Michigan native Carrie Moore, Val Nainima and former graduate manager Harry Rafferty. Moore, who has coached at North Carolina, Princeton and Creighton, led the nation in scoring as a senior at Western Michigan in 2006-07. Nainima joined the Wolverines after spending the last seven seasons at Fordham and played collegiately for Dawn Staley at South Carolina and internationally for Fiji. Rafferty spent the last two seasons on staff in Ann Arbor, coming to U-M after playing collegiately at Wesleyan and in the NBA G-League.