Michigan Set for Sweet 16 Rematch Against No. 5 Baylor

» No. 13-ranked Michigan is headed back to Connecticut for the second time in the past three seasons to participate in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase, squaring off Sunday against No. 5 Baylor.
» U-M and Baylor are meeting for the third time over the last five seasons. Baylor came away with a 78-75 win over Michigan in last year's NCAA Tournament.
» The Wolverines are facing their third ranked opponent of the season.

THIS WEEK
Sunday, Dec. 19 -- vs. #5 Baylor - Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase (Uncasville, Conn.), 1 p.m.
TV: ESPN | Live Audio | Live Video

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team (10-1) heads to Connecticut to participate in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase for the second time in the last three seasons, readying for a Sweet 16 rematch against No. 5 Baylor (9-1) on Sunday (Dec. 19). The game, which will be played at Mohegan Sun, is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN.

Wolverine Notes

• The game will feature of two of last year's four Wade Trophy finalists in Naz Hillmon and Baylor's NaLyssa Smith, the winner of the Wade Trophy. Hillmon and Smith played on the USA Basketball U18 team that won gold at the 2018 FIBA Americas Championship, with Hillmon joining forces with Queen Egbo to help the USA Basketball U19 team to gold at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

• Michigan and Baylor are meeting for the third time over the last five seasons after Baylor eliminated Michigan from the 2018 and 2021 NCAA Tournaments. The teams had never met prior to this current stretch.

• The No. 6-seeded University of Michigan women's basketball team pushed No. 2 seed Baylor to overtime in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game that came down to the final possession, but the Wolverines ultimately lost 78-75 seeing their historic season come to a close March 27 at the Alamodome.

The Wolverines used five straight made field goals in regulation to tie it up and force the overtime period before taking the lead on three occasions in the extra session.

Michigan grabbed its first lead of the game 65-64 on its first possession of OT when Akienreh Johnson made a nice jumper, but Baylor responded with back-to-back makes. The Wolverines gained a two-point edge, 68-66, on a triple from Hailey Brown, and two free throws from Naz Hillmon swung the lead back in Michigan's direction, 70-68, with 3:11 left in the overtime period. The Maize and Blue continued to fight as Danielle Rauch drove the left side for a layup, was fouled and made the free throw to tie the game at 73 with 1:56 on the clock.

With U-M down three, Leigha Brown scooped home a driving lefty shot with 15 seconds left to bring Michigan within one, but Baylor got free for a layup with 8.7 ticks remaining, making it 78-75. Johnson's premature half-court shot just missed, but Michigan got a second chance when the Baylor rebounder's foot was on the sideline. After a long delay, U-M inbounded with 0.9 on the clock, and Leigha Brown's long three attempt from near the right hashmark fell short of the rim.

• No. 13 Michigan is facing its third ranked opponent of the season in No. 5 Baylor. U-M knocked off No. 16 Oregon State 61-52 as part of the Daytona Beach Invitational (Nov. 26) before falling at No. 10 Louisville 70-48 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge (Dec. 2). U-M is looking for its first win all-time against a top-five AP-ranked opponent.

• Michigan is participating in the Hall of Fame Women's Basketball Showcase for the second time in program history after squaring off against No. 8 Florida State in the 2019 edition. This is also just the second time Michigan has played a game in the state of Connecticut.

• Through 11 games, Michigan has already faced opponents from four of the Power Five conferences. U-M has played teams from the Pac-12 (Oregon State), SEC (Mississippi State), Big Ten (Wisconsin and Minnesota) and ACC (Louisville). Baylor will be Michigan's only Big 12 opponent of the season but will complete the Power Five circuit for the Wolverines.

• No. 5 Baylor (9-1) has won six straight after dropping a three-point contest at Maryland (Nov. 21). The Bears are averaging 75.3 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting while allowing 53.3 points per game on 32.9 percent shooting. BU features a trio of double-figure scorers in NaLyssa Smith (20.4 ppg, 13.2 rpg), Jordan Lewis (12.0 ppg) and Sarah Andrews (11.1 ppg).

Up Next

Friday, Dec. 31 -- vs. Ohio State - Crash Crisler/Maize Out (Crisler Center), Noon