Michigan to Face No. 2 Seed Baylor in First NCAA Sweet 16 Appearance

» Michigan is making its first appearance in the Sweet 16. The Wolverines had been 0-5 in the second round before defeating Tennessee, 70-55, Tuesday (March 23).
» Michigan and Baylor are meeting for the second time in the last four seasons. The teams met in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Waco, Texas.
» The Wolverines are 5-3 in their four NCAA appearances under head coach Kim Barnes Arico, winning at least one game in each tournament.
» The game will feature a pair of Wade Trophy and Katrina McClain Award finalists in Michigan's Naz Hillmon and Baylor's NaLyssa Smith.

NEXT GAME: NCAA Regional Semifinal
Saturday, March 27 -- vs. #5 Baylor (San Antonio, Texas), 2 p.m. CDT
TV: ABC | Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video | NCAA Digital Program
Complete Game Notes (PDF)

• Interactive Visual Season Experience
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time in program history, the No. 6-seeded University of Michigan women's basketball team (16-5) will look to continue making history when it faces No. 2 seed Baylor (27-2) in the River Walk Regional semifinal round Saturday (March 27) at 2 p.m. CDT. ABC will broadcast the game from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. U-M is ranked No. 16 in the final Associated Press poll of the season, while Baylor is No. 5.

Hail From Home

Game days may look different this season, but the tradition of cheering on Michigan women's basketball continues. Hail From Home is our way to virtually bring the excitement of game day to fans. Throughout the season, fans can look forward to a variety of digital engagements including a game day check-in with monthly prizes, fan cutouts at Crisler Center, game day playlists, Crisler scoreboard messages, special theme games, and more. » Hail From Home

Tweet of the Week

"... to be finally recognized as a team is the best accolade that I could ever get." - @nazhillmon ??#ncaaW x ?? @BradGalli pic.twitter.com/qiYg3AzUKA
— NCAA Women's Basketball (@ncaawbb) March 24, 2021

Wolverine Notes

• Michigan is making its first appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16 following wins over Florida Gulf Coast (87-66) and Tennessee (70-55) in the first two rounds. U-M had been 0-5 in the second round prior to Tuesday's (March 23) win over the Lady Vols. Head coach Kim Barnes Arico has now taken two different programs to the Sweet 16 after leading St. John's there in 2012.

• Michigan and Baylor are meeting for the second time in the last four seasons. The two teams met in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Waco, Texas. Graduate student Akienreh Johnson is the only current Wolverine who saw action in that game, an 80-58 Baylor win.

• The regional semifinal game will feature a pair of Wade Trophy and Katrina McClain Award finalists in Naz Hillmon and Baylor's NaLyssa Smith. Hillmon (24.6 ppg) is one of three players scoring in double figures for the Wolverines, joined by Leigha Brown (17.6 ppg) and Akienreh Johnson (11.0 ppg).

• It has been a season of firsts for Michigan: highest ranking in program history (No. 11), first 10-0 start, first 50-point game (Naz Hillmon, Jan. 21 at Ohio State), first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and highest seed in program history at No. 6. In addition, Hillmon is Michigan's first-ever All-American as she has garnered honors from Sports Illustrated (first team), the Associated Press (second team) and The Athletic (first team). She is also one of four finalists for the Wade Trophy.

• Michigan has been in San Antonio since last Wednesday (March 17) in advance of starting the NCAA Tournament. For the tournament, U-M is averaging 78.5 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting while allowing just 60.5 points per game on 38.2 percent shooting. U-M has a quartet in double-figure tournament scoring in Leigha Brown (25.5 ppg on 60.0 percent shooting), Naz Hillmon (16.5 ppg, 14.5 rpg), Hailey Brown (12.0 ppg) and Akienreh Johnson (10.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg). In addition, Danielle Rauch has started both games and has set or tied her career highs in points (8 vs. FGCU), rebounds (6 vs. Tennessee), steals (5 vs. Tennessee) and minutes played (34 vs. FGCU).

• U-M is making its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and the fourth under ninth-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico. The Wolverines are 5-3 in the tourney under KBA, winning at least one game in all four appearances.

• The Big Ten still has four teams left standing after the first and second rounds, the most of any conference in the NCAA Tournament. In addition to the Wolverines, No. 2 seed Maryland, No. 4 seed Indiana and No. 5 seed Iowa have advanced to the Sweet 16, marking the most conference teams to advance out of the first and second rounds in history. Michigan was one of seven Big Ten teams to make the NCAA Tournament, matching the conference record.

• Senior Hailey Brown and graduate student Akienreh Johnson have now been part of three NCAA Tournament teams at Michigan, joining Anne Thorius (1998-2001) and current U-M Executive Associate Athletic Director for development Katie (Dykhouse) Fraumann (1998-2001) as Wolverines to make three tourneys in a career.

• Michigan is the only Division I school with a team still active in the women's basketball, men's basketball and men's ice hockey tournaments. The Wolverines have a men's hoops Sweet 16 game against Florida State on Sunday (March 28) in Indianapolis, Ind., after defeating Texas Southern and LSU, while the ice hockey team will open NCAA play Friday (March 26) against Minnesota-Duluth in the regional semifinal round in Fargo, N.D.

• Current U-M assistant coach Toyelle Wilson was an assistant coach at Baylor for six seasons, helping the Lady Bears to the 2019 national championship.

• No. 2 seed Baylor (27-2) is coming off wins over Jackson State (101-52) and Virginia Tech (90-48) to advance to the Sweet 16. The Lady Bears are averaging 82.6 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting while allowing 54.2 points per game on 31.7 percent shooting. Baylor has four players in double-figure scoring in NaLyssa Smith (18.0 ppg), Dijonai Carrington (13.6 ppg), Moon Ursin (12.3 ppg) and Queen Egbo (11.3 ppg). Baylor leads the all-time series against Michigan, 1-0, after recording an 80-58 win in the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Waco, Texas.