Michigan
25-6,13-4Big Ten
South Dakota
29-6,17-1Summit League
Michigan Earns First NCAA Elite Eight Appearance with Win Over South Dakota
3/26/2022 9:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
» Michigan is in the first NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
» Naz Hillmon recorded her sixth NCAA Tournament double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
» Laila Phelia added 14 points, including a go-ahead layup with 23.5 seconds left.
» U-M will face No. 1 seed Louisville on Monday (March 28) at 8 p.m. CDT.
WICHITA, Kan. -- In a game that neither team led by more than six points, the No. 3-seeded University of Michigan women's basketball team secured its first-ever trip to the NCAA Elite Eight with a 52-49 victory over No. 10 seed South Dakota Saturday evening (March 26) at Intrust Bank Arena.
Freshman Laila Phelia scored what would be the game-winning basket with 23 seconds left on a driving layup. She ended the evening with 14 points, including two three-pointers. Senior Naz Hillmon recorded her 51st career double-double and her sixth in NCAA Tournament action as she scored a team-best 17 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, six of which were offensive. She also dished out three assists and added one block to her stat line.
Senior Leigha Brown also notched double-digit points for the U-M offense with 10, and senior Emily Kiser had three points and nine rebounds for the Maize and Blue. Seniors Danielle Rauch and Amy Dilk were also big on the boards for Michigan, grabbing six and five, respectively.
Maddie Nolan hit a three-pointer to start off the fourth quarter, but South Dakota matched it on its next possession to stay within one, 42-41. The Wolverines put the Coyotes on a four-minute scoring drought before South Dakota tied the game with 51 seconds left, forcing Michigan to call a timeout.
After working the ball around, Phelia drove from the top of the arc and made the right-handed layup to put U-M up by two, 50-48, with 23.5 seconds remaining. South Dakota used a timeout but missed a shot on its offensive possession and was forced to foul Brown, who made both of her free throws to give Michigan a four-point lead with 11 seconds left.
South Dakota went to the line following a Michigan foul, made its first free throw, and was awarded the ball after it went out of bounds after the second free throw missed. The Coyotes kicked the ball out to the perimeter, but the rushed last-second three-point attempt was well off the mark.
After a slow offensive start to the game, Brown netted four quick points and picked up a steal to bring Michigan within two, 11-9, to finish the opening 10 minutes of play against South Dakota.
The teams exchanged baskets to start the second quarter before U-M put together a 5-0 run with a triple from Phelia and a layup from Hillmon to allow the Wolverines to take their first lead of the game, 18-16, with 5:11 left in the first half.
Phelia continued to heat up as she knocked down her second three-pointer of the contest and followed it up with a layup to put Michigan up by four, 23-19, with under four minutes to play. However, back-to-back triples and a free throw allowed the Coyotes to take a 26-24 lead into the halftime break.
The Wolverines dominated the boards in the first half, 22-14, with Hillmon grabbing six, while Phelia scored a team-high 12 points, six of which came from beyond the arc.
Michigan and South Dakota continued to remain within two points of each other as Hillmon made a layup off a pass from Dilk and followed it up with an and-one free throw after the media break to give U-M a 35-32 advantage. The U-M defense forced South Dakota into three turnovers and capped off a 9-0 run with a jumper from Dilk to extend its lead to 37-32 with just over four minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Coyotes used a Michigan lull in scoring to come within one as the Wolverines held on to a slight 39-38 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Michigan (25-6) will take on No. 1 seed Louisville (28-4) Monday evening (March 28) in the Wichita Regional final at 8 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised by ESPN.
