Michigan to Wrap Homestand With Contest Against Detroit Mercy

Promotions

• Holiday Game -- Come celebrate the holiday season with the Michigan women's basketball team.
• Toy Drive benefiting CS Mott Toy Store -- In the spirit of the holiday season, fans are invited to donate a new, unwrapped toy for patients at CS Mott Children's Hospital.
• Coaster Giveaway -- The first 1,250 fans in attendance will receive a free set of two coasters.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 20-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team (8-1) wraps up a two-game homestand on Saturday (Dec. 14) at 3 p.m., hosting Detroit Mercy (6-1) at Crisler Center. U-M enters the contest on an eight-game winning streak.

Notes

• This marks Michigan's last contest at Crisler Center during the 2024 calendar year. U-M will return to Crisler Center on Jan. 8, hosting Ohio State.

• Olivia Olson was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the first time on Monday (Dec. 9) after helping Michigan open Big Ten action with a 60-54 win over Northwestern (Dec. 8). She scored a game-high 18 points with six rebounds, nine fouls drawn and a steal in 36 minutes as U-M rallied for the win. Olson opened the fourth quarter with a personal 8-0 run, helping Michigan turn a four-point deficit into a four-point lead. A Michigan freshman has claimed four of the five weekly honors given by the conference this season. It is the first time in program history that Michigan has had three different freshmen honored in the same season.

• Michigan and Detroit Mercy are playing for the first time since the 2018-19 season, when Michigan won a 95-62 contest at Crisler Center. The teams squared off in all but one season from 2009-18, with Michigan winning eight of those nine contests.

• Michigan has won eight straight games for the first time since winning nine straight to open the 2022-23 season (Nov. 9-Dec. 4). Over the stretch, Michigan has been scoring 85.5 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting. The defense has been just as impressive, holding opponents to 52.9 points per game on 35.5 percent shooting. The eight straight wins are tied for the seventh-longest winning streak in program history.

• Michigan moved up to No. 20 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll, marking the second straight week in the poll for the Wolverines. It is the 85th time under head coach Kim Barnes Arico that U-M has been ranked by the AP. KBA accounts for 86.7 percent of Michigan's 98 total appearances in the poll.

• Alyssa Crockett made her season debut last time out, grabbing a pair of rebounds in three minutes off the bench after missing the first eight games due to injury. All 12 Wolverines have now seen the floor this season.

• Michigan's trio of freshman starters -- Syla Swords, Olson and Mila Holloway -- are each averaging double figures in scoring. U-M is the only school in the Big Ten with multiple first-year players averaging at least 10 points per game. Swords (17.4 ppg) is second among the conference's freshmen, with Olson (16.3 ppg) ranking third and Holloway (10.1 ppg) seventh.

• U-M has stuck with a five-guard starting lineup over the first eight contests, going with Holloway, Swords, Olson, Greta Kampschroeder and Jordan Hobbs to start the game. U-M is still getting it done on the glass, grabbing 44.4 rebounds per game while giving up just 30.3 per game. Michigan is third in the Big Ten in rebounding margin at +14.1. Michigan has outrebounded its opponent in eight games and tied South Carolina on the glass in the season opener as U-M has yet to be outrebounded by an opponent this season.

• Next up for Michigan is the Jumpman Invitational, set for Tuesday (Dec. 17) in Charlotte, N.C. U-M will face Oklahoma at 9:30 p.m. in the third edition of the event.