Michigan
24-6,13-4Big Ten
Villanova
24-9,15-4Big East
Sweet 16 Bound! Hillmon and Brown Score 47 to Pace Michigan Past Villanova
3/21/2022 8:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
» Michigan advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.
» Naz Hillmon recorded her 50th career double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
» Leigha Brown added 20 points and five steals for U-M.
» The Wolverines scored 26 points off of 12 Villanova turnovers.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Behind a stifling defense and a combined 47 points from seniors Naz Hillmon and Leigha Brown, the No. 3-seeded University of Michigan women's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 with a 64-49 second-round victory over No. 11-seeded Villanova Monday night (March 21) at Crisler Center.
Hillmon recorded her 50th career double-double, scoring 27 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead the Wolverines, and added five steals to her stat line. Brown scored 20 points and dished out three assists. Supporting the dynamic duo, Emily Kiser pulled down 10 boards and had three assists, Maddie Nolan scored eight points with two key three-pointers, and Danielle Rauch had eight rebounds and five points.
U-M forced Villanova into 12 turnovers and scored after each and every one of them -- including two three-pointers -- for 26 points off Wildcat miscues. Michigan, which completed the first undefeated home season in program history (16-0), also grabbed 18 offensive boards which turned into 13 second-chance points.
The momentum shifted to the Wolverines following the first media break as they capped off a 6-0 run with a Hillmon fast-break layup off a Wildcat miscue for the 6-4 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Michigan later put together a five-point swing with an and-one from Brown and another Hillmon fast-break layup off the U-M press to give the Wolverines the 13-9 advantage with 2:05 left in the quarter. However, Villanova finished off the first 10 minutes of play on a 7-0 run to take a 16-13 advantage into the second quarter.
Michigan continued to find success inside the paint as Hillmon and Brown made back-to-back layups, but the Wildcat success came from beyond the arc as they held a 25-21 lead with 5:18 left in the first half. U-M used a 9-0 run that included a Nolan three-pointer and four points from Hillmon to go up 30-25 over Villanova.
The Wolverines held a three-point lead, 32-29, heading into the halftime break behind 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting from Hillmon, while Brown added 10 points in the first half.
Coming out of the intermission, Michigan put Villanova on a 2:29 scoring drought to go up by four, 38-34, and force a Wildcat timeout with 6:28 left in the third quarter. The U-M defense continued to be a difference maker throughout the third quarter, putting Villanova on another scoring drought of almost four minutes and allowing the Wolverines to close out the quarter on a 6-0 run and carry a 48-40 advantage into the final 10 minutes of action.
Senior Amy Dilk drew an offensive foul that turned into a three-pointer from Nolan on the opposite end of the court to put U-M up 55-44 with 6:36 to play. The Wolverines continued to stifle the Wildcats offensively and outscored Villanova 9-3 over a five-minute span to go up 61-47 with 1:18 remaining.
Michigan added three final free throws to its tally to move on to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.
The Wolverines (24-6) will face off against No. 10-seeded South Dakota (29-5) on Saturday (March 26) at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan. The game is slated for 5:30 p.m. CDT and will be televised on ESPN2.
