Michigan to Head to LA for NCAA Tourney Date with Kansas

Saturday, March 23

Los Angeles, Calif.

11:00 AM PT

Michigan

Kansas

(Michigan Photography)

Michigan to Head to LA for NCAA Tourney Date with Kansas

3/19/2024 3:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Complete Game Notes Tournament Experience

By: Sarah VanMetre

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team (20-13) earned the No. 9 seed in the Portland 3 region for the 2024 NCAA Tournament and heads to USC to face No. 8 seed Kansas (19-12) in the Round of 64 on Saturday (March 23) at 11 a.m. PDT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNews.

Notes

• U-M is making its sixth straight and 12th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament in this year's event. It is the first time in program history that Michigan has ever earned six consecutive bids to the NCAA Tournament. U-M is 11-11 all-time in the NCAA Tournament after reaching the second round last year. Michigan has two Sweet 16 appearances in school history (2021, 2022) and an Elite Eight appearance in 2022. U-M has advanced to the second round in 1990, 2001, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2023.

• J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family head women's basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico is making her 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, with the first four berths coming at St. John's. Barnes Arico is 14-10 in the NCAA Tournament, with her teams winning at least one game in all 10 of her prior appearances. She is 9-6 as the Michigan head coach in the NCAA Tournament. KBA also is the Michigan program leader with seven NCAA Tournament appearances as head coach, accounting for more than half of Michigan's berths.

• Michigan is the No. 9 seed in the Portland 3 region, marking the first time back in the No. 8-No. 9 game since the 2019 NCAA Tournament. U-M got an 84-54 win over Kansas State as the No. 8 seed in that edition of the tournament.

• Michigan is one of seven Big Ten schools to make the NCAA Tournament, joining No. 1 seed Iowa, No. 2 seed Ohio State, No. 4 seed Indiana, No. 6 seed Nebraska, No. 9 seed Michigan State and No. 10 seed Maryland. The seven NCAA selections ties the conference record for most teams selected in one season (also set in 2012, 2015, 2021 and 2023). This represents the sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament, as well as the 19th in the past 23 and 26th time in Big Ten history that at least six current conference members have been selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament.

• Michigan has reached the 20-win mark for the 11th time under Barnes Arico, entering the NCAA Tournament with a 20-13 record. Michigan has 15 20-win seasons in program history, with KBA at the helm for 11 of them. The only season that a Barnes Arico-coached team did not win 20 games was the 2020-21 campaign when U-M only played 22 total contests en route to the 2021 NCAA Sweet 16. For her entire coaching career, KBA has reached the 20-win mark 17 times.

• Michigan has five players heading to their first NCAA Tournament in Lauren Hansen, Elissa Brett, Taylor Williams, Macy Brown and Taylor Woodson.

• Michigan is returning to the Golden State for the first time since 2016, heading to future Big Ten member USC for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. It is the second time that Michigan is playing in California for the NCAA Tournament after playing the first and second rounds at Stanford in 2013.

• Michigan is facing its first Big 12 opponent this season in Kansas and the first since knocking off No. 21 Baylor in the championship game of the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase (Nov. 26, 2022). Michigan faced Baylor three times between the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons, going 2-1 against the Bears. Prior to that mini-series, Michigan's last Big 12 opponent was Kansas State in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Michigan and Kansas have not faced each other since completing a home-and-home series during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, with each team winning at home.

• Michigan solidified its NCAA Tournament berth with a run to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, the first time U-M made it to Saturday since the 2020 season. Michigan recorded a 76-57 win over Minnesota in the second round of play (March 7) before storming back from a 17-point deficit to knock off No. 12-ranked Indiana 69-56 in the quarterfinals (March 8). U-M saw its run end at the hands of eventual-champion Iowa. Laila Phelia was named to the all-tournament team, becoming just the third Wolverine in program history to earn the honor. Over Michigan's three games, she averaged 24.7 points per game on 49.1 percent shooting to go with 3.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 37.2 minutes per game.

• Michigan is 3-1 in the month of March after going 2-1 at the Big Ten Tournament following a win at Crisler over Purdue in the regular-season finale on March 3. Phelia is averaging 22.3 points per game during the stretch, with Hansen (13.5 ppg) and Cameron Williams (10.3 ppg) each above their season scoring average as well. Michigan is up to 16.3 assists per game over the last four games, while cutting its turnovers to just 11.8 per game for a 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• Much was expected from Phelia as she entered her junior season at Michigan and the guard has delivered. She has started all 32 games she has played in, averaging 16.8 ppg (5th in Big Ten), 3.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 34.8 minutes per game. She has scored in double figures in all but four games, currently riding a streak of 14 straight games in double figures. Phelia has reached the 20-point mark 12 times, highlighted by the first 30-point game of her career with 30 points in Michigan's come-from-behind win over No. 12 Indiana at the Big Ten Tournament (March 8).

• Jordan Hobbs has taken her game to a new level during her third season in Ann Arbor, averaging 9.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and nearly three assists per game. She is averaging a career-high 28.6 minutes per game and is second on the team with 45 triples on 39.1 percent shooting. She has scored in double figures in 19 times and is one of two Wolverines to start all 33 games.