Michigan
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Illinois
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Michigan Leads Wire-to-Wire Against No. 25 Illinois
1/15/2026 10:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's basketball team led by as many as 18 and never trailed in an 85-69 win over No. 25-ranked Illinois on Thursday evening (Jan. 15) at Crisler Center. It was Michigan's third win over a ranked opponent on the season and the first at Crisler.
Olivia Olson led a quartet of double-figure scorers with 21 points, hitting four three-pointers en route to her sixth 20-point game of the season. Te'Yala Delfosse went for 15 points and six rebounds off the bench, with Mila Holloway recording 13 points, a career-high nine rebounds and four assists. Syla Swords had 11 points and a game-high five assists, as Brooke Quarles Daniels went for eight points, nine rebounds and two steals. Michigan shot 47.1 percent from three-point range, going 8-for-17 from deep. U-M held a 41-33 advantage on the glass and got 23 second-chance points in the game.
U-M started the game 5-for-5 from the floor, using an 8-0 run that was capped by an Olson triple for a 15-5 lead at the 6:20 mark. Illinois trimmed the lead to single digits in the coming minutes, eventually getting within four, 17-13, with just under five minutes left. Quarles Daniels made good on a layup moments later, igniting a 10-0 run for the Wolverines to end the quarter with a 27-13 lead after 10 minutes.
The Wolverines put up another 20 points in the second quarter, taking a 47-32 lead into halftime.
Illinois answered with a run in the third quarter, trimming Michigan's lead to just five, 52-47, with 5:34 on the clock. Holloway hit a pair at the line to stop the 11-0 run on the next U-M possession. Kendall Dudley followed with a coast-to-coast layup, with Olson canning a triple with 4:23 left as Illinois called a timeout with the Michigan lead back to 59-47.
U-M scored eight of the next 10 points after that, matching its largest lead of the contest at 67-49 after a Holloway bucket at the 2:47 mark. Illinois again did not let Michigan pull away, scoring six of the final eight points for a 69-55 U-M lead after three quarters.
Michigan kept the lead in double figures the rest of the way in the fourth quarter, with the dagger coming courtesy of Holloway with 2:42 remaining. Illinois had closed within 11, 78-67, before Holloway drained a corner triple off the out-of-bounds play for an 81-67 U-M lead en route to the 16-point win.
Michigan heads to New Jersey to face No. 5 Vanderbilt in the Coretta Scott King Classic on Monday (Jan. 19) at 2:30 p.m. The game will air on Fox.
