Down 86-78 with 1:40 remaining in overtime, the No. 8 Michigan women’s basketball team had 0.5% probability of pulling off the victory, according to ESPN Analytics.
Starting guards senior Brooke Quarles Daniels, sophomore Mila Holloway and junior forward Ashley Sofilkanich had fouled out. On the road in Columbus, No. 13 Ohio State had all the momentum in the world.
Then junior guard Macy Brown drew a shooting foul with 1:33 to play, sparking a small but monumental, probability-defying shift.
“The only
one on this sheet, Ohio State or us, that is plus double figures (+10) for the game is Macy Brown, so the impact that she made on the game was incredible,” Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “And just proud of kids like that, you know, they buy into the process. They come to work every day. They don’t know if they’re going to play, they don’t know what the outcome is going to be at the end of the night, but they’re just unbelievable workers, unbelievable teammates, incredible kids. And tonight, she had an opportunity. Her number was called, and she performed on the biggest stage, just to the best of her ability.”
Brown sank both her free throws, trimming the deficit to two possessions. A possession later, senior forward Alyssa Crockett — who entered overtime when Quarles Daniels fouled out at the 2:40 mark — secured an offensive rebound, then set Brown up for a 3-pointer on the left wing. Swish.
One possession later, another Crockett-to-Brown 3-pointer assist, this time from the right wing. Tie game, 86-86.
“Whether she’s playing 25 or zero minutes a game, she’s going to show up in practice every single day and make sure that we’re getting better,” Swords said. “So it’s just really exciting to see her have those moments, to see her have that success. And obviously, we want the ball in our hands, which says a lot about Macy. You can come in off the bench and hit two clutch threes back to back in overtime. That says a lot about who she is as a person and how much we trust her.”
That trust enabled Brown to fire without hesitation, pulling the Wolverines even, one possession at a time.
One more defensive stop, and Michigan had the ball sideline out-of-bounds with a mismatch Crockett was excited to exploit — so much so that she called the final play in the huddle, a game-winning drive by sophomore guard Olivia Olson sealed by a Crockett screen. The play worked as planned, getting Buckeyes guard Bryn Martin to switch with forward Elsa Lemmilä, and the slower defender trailing Olson’s downhill charge to the rim.
With 3.2 seconds left following Olson’s layup, it was Brown’s outstretched hand denying Ohio State guard Chance Gray a clean last-second look, forcing a costly dribble before her last-second swish was released a moment too late.
Brown brought Michigan to the brink of victory, and Crockett helped seal it. Coming off the bench into a charged overtime moment, they had the poise and maturity to be the difference with the lights bright and hands in their faces.
“(Sophomore guard Syla Swords and Olson) played really well, but they had some other people step up late and make some big shots,” Buckeyes head coach Kevin McGuff said. “And I think ultimately, that was the difference. Those shots that they made late in the game were probably the difference in them winning or losing. So, credit to them. They had some kids step up, come off the bench, make some huge plays.”
Swords and Olson, combining for 53 points, certainly had a large hand in the victory, making the last shots of regulation and overtime, respectively.
But Brown and Crockett, the only two players on the roster the last time Michigan beat Ohio State in Dec. 2023, certainly had a hand in the final comeback.
