FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Syla Swords drove for a layup that Texas center Kyla Oldacre easily stuffed, and the Michigan sophomore grabbed the loose ball, only for one of her teammates to miss from in close.
The Wolverines were down 37 points during that futile fourth-quarter sequence, and ended up with the worst shooting percentage in the women's Elite Eight in a 77-41 loss to the Longhorns
on Monday night.Michigan never gave itself much of a chance
in its second trip to the regional semifinals in March Madness, or maybe the vaunted Texas defense never gave Swords and fellow second-year star Olivia Olson much of a chance.
Michigan was a tick above the worst shooting game in the Elite Eight when Olson missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds, dropping the Wolverines to 22.8%. The Longhorns had the previous low of 23.0% while chasing a Final Four berth five years ago in a 62-34 loss to South Carolina.
“Looking at the field goal percentages here, it’s hard to win games with the shots we were putting up, but we were getting really good looks at the rim and looks we normally make,” said Swords, who combined with Olson and No. 3 scorer Mila Holloway to go just 9 of 42 from the field (21.4%).
“That’s a credit to the defense. It’s a credit to their length and physicality,” said Swords, who scored eight points while Olson and Holloway led Michigan with 11 apiece. “We can’t just say we had an off day. I would say definitely they altered our shots, but we got to our spots and just couldn’t finish them.”
A season low in points for the Wolverines was 42 1/2 shy of a season average that ranked ninth nationally. They missed easy layups and open 3s, but just as often were off target on contested shots near and far from the rim.
In other words, Texas defenders swamped Michigan's shot at its first Final Four in a season when the Wolverines (28-7) tied a school record in victories.
“I think our defense just gets us going,” Longhorns point guard Rori Harmon said. “In warmups, I was saying all the other offensive stuff, like, that stuff will come, but Michigan is a great team that knows how to score the ball, so we need to play some defense.”
The Wolverines started slowly in their Sweet 16 win over Louisville, but outscored the Cardinals 49-16 over a two-quarter stretch in the middle of the game. They were down 17 in the second quarter and trailed by double digits the rest of the way against the Longhorns.
Michigan had more turnovers (15) than its season low in field goals (13 of 57) and matched its fewest 3-pointers (2 of 15).
Olson's only 3, which got the Wolverines within 11 early in the third quarter, came after both teams combined to miss the first 10 shots of the second half.
“We were tired, and we’re usually the team that’s making other people tired,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “We couldn’t initiate offense. They were in our face. Like, that was pressure that we haven’t faced all year long. Then when we were able to break it, we couldn’t get our shots to fall, so then we got tighter and tighter.”
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
