Michigan women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico doesn’t take anything for granted. That goes for making the NCAA Tournament and certainly for the Wolverines’ first-round opponent, UNLV.
The 18th-ranked Wolverines (22-9), a sixth seed, will face 11-seed UNLV (31-2) ranked No. 21 on Friday at 3 p.m. (ESPNU) at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Host LSU, the No. 3 seed, will face No. 14 Hawaii in the second game that tips off at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The winners advance to a second-round game on Sunday.
This is Michigan’s fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance – there was no postseason tournament in 2019-2020, and reached the Elite 8 last season, a program best, while the Runnin’ Rebels, winners of the Mountain West conference tournament, have won 22 straight entering this game.