SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Olivia Olson knew that a few seconds remained on the shot clock when she pulled up. She knew that the No. 6 seed Michigan women’s basketball team led No. 11 seed Iowa State by three points. She knew how important this possession was.
With the ball in her hands, Olson was well aware of what the Wolverines needed.
“I got the ball, and I was just looking to get a good shot up,” the freshman guard said. “I knew we needed to get one up.”
For a game that had been defined by Michigan’s transition offense and the blistering pace it opened with, this play took time. It wasn’t even much of a play — the Wolverines swung the ball around the perimeter, searching for a look or an opening until Olson caught it on the right wing.
Olson hesitated in front of her defender before driving to the left elbow. She created just enough contact before stopping and spinning around to her left to create just enough separation. She rose, smoothly releasing the ball as she fell. Grazing the front iron before rolling in, the fadeaway jumper put Michigan up by five points with 20 seconds left and forced the Cyclones to call a timeout.
Freshman guard Mila Holloway celebrated behind her, playfully shoving her to hype her up. Freshman guard Syla Swords was to Olson’s left, with a front-row view for a game-sealing shot.
“I felt like I was watching it in slow motion,” Swords said. “… I saw her do that spin, and that’s her shot. When she gets to the elbow, there’s no stopping her. So I just saw her elevate and I said, ‘Yeah, it’s going in.’ ”
That shot, from that spot, is Olson’s favorite. It’s been her go-to all season, whether the Wolverines need a clutch bucket or she finds herself near the free-throw line with the ball in her hands. It’s become one of her most efficient shots, if not her most familiar.
“I’ve hit that shot a million times,” Olson said.
But the rest of this is all new to Olson. It’s hard to tell from her 16 points, six rebounds and three assists, but Friday was Olson’s first NCAA Tournament game. The freshman guard couples her game with a sense of composure, a calmness that doesn’t seem to waver even when the lead does.
That maturity meant that even after shooting 1-for-8 in the first half, Olson’s confidence didn’t flicker, converting on four of her last six shot attempts. Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico beamed after hearing those numbers.
“That’s unbelievable,” Barnes Arico said, a smile stretching across her face. “I’m glad you gave me those stats, because I’m going to run inside and tell her how proud I am of her. That’s something that we worked on with her all season. … She’s a great scorer. She’s a winner. She’s a competitor.”
Olson only scored four points in the first half, two coming from drawing contact in the contest’s opening minutes. From there, Olson struggled to get into an offensive flow, as frequent foul calls rendered the game’s rhythm choppy and disjointed.
Olson isn’t used to that level of inefficiency — or inefficiency in general — averaging 16.2 points per game as the Wolverines most consistent scorer. But this whole week has been unfamiliar to Olson, starting on a sixth-seeded team in her first trip to the Big Dance.
Olson didn’t know how her first March Madness game was going to go. Until late Wednesday evening, Olson didn’t even know who her next opponent would be.
But what felt inevitable, at least to Olson, was that her shot would fall when it mattered. Because the moment the ball left her hands — really, the moment she got to her spot — Olson knew it was good.
