{"id":364,"date":"2025-03-19T18:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T18:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/michigan-freshmen-ready-to-shine-in-high-pressure-march-madness\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T18:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T18:02:10","slug":"michigan-freshmen-ready-to-shine-in-high-pressure-march-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/michigan-freshmen-ready-to-shine-in-high-pressure-march-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan freshmen ready to shine in high-pressure March Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>From the beginning of the season, the Michigan women\u2019s basketball team\u2019s freshmen had the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/sam-gibson-for-a-program-with-a-history-of-trusting-player-development-now-michigan-must-trust-its-freshmen\/\">opportunity<\/a> to define the Wolverines\u2019 trajectory.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/womens-college-basketball\/story\/_\/id\/40131794\/2024-women-college-basketball-recruiting-class-rankings\">highest-rated<\/a> recruiting class in program history immediately earned three starting roles in a lineup full of vacancies, with freshman guards Olivia Olson, Syla Swords and Mila Holloway bursting onto the scene. Since then, the trio has started every healthy game.<\/p>\n<p>While it often takes freshmen time to adjust to the next level, the starting trio learned quicker than the curve and have found success both as individuals and a collective unit. Olson and Swords were both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/4-michigan-players-receive-big-ten-honors\/\">named<\/a> to the All-Big Ten Second Team, with Holloway as an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/4-michigan-players-receive-big-ten-honors\/\">Honorable Mention<\/a>. Olson was recognized as Co-Freshman of the Year, and Swords became the first freshman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/michigans-swords-primed-for-big-ncaa-tournament\/\">honored<\/a> on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.<\/p>\n<p>The trio isn\u2019t just good for being freshmen, they\u2019re good, period.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re just built a little bit differently,\u201d Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said Sunday after the NCAA Tournament Selection Show. \u201c\u2026 And they\u2019ve always shown a willingness to grow and to learn from when they haven\u2019t been as successful when they haven\u2019t had a great game. \u2026 They were all in (the office) after USC, (asking), \u2018How can we get better? How can we win that game the next time out?\u2019 This moment is big, but I think it\u2019s something that they\u2019re really looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBuilt differently,\u201d the starting freshmen leveraged previous high-level experience to turn a broad jump into a hop. More than just their talent, they stood out immediately because of their leadership and composure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re very, very mature players,\u201d Hobbs said Oct. 2 at Big Ten Media Day. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen freshmen play like they do and make the passes that they do. Typically when freshmen come in, the game is super fast and they\u2019re not getting the reads that juniors and seniors can make. But they can see those passes, and I just think they\u2019re very mature in their skill set and making the right shots or taking the right shots and making the right passes to people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/syla-swords-shines-in-collegiate-debut-against-no-1-south-carolina\/\">get-go<\/a>, Michigan\u2019s freshmen made the reads and the plays, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/syla-swords-career-night-not-enough-for-no-24-michigan-to-upset-no-1-ucla\/\">executing<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/michigans-three-headed-monster-rears-its-head-against-minnesota\/\">at<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/against-oregon-mila-holloway-let-her-play-do-the-talking\/\">high<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/michigan-freshmen-show-growth-in-win-over-michigan-state\/\">levels<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/nightmares-weve-got-to-see-them-for-the-next-three-years-olivia-olson-and-syla-swords-tormenting-big-ten\/\">against<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/olivia-olson-and-syla-swords-tag-team-washington-en-route-to-second-round-win-in-big-ten-tournament\/\">high<\/a>\u2013<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/syla-swords-and-olivia-olson-get-revenge-against-maryland-in-big-ten-tournament-quarterfinal-win\/\">level<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/syla-swords-shining-performance-dimmed-by-no-2-usc-in-big-ten-tournament-semifinal-loss\/\">opponents<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, the Wolverines have stuck with the same starting lineup for a reason. Nearly every game, one of the three was having a 20-point night. Swords, Olson and Holloway are three of Michigan\u2019s top-four players in both scoring and assists. Combined, they contribute 42.1 points and 8.9 assists per game. Simply put, Michigan\u2019s offense often flows through them, particularly with Holloway as the starting point guard.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThis is a big stage,\u201d Barnes Arico said March 8 after the Big Ten Tournament semifinal. \u201cShe\u2019s our point guard and has been our point guard all season long against this schedule that we played on a big, big stage. And there\u2019s a lot on her shoulders, and she\u2019s doing a heck of a job. She\u2019s getting better every day. Her assist-to-turnovers the last four games have been ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Holloway had back-to-back eight-assist nights to start the Big Ten Tournament, reaching the mark for the second time in just 21 minutes on the court. Her vision has improved throughout the season as well as her discipline, with assist numbers rising while her turnover mark drops \u2014 she\u2019s averaged less than two in Michigan\u2019s past nine games.<\/p>\n<p>To keep dancing, the Wolverines are going to need the best out of their freshmen. They\u2019ll need the high-scoring nights from the first round onwards. They\u2019ll need the rebounding. They\u2019ll need the defense. But most of all, Michigan will need their composure.<\/p>\n<p>The Wolverines need their freshmen to be more than freshmen.<\/p>\n<p>Swords, Olson and Holloway have been playing like veterans all season. When the lights are brightest, when the stage is the biggest, the trio will need to deliver their best performance in the Big Dance. With the pressure cranked all the way up, they could crumble, or they could crystallize into a shining gem of a performance.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the beginning of the season, the Michigan women\u2019s basketball team\u2019s freshmen had the opportunity to define the Wolverines\u2019 trajectory. The highest-rated recruiting class in program history immediately earned three starting roles in a lineup full of vacancies, with freshman guards Olivia Olson, Syla Swords and Mila Holloway bursting onto the scene. Since then, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[304,306,233,232,222,211,305],"class_list":{"0":"post-364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-freshmen","9":"tag-highpressure","10":"tag-madness","11":"tag-march","12":"tag-michigan","13":"tag-ready","14":"tag-shine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":366,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions\/366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}