Youth comes into its own as Michigan races past Northwood, 81-52

Throughout the offseason, one thing was certain for the Michigan women's basketball team: it would rely heavily on its youth to stay ahead.

And in the first taste of action on the pitch on Sunday, that youth was on full display. The Wolverines' starting lineup featured three freshmen who combined for 44 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists in the Wolverines' 81-52 exhibition game win over Northwood.

Freshman guard Mila Holloway immediately stole the show. She broke through the Timberwolves defense to get the Wolverines on the court with an easy layup. But that wasn't all for Holloway, as she hit two three-pointers and recorded an and-1 floater en route to a 12-point first-half performance that gave Michigan a 43-30 halftime lead.

As Wolverines coach Kim Barnes Arico alluded to before the season, Holloway was Michigan's most important ballplayer on Sunday. Leading a faster and more athletic squad than the Wolverines are used to, Holloway tried to advance the ball whenever possible, get to the floor quickly and find teammates with drop passes.

“We emphasize playing fast in practice,” Holloway said. “Get it out. We don't really want to provoke an offensive. We want to score as quickly as possible.”

However, it took some time for starters Olivia Olson and Syla Swords, who both played in the McDonald's All-American game last spring, to get going. Michigan often went after Olson early, running a standard play to give her an open elbow jumper on the first possession of the game. She missed that one and then the next two before hitting a pull-up jump shot to get on the board. Olson quickly calmed down and made three of her next five shots, including a sweet change-of-tempo Euro-step layup in transition.

Olson continued to find her rhythm in the second half, leading the Wolverines with 13 points, nearly doubling their lead at halftime. A bigger, stronger guard, she excelled at getting into the paint and finishing at the rim. It only took one game for Olson to establish himself as one of Michigan's preferred options on offense, leading all scorers with 22 points.

“You gotta keep shooting,” Olson said. “I tried to make more passes and get a few rebounds to help me. Everyone motivated me, people said, “Keep shooting.” ”

On the other hand, Swords struggled to get her shooting going on Sunday, finishing with seven points while shooting 3 of 8 from the field. Instead, she made her presence clear as a sales partner. She recorded a team-high five assists, including a drive-and-dish to Holloway for a corner 3-pointer in the first quarter. The Swords' slower start than expected may be due to them missing training time after competing in the Summer Olympics this summer.

The Wolverines also suffered early growing pains outside of the shooting department. Holloway and Swords in particular struggled to take care of the basketball, suffering a total of eight turnovers on the day. While Michigan created some offense in transition, many turnovers came from trying to push the ball.

After the exhibition game, it appears the Wolverines' freshmen will be expected to carry the bulk of the load this year. They are a talented group full of potential, but the pace and physicality of the college game still presents a learning curve.

“The three of them are extremely talented players,” said Barnes Arico. “It was our best recruiting class in program history. … But they’re young, so they’re going to have some ups and downs, but they’re super coachable, they’re super talented.”

The Wolverines' freshmen have their way with Northwood, but they'll face much tougher competition next week in the team's season opener against No. 1 South Carolina.

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