Michigan women's basketball headed to first Elite Eight with 52-49 win over South Dakota

Michigan women’s basketball is headed to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

It wasn't pretty, though, as the third-seeded Wolverines grinded out baskets in the second half to take down 10-seed South Dakota, 52-49, on Saturday in Wichita, Kansas.

Freshman Laila Phelia hit a running layup with 23.5 seconds left to snap a 48-all tie, delivering her first basket of the second half in a clutch moment. Naz Hillmon led the Wolverines with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Phelia added 14 points, her most since scoring 19 in U-M’s loss to Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament. But now the Wolverines have a rematch set with another former foe.

Michigan will face No. 1 seed Louisville in the regional final on Monday. The winner heads to the Final Four in Minneapolis, which begins Friday. The Wolverines and Cardinals played on Dec. 2, with Louisville dominating U-M, 70-48.

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To earn that rematch, the Wolverines had to overcome a surprisingly scrappy foe, with neither team leading by more than six points.

The Wolverines held the Coyotes to 37.3% (19-for-52) shooting from the floor, and 26.3% (5-for-20) from 3-point range. Michigan hardly shot better, hitting 38.5% (20-for-52) overall and 17.6% (3-for-17) on 3-pointers.

For nearly 100 minutes in the 2022 NCAA tournament, South Dakota could not be beat.

Literally – the Coyotes led for the entirety of their two first-weekend games, never trailing in upsets of 7-seed Ole Miss and 2-seed Baylor. Saturday’s Sweet 16 matchup against third-seeded Michigan in Wichita, Kansas, started similarly, with South Dakota starting out up 2-0, and going into the second quarter up 11-9. Finally, with 5:16 left in the second and the score tied at 16-all, Hillmon — Michigan’s all-everything post player —hauled in a rebound off an Emily Kiser 3-pointer and went up for a lay-in. Basket — and Michigan had its first lead of the game.

Hillmon’s score capped a brutal shooting stretch for the Wolverines, in which they went 8-for-21 from the floor (38.1%) and 1-for-8 from 3-point range. South Dakota answered with a free throw by Hannah Sjerven, but Phelia had her own answer with a 3-pointer followed by a layup in transition.

But the Coyotes weren’t done; Grace Larkins hit back-to-back 3s to put South Dakota back in front, 25-23, with just over three minutes left in the half.

From there, the two defensive-minded squads locked down, forcing each other to eat the shot clock while fighting for open shots. But few were forthcoming, as neither team made a field goal over the final 3:03 of the half. Phelia hit one of two free throws with 1:11 remaining to get Michigan within one point, and South Dakota’s Kyah Watson hit one of two free throws with 1.6 seconds for a two-point Coyotes lead at the half.

Phelia led the Wolverines with 12 points in the first half, and Hillmon, who spent much of the second quarter operating on the perimeter, far from the basket, was 3-for-6 for six points. Sjerven led the Coyotes with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

After a back-and-forth open to the third quarter, Michigan began to slowly — ever so slowly — turn things its way, starting with a 111-second, 9-0 run that sent the Wolverines from down, 32-28, to up, 37-32. Leigha Brown started the run with a layup, and then Hillmon took over with the next seven points.

But, again, the Coyotes had no quit, scoring back-to-back jumpers in the final 94 seconds of the third quarter to make it a one-point game going into the fourth.

Early in the fourth, Maddie Nolan finally connected on a 3-pointer, after missing her first six, to give the Wolverines some breathing room. But Larkins answered with another 3, her third of the game, to keep the Coyotes close. But there was Hillmon, with another layup to get the lead back to three points with 7:22 remaining.

The Wolverines’ next possession, after a Liv Korngable jumper, ended with a Hillmon turnover, as she was triple-teams. South Dakota came down the floor with a chance to take the lead. As the shot clock wound down, a desperation 3-pointer banked in off the glass. Coyotes lead? Not so fast. The officials on the court ruled it a shot-clock violation without need of a video review.

On the next possession, Nolan missed another three and South Dakota hauled in the rebound. But Michigan made another defensive stand, forcing the Coyotes to take nearly the entire shot clock and still miss a rushed shot. The Wolverines then came down and got a short mid-range jumper from Brown to get it back to three points with just under four minutes remaining.

Finally, with 2:20 remaining, Michigan got a break, as Sjerven fouled out. She departed with 17 points, the only Coyote with double-digit points. Kiser followed it up with a layup for a two-possession lead. But there was Watson, with a 3-pointer, to make it 48-46. On the next trip, Brown committed a charge, giving the Coyotes the ball and a change to tie it in the final minute.

Chloe Lamb, who missed most of the first half with foul trouble, delivered a jumper with 48.5 seconds remaining.

And then came Phelia's layup. Lamb attempted another 3 with 15 seconds left, but it was off, and Hillmon pulled down the rebound. From there, Brown hit a pair of free throws with 12.8 seconds left to ice the game for the Wolverines.

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan women's basketball headed to first Elite Eight with 52-49 win