Michigan women's basketball grabs 2023 NCAA tournament 6-seed, will face UNLV on Friday

Michigan women's basketball has improved its finish in each of the past three NCAA tournaments, going from the second round in 2019 to the Elite Eight last season. Next stop: The 2023 Final Four on March 31-April 2 in Dallas?

The Wolverines’ first step will be 11-seed UNLV (31-2), as U-M received the No. 6 seed in the “Greenville 2” region and was sent to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Should Michigan (19-12) get past UNLV, they’ll face either No. 3 LSU (the host school) or No. 14 Hawaii on Sunday for a spot in Greenville, South Carolina.

Print away:NCAA women's basketball tournament 2023 bracket

The NCAA changed up its regional format this season, with half the 68-team bracket competing in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in Seattle and the other half competing in Greenville — featuring No. 1 seeds South Carolina (the No. 1 overall seed) and Indiana (the Big Ten’s regular-season champ).

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This will be UNLV’s second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, after losing to Arizona as the No. 13 seed in the first round last season. The Rebels ran through the Mountain West this season, going 18-0 in the regular season before winning three straight in the conference tournament in Las Vegas. UNLV played just one Power Five squad, losing to Oklahoma State — a No. 8 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament — by 25 points in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Dec. 18.

The Wolverines are coming off the best season in program history, in which they earned a No. 3 seed and homecourt in the first two rounds, then made it all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to Louisville.

This year hasn’t gone as smoothly as 2021-22 did despite fifth-year guard Leigha Brown stepping up in an expanded role after the departure of program superstar Naz Hillmon and the continued development of sophomore Laila Phelia. Brown and Phelia, along with fifth-year forward Emily Kiser have formed a dependable “Big Three” for Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico in her 11th season in Ann Arbor. Brown led the Wolverines at 18 points and 5.9 assists per game, while Kiser led with 7.1 rebounds per game (Brown was second at 5.2); Phelia, meanwhile, was second in points per game (16.2), third in rebounds (3.9) and fifth in assists (1.5), all while leading U-M with 1.5 steals a game.

But without all three of them healthy, the Wolverines can struggle.

When Phelia missed the final seven games of the regular season with a lower-body injury, the Wolverines went just 4-3 (although two of the losses came against Indiana, the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, and Ohio State, which is hosting first- and second-round games this weekend). Phelia’s return (in limited minutes) in the Big Ten tournament pushed the Wolverines past Penn State, albeit narrowly; unleashed for 30 minutes off the bench. Phelia almost led the Wolverines to a quarterfinals upset of Ohio State; she hit six of 14 shots from the floor and four of six from the free throw line en route to 17 points as the Wolverines lost by just two to the Buckeyes.

Still, there were highlights, including an upset of then-No. 21 Baylor in a Thanksgiving-week tournament in Estero, Florida, and a take down of then No. 6-North Carolina in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, toward the end of December. Brown and Phelia were a dominant 1-2 punch in that win, combining for 45 points on 16-for-32 shooting.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan women's basketball to face UNLV in 2023 NCAA tournament