Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, No. 13 Ohio State renewed its rivalry with the eighth-ranked Michigan Wolverines. The overtime thriller was a candidate for the game of the year with late baskets, comebacks, turnovers and clutch free throws with the game on the line.
Michigan walked away with the 88-86 victory in a game that, beyond the final scoreline, told more about both teams as the postseason starts in the Big Ten in less than a week.
For Michigan
Trust runs deep
There is no question that guards Syla Swords and Olivia Olson are elite talents in college basketball. That showed against the Buckeyes with 31 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists for Olson, while Swords scored 22 points. However, when the game was on the line, it was not the two locks for postseason All-Conference team honors.
Michigan’s overtime comeback featured key plays that fans did and did not see from guard Macy Brown and forward Alyssa Crockett.
Part of the reason for Brown’s four overtime minutes was necessity. The Wolverines lost guards Mila Holloway and Brooke Quarles Daniels to fouls late in the game, so head coach Kim Barnes Arico had Brown on the court. The junior scored only eight points on the scoresheet, but look closer and every single one of them came in overtime.
Brown hit two free throws, an open three-point shot, and a second make from beyond the arc that bounced off the rim, a couple of feet above the basket then hit nearly every part of the rim before going in.
“If you don’t know Macy [Brown], she’s one of the most positive people you’re going to meet,” Swords told reporters. “Whether she’s playing 25 or zero minutes a game, she’s going to show up and practice every single day and make sure that we’re getting better.”
That second deep shot tied the game for the Wolverines. Then, a play call by forward Alyssa Crockett sealed the victory.
“She [Crockett] just said, ‘I can set a great screen. We have a really good matchup here,’ Barnes Arico told reporters.
So Michigan did what Crockett said, and Olson went to the basket with relative ease, like the sophomore did all night. These moments flipped an eight-point deficit into a two-point victory for the Wolverines, built on a program with trust at its foundation.
Seeing it all
In an 18-team conference where every program plays each other, creativity is a must. Before Wednesday, Barnes Arico thought that her team had seen everything they could this season, on top of games against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and UConn Huskies.
The final minute of the fourth quarter showed the Wolverines that there is plenty to still experience.
“I feel like we’ve used every SLOB (sideline out of bounds) that I have in 30 years of coaching this year. We’ve used every BLOB (baseline out of bounds). Every night in this league is a chess match,” Barnes Arico said. “We talk about the unbelievable players, but the unbelievable coaches in this league as well, that you have to go against every night. And they all have different styles, and they all have different systems.”
Michigan showed its ability to adapt on Wednesday. Barnes Arico identified the Buckeyes’ interior defensive woes. In response, Olson continually went to the basket, which is rare for the sophomore. Between center Elsa Lemmilä, who Olson outpaced, and forward Kylee Kitts, who is still gaining comfort after she returned from a shoulder injury, Michigan saw an avenue and took it.
After the Wolverines’ 18-point defeat to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, questions simmered about Michigan’s ability to fill in for its weaknesses. On Wednesday, the Maize and Blue quieted that talk.
“You can only be excited knowing that we’ve been up, we’ve been down, we’ve been through the overtimes, the double overtimes, all of that, and been able to come out with wins,” Swords said. “So it’s just exciting to know that we’ve been tested and we’re prepared for anything that March is going to throw at us.”
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
Shoot, Syla
After a breakout season for Swords last year, the guard’s offensive output has diminished slightly. The 16 points Swords averaged last year shrunk down to 14.5 points, in more minutes on the court.
That decline is not indicative of diminished abilities on the court. Teams have to plan for the 6-foot guard who can score from anywhere and, alongside Olson, is a clear leader on the court. However, Wednesday night showed what Michigan needs from the sophomore.
Swords’ 22 points included four shots made from three-point range. Efficiency-wise, going 4-for-12 is not a standout performance, but when Swords is shooting and making her shots, Michigan usually thrives.
Early in the season, down 18 points at halftime to the UConn Huskies, Swords had four points on 12 first-half shots. Normally, that would force a player to look for a pass or overthink shots. Swords was undeterred and scored 22 second-half points to almost topple the nation’s No. 1-ranked team in the 72-69 defeat.
“I’ve been on Syla lately to shoot the ball more because she would defer sometimes because she’d rather make a great pass than a shot,” Barnes Arico said. “But for our team to be the team that we need to be we need them both [Swords and Olson] looking to shoot the ball.
Back in Iowa City on Sunday, in the Wolverines’ worst loss of the season, Swords played all 40 minutes, but only scored seven points on 11 shots. In big matchups, which Michigan only has from now through the end of the NCAA Tournament, Swords offense is key to any Wolverines success.
For Ohio State
Youthful balance
Both Michigan and Ohio State have youth at the core of their programs. The matchups between these two teams, should that foundation stay the same, will be can’t-miss games. However, Wednesday showed that the Buckeyes’ youth has more room to grow.
In overtime, tied 86-86 with 15 seconds remaining, Ohio State had possession with no shot clock. Michigan was not likely to foul, so the Buckeyes could keep the ball as close to the end of the period as they could and take a shot to end the game. The worst-case scenario is another overtime if the ball does not go in. The best case is either a basket or a foul going their way to try and win the game from the free-throw line, like Jaloni Cambridge tied the game at the end of regulation.
Instead, the Buckeyes took a shot with 11 seconds left. Freshman guard Bryn Martin, who has not started a game for Ohio State and is usually the third player off the bench in the eight-player rotation, had an opening from three-point range and took it. The ball clanged off the rim and into the hands of Swords.
It was a freshman mistake that would have been heroic and a program high point if the ball had gone through the net.
That shot was not the reason Ohio State lost the game. After all, there was still defense to play on Michigan’s final possession, and 44 minutes of basketball that led up to that moment, but it is an example of the things that can happen on a young team.
Ohio State’s final offensive possession shows the decision-making needed to compete. The Buckeyes run an intense system, designed to cause havoc for opposing teams through pace and intensity, especially on defense. A game for the Scarlet and Gray is faster than most Big Ten teams.
At any other part of the game, Martin’s shot was a great decision. The freshman had an open look on a shot she made more times than she missed, up to that point. The difference between shooting and holding on is game experience. Wednesday’s game will add to the bank of deposited moments to withdraw in future moments.
“We have to do a better job of getting shots later in the shot clock, when we don’t have anything in transition,” guard Chance Gray told reporters. “I think we just have so many people who are great scorers, and we score fast. Sometimes we get sped up, and against a good team like Michigan, you have to make them work and make them defend us and break it down.”
A look at the bigger picture and that youth manifested in the first quarter of Wednesday’s game, on top of Feb. 15, 2026, against the Maryland Terrapins. In both matchups, the Buckeyes gave up early leads. On Wednesday, it was 14 points. Against the Terps, Ohio State held a 19-point lead in the second quarter.
Ohio State is not at the experience level to play with complacency. The Buckeyes already played the toughest schedule in the conference over the final five games of the regular season. The competition continues to increase as the stakes rise, like a trip to East Lansing, Mich., on Sunday for a chance to secure a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Leveraging Lemmilä
During the offseason, Lemmilä had not one but two surgeries. The recovery needed from the ankle and knee surgeries bled into the 2025-26 season, and it showed on the court. At the start of the season, Lemmilä was hesitant and slowed down by the lack of a full offseason to prepare.
That led to the Finnish big’s move to the bench, but since Dec. 28, when Lemmilä rejoined the starting lineup, the ceiling for what she can bring to the Buckeyes is rising. While there are still moments in the game that the sophomore’s inexperience shows, there are more positives than negatives in most games.
Against Michigan, Lemmilä played her best game of support with 15 rebounds (six on offense), 3 assists, and 2 steals. Tied at 69 apiece, Lemmilä grabbed one of her nine defensive rebounds and, without hesitation, sent a two-handed pass from behind her head up the court to Gray on the fast break. That basket with 1:21 left in the fourth quarter gave Ohio State its first lead since the opening minutes of the second half.
With 11 points, Lemmilä had her fourth double-double of the season and the sophomore’s first career back-to-back double-double.
“[Lemmilä] hurt us. I didn’t expect her to have the rebounding motor that she did. I mean, I thought she was a phenomenal rebounder,” Barnes Arico said.
For years, Ohio State struggled inside without the presence of the 6-foot-6 Lemmilä. Bigs like former Michigan forward Naz Hillmon made life difficult for the Buckeyes and Ohio State routinely sat near the bottom of the Big Ten in rebounding. Lemmilä’s size advantage made inside play difficult for the Wolverines at times, but when Barnes Arico sent two or three Michigan players inside to rebound, that impact slowed.
Also, Lemmilä rebounded mostly alone. The center had 15 of Ohio State’s 33 rebounds. Nobody else on the team had more than four.
“We have to help her [Lemmilä] a lot more,” Gray said. “We have been emphasizing it in practice. I know we’re just a small team. Obviously, rebounding isn’t my strength. Rebounding isn’t a lot of the team’s strength, but we all try to go in there, fight and scrap and claw as much as we can.”