Michigan Women’s Basketball: How to watch, keys and prediction vs Louisville in Elite 8

The Michigan women’s basketball team will take on Louisville Monday night for the right to go to the Final Four. Here’s our prediction and how to watch. 

While the Michigan men’s team saw its season end in the Sweet 16, the Michigan women’s basketball team soldiered on after a hard-fought win in the Sweet 16 over South Dakota to advance to the Elite 8 for the first time ever.

So Wolverines fans still have basketball to watch and tonight’s game in Witchita is easily the biggest Michigan has ever played in women’s basketball.

The Cardinal are deep and talented. They are the No. 1 seed for a reason and already beat Michigan by 20-plus points on their home floor earlier this season.

But Michigan has changed a lot since then. Both teams have and this game will take place on a neutral floor. Not many expected Michigan women’s basketball to nearly knock off Baylor a year ago but they pushed the favored Bears to overtime.

And I expect a similar effort on Monday night. These Wolverines are special and I don’t see them getting pushed around by the Cardinal. So with that in mind, here’s a look at some keys, a prediction, and how to watch.

Keys for Michigan women’s basketball vs Louisville

Take care of the ball 

Louisville is a team that relies on pressure and turning the ball over and in the first meeting, Michigan women’s basketball turned the ball over 24 times leading to 32 Cardinal points, which can’t happen Monday night.

Michigan will have to remain poised and the presence of senior guard Amy Dilk, who stepped up in a big way against South Dakota should help, along with the improved poise of freshman Laila Phelia who just scored 14 points and the game-winner against the Coyotes Saturday.

The Wolverines need to get the ball inside to Naz Hillmon. But first, they need to break the press and take care of the ball enough to run their offense.

Maddie Nolan needs to bounce back

Maddie Nolan has made over 40 percent of her 3-point attempts this season but she’s been in a slump of late and was just 1-for-9 from beyond the arc on Saturday and in her last nine outings, she has made just 15-of-55 attempts.

Louisville’s pressure is going to lead to some open looks and while Phelia, Leigha Brown, and others have the ability to hit shots from deep, Nolan is the Wolverines’ top 3-point shooter and it’s hard to see them winning this game without her hitting at least a couple shots from deep.

Don’t lose shooters 

Louisville is a really good 3-point shooting team but most of those shots come from three players: Hailey Van Lith, Kianna Smith, and Emily Engstler, who is projected as a top-10 pick in the upcoming WNBA draft. Those three players average a combined 4.25 3-point makes per game and if the Wolverines give them the open looks they gave to South Dakota, it will be a long night.

Prediction for Michigan women’s basketball vs Louisville

Michigan women’s basketball is still getting used to the big stage. As Kim Barnes Arico said, her team started in the dugout (referencing Jim Harbaugh’s third base comment). The Wolverines, therefore, didn’t even start on a base when they were building this thing.

The Wolverines have built it brick-by-brick and the presence of Hillmon, the greatest player in the history of the program, has been a huge part of all of this. But will it be enough to upset top-seeded Louisville?

It’s possible but the Cardinal pressure and their ability to shoot the 3-ball should prove to be the difference as the Wolverines will fall just short of the Elite 8. It will be a battle though (60-52 Cards).

What channel is the Michigan women’s basketball game on?

Michigan basketball will play Louisville on ESPN at  09:00 PM EST/06:00 PM PST.

 Michigan women’s basketball vs South Dakota Live Stream

Today’s Michigan basketball game can be live-streamed on Fubo TV.