While the season of Michigan women's basketball came to a close with a 76-55 loss to Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, it did not come without records being set.
With a 20-point performance, her third time putting up 20+ points out of the final five games, Olivia Olson set Michigan's single-season freshman scoring record, tallying 553 points. Averaging 16.3 points per game, Olson's season ranks just shy of the top 10 scoring seasons all time, falling behind Naz Hillmon's 558-point junior performance.
The electric start to Olson's career puts her ahead of Michigan legends such as Hillmon and Katelyn Flaherty, neither of whom cracked 500 points as freshmen. Coming into the season, only Haile Thome, the third-highest scorer all-time for Michigan women's basketball, had accomplished such a feat, putting up 504 points in her first season. All three of Flaherty, Hillmon, and Thome went on to receive multiple All-Big Ten first team selections, and Hillmon becoming Michigan's first All American.
Olson was largely steady throughout the season, scoring 20 or more points in three of her first six games and reaching that feat 10 times throughout the year. Her highest total came against Wisconsin, where she scored 30 points and tallied four rebounds in an 82-75 road loss.
The former five-star recruit made quite the duo with Michigan women's basketball's other five-star freshman, Syla Swords. Barely being outdone by Olson, Swords also crossed the 500 point mark and averaged 16 points per game, while also leading the team in rebounds. The two, along with fellow freshman guard Mila Holloway, will look to lead the Wolverines for years to come and compete for Big Ten and national championships.