NCAA Tournament gives Michigan’s Mila Holloway a chance to step out of the shadow of star teammates

By Canadian Press on March 24, 2026.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Mila Holloway is making a name for herself in March Madness.

Olivia Olson and Syla Swords get a lot of attention and accolades, and rightfully so, but Holloway is showing she is also a potential star in women’s college basketball.

Her teammates say she’s the best point guard in the country.

And, she agrees.

“I can’t really say anybody else,” Holloway said.

Holloway will get at least one more opportunity in the NCAA Tournament to show what she can do.

“She’s just a special player, and you put her alongside those other really special players, and we got a chance to create something special,” coach Kim Barnes Arico said.

The second-seeded Wolverines will face third-seeded Louisville on Saturday in the Sweet 16. The winner will play top-seeded Texas or fifth-seeded Kentucky on Monday in the Fort Worth Regional final with a spot in the Final Four at stake.

Michigan hasn’t made it past the Elite Eight in program history, but the maize and blue have never had a team as talented as the current squad that has an impressive sophomore class led by Olson, Swords and Holloway.

Olson is a third-team Associated Press All-America player and a first-team All-Big Ten honoree. Swords, who represented Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics, was also first-team All-Big Ten.

“They definitely deserve everything that does come their way,” Holloway said. “They’re the hardest workers I know.”

Holloway did earn honorable mention recognition in the conference, ranking behind 25 Big Ten players on the first, second and third team. That seems to underestimate the impact she has at both ends of the court during the best regular season in Michigan history that led to the program’s best seeding in the the NCAA Tournament.

“She’s the best point guard in the country,” Olson said.

Second-team AP All-America players Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, TCU’s Olivia Miles and Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge are widely recognized as the top point guards in the country.

Holloway has a chance to be part of the conversation if she can help the Wolverines reach the Final Four for the first time, a tough task with the Cardinals up next and potentially the top-seeded Longhorns awaiting in their home state.

Even if Holloway has to match up with the best players in women’s basketball, she will be prepared after growing up competing against her brother, Aden, Alabama’s second-leading scorer going into its Sweet 16 matchup with Michigan on Friday night. Aden Holloway was suspended indefinitely after being arrested on a felony drug charge earlier this month.

In 1-on-1 games, he never took it easy on his little sister.

“We didn’t keep score, but we played all the time,” she said. “Playing bully ball, and everything.”

Holloway, who is from Charlotte, North Carolina, does just about everything for the Wolverines.

She is the primary ball handler for one of the highest-scoring teams in the country, averaging 4.8 assists. She scores on 3-pointers — including a career-high five in the first round against Holy Cross — mid-range jumpers and layups to average 12.6 points.

In the first round, Holloway led the team with 20 points and followed that up by leading the team in rebounds (nine), assists (six) and scored 13 points in the second round against N.C. State.

“She’s shooting 40% from 3 and has made the second most on the team,” Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said. “And then with her quickness and ability to get to the rim, that’s a tough matchup. So I think start there. She’s one of the top in the category of steals, so she makes plays on defense and gets them going in transition.

“When you’re recruiting if you can get a player that can shoot 40% from 3 and be explosive to the rim, that’s a heck of a player.”

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Larry Lage, The Associated Press