ANN ARBOR -- As Michigan wraps up its final exams of the semester, the women's basketball team is set for some serious on-court tests.
The Wolverines play No. 10 Oklahoma on Tuesday night in Charlotte, North Carolina (approximately 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2). It begins a five-game stretch in which Michigan will face four teams currently ranked in the top 11 of the AP poll. Four of those games are away from home.
The Wolverines look ready.
On Saturday, they dominated Detroit Mercy from start to finish in a 100-54 win. Michigan has won nine straight since losing its season opener to then-No. 1 South Carolina. In the six nonconference home games, Michigan's average margin of victory is 47 points.
"No matter the opponent, we have that mindset of punching first and not playing the scoreboard," sophomore guard Macy Brown said after Saturday's game.
Michigan has also won a couple of neutral-site games (against Belmont and Virginia Tech) by double digits and its Big Ten opener against Northwestern.
"If you would have said heading into this season that we would be in the position that we are right now, I don't know if I would have believed you," Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said.
That's mostly a reference to Michigan's youth. Three freshmen start and another is working her way into the rotation after an early-season injury. Three transfers are in their first year with the program. Things are coming together faster than Barnes Arico imagined.
That was evident on opening night, when Michigan took the defending national champions to the wire before losing by six. "That first game showed the rest of the world, myself included, that we have a chance to be OK," Barnes Arico said.
Now the real fun begins. Oklahoma is 9-1 with an overtime loss to Duke. The Sooners' scores against the rest of their schedule look a lot like Michigan's, unsurprising since they're loaded with talent and experience.
As Barnes Arico noted, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year (Skylar Vann) is Oklahoma's third leading scorer this season. That's because Oklahoma, now an SEC member, returned another all-league player in Payton Verhulst and added perhaps the best transfer available: Oregon State's Raegan Beers. The 6-foot-4 junior center is averaging 17.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
"Raegan is just a monster inside," Barnes Arico said. "I mean, a monster."
Oklahoma has great size, like South Carolina, while Michigan starts five players who could be considered guards. Barnes Arico said the plan against such teams is to make sure they have to guard Michigan on the perimeter. If the Wolverines can avoid foul trouble and limit Oklahoma on the offensive glass, they'll have a chance. Yulia Grabovskaia, Michigan's 6-foot-5 center, will need to provide solid minutes as well.
The game is part of the third annual Jumpman Invitational. Each night features two doubleheaders: the Florida men play North Carolina in the opener on Tuesday (7 p.m.), while those schools' women's teams play on Wednesday night (at 6:30) before the Michigan men face Oklahoma.
This year will complete the round-robin. Will the event continue in 2025? An event spokesperson told MLive on Monday there was "no news of (the) future to share." Michigan basketball spokespeople have not heard one way or the other. It's a unique and worthwhile event because the women get equal shine, though the format could be improved, like having a school's men's and women's teams play on the same night.
The Michigan women beat North Carolina in the inaugural Jumpman and lost to Florida last season. Tuesday will be a homecoming for Michigan freshman point guard Mila Holloway.
Michigan wraps its nonconference schedule with a game at Akron on Friday before going to Los Angeles to face No. 7 USC and No. 1 UCLA. The Wolverines return home to play No. 11 Ohio State on Jan. 8.
"We know that our conference and our upcoming games are going to really test us," Barnes Arico said. "Our conference is stronger and deeper than it's ever been. We've got to continue to grow, We've got to continue to improve.
"But I think the greatest thing about this squad is they want to. Their mindset is there. They want to get better every day. They're super coachable. They're locked in and they just want to grow."