November 17, 2025
Michigan’s ‘hardest working team’ claim and how it backs it up
The Wolverines are not afraid to tout their work ethic and are prepared for the bright lights shining on the program
Michigan women’s basketball describes itself with a bit of hyperbole. Both in and out of the locker room, the Wolverines call themselves the hardest working team in college basketball.
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“We’re out here taking the hardest courses. We’re truly invested in our degree, and then people transfer into our program saying, ‘wow, I’ve never seen them work out this hard,’” guard Syla Swords told reporters at Big Ten media day. “We do this day after day after day, week after week after week, and that’s what builds upon the season, and that’s why we win so many games.”
Those are big words from the Big Ten side. It is easy to call yourselves hardworking when it’s the offseason. At a time when the only competition are the other players on your team. To substantiate the claim that you work harder than anyone else in the entirety of college basketball, there has to be proof.
Back on March 23, 2025, Michigan did not live up to that mantra. Head coach Kim Barnes-Arico’s Wolverines allowed 32 points in the first quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, went down 20 points in 10 minutes, and could not recover.
But on Saturday night in Detroit, Michigan, a city lauded for its hardworking, blue collar reputation, the Wolverines had an opportunity to make up for that tournament defeat. In Michigan’s first ranked game of the year, the Wolverines ran the Fighting Irish off the court in a 93-54 rout.
“The game last year in the NCAA Tournament left a bad taste in our mouths, and so we wanted our get-back,” guard Olivia Olson told reporters.
Starting-caliber defense from the bench
Rout is not a strong enough word to describe the Wolverines’ performance. No, Michigan destroyed the will of Notre Dame. They removed the fight from the Irish. For proof, look no further than the star of Notre Dame, guard Hannah Hidalgo.
On Wednesday, Hidalgo broke a program record with 44 points and an NCAA record with 16 steals. At halftime on Saturday, Hidalgo had three points on 1-of-9 shooting, one steal, two turnovers and two fouls. Who was the guard that Barnes-Arico put on Hidalgo to limit the All-American’s production? Big Ten Rookie of the Year Olivia Olson? Future WNBA lottery pick Syla Swords? Starting point guard Mila Holloway?
None of the above. It was senior guard Brooke Quarles-Daniels, the second year Michigan guard who started her first game in maize and blue Saturday night.
“I was concerned about putting her in the starting lineup because of the spark that she gives off the bench,” Barnes-Arico said. “But I knew from a defensive perspective, we had to put her on Hidalgo to start.”
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Quarles-Daniels played the role of Hidalgo’s shadow for all of the Wolverine’s 29 game minutes. Hidalgo’s pace and quick hands were neutralized, which led to forced plays and shots by the Notre Dame guard. When Quarles-Daniels was on the court, Michigan was better. The senior guard co-led the team with a plus/minus of +33, alongside Swords.
The hard work doesn’t stop there. Talk to nearly any NCAA coach and rebounding is the top stat that gets earned through sheer will and determination. Michigan lists Quarles-Daniels at 5’7, the shortest player on the roster — she led the team with 10 rebounds.
In the second quarter, one of Quarles-Daniels’ four offensive rebounds was part of a typical possession for the Wolverines Saturday night. On a missed Swords three-point shot, Olson grabbed the offensive rebound and found Quarles-Daniels for an attempted layup. The starting guard missed the shot, kept with the play with an offensive rebound and sent the ball back out to Swords, who put Michigan up 13 points on a made three.
“Brooke [Quarles-Daniels] was tasked with probably the hardest task of the night, of guarding Hannah [Hidalgo] after a career night. And so I think she bought in, she got the stops, she put everything out there,” Olson said. “We want to play for that, we want to play for her, of doing that, and just as a team, I think we all bought into that.”
Michigan out-rebounded Notre Dame 50-28 in the lopsided victory. Hidalgo ended the night with 12 points, four assists and three steals, each below her career averages. It was only the fifth time in 71 games that Hidalgo did not score at least 13 points.
“That’s why we came here”
There is an argument to the one-sided victory that Notre Dame is not the same team it was last season. The Fighting Irish lost three players to the WNBA and a fourth pro-caliber star Olivia Miles, who left in the transfer portal.
Saturday was the first game for both sides against a ranked opponent this season. With the absences at Notre Dame and a quieter recruiting year for the 25-26 season, their place in the top-25 came with questions. After the Irish’s first two wins of the season, AP voters moved them down three spots.
In the opposite locker room Saturday night, the Wolverines are on an upward trajectory. Big Ten media and coaches picked Michigan to end the season in the top three of the conference.
All of that attention on a young team can be difficult. It has the tendency to get in a player’s head.
Last year, the Wolverines started the season in Las Vegas, Nevada against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Outside of fans tuned into the recruiting world, not a lot of college basketball fans knew about Swords, Olson, Holloway and the Michigan Wolverines. But the Gamecocks, famously, were the defending national champions who ended the 24-25 season undefeated.
Barnes-Arico knew that she recruited a strong class of freshmen, but that game showed her what that meant for the future of the Wolverines.
“As a coach, I thought, well, you know, I was hoping to keep it to 40,” Barnes-Arico said. “And it went down to the last minute. They’re fearless.”
The Wolverines lost 68-62, nearly ending the Gamecocks’ undefeated run. It was the first college basketball game for three of the five Wolverine starters.
Michigan is a young team, but so far they are a side that does not look phased by the spotlight. They are also not afraid of what is coming next. On Friday, it’s a matchup with the UConn Huskies, who on Sunday defeated Ohio State by 32 points. When the conference schedule begins, Michigan will face every ranked Big Ten team, including No. 3 UCLA, plus a late non-conference game in January against the Vanderbilt Commodores.
“I’m like, ‘oh, we have to open up against this team now, this year, we got Notre Dame, we got UConn, we got’ and they’re like, ‘coach, that’s why we came here. That’s what we want,'” Barnes-Arico said. “They’re embracing these opportunities and they’re just built a little different.”
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Annoying the Irish
In the fourth quarter, Michigan was well on their way to victory. They had a 23-point lead and could have dialed back the pressure. Notre Dame showed that it was not their day, but that is not how a hardworking team operates.
The Wolverines were relentless. Any chance of a comeback was devoured by the Big Ten side’s seemingly endless motor. If a ball was headed out of bounds, a Michigan player was bolting towards it.
In one moment, the ball headed out of bounds under the basket and Notre Dame players stood around, waiting for the chance to inbound and get back on offense. Hybrid guard/forward Te’Yala Delfosse leapt out of bounds and threw it inbounds, and Michigan converted it into more points.
Michigan had six of their 11 steals on the day in the final quarter. It pushed Notre Dame to frustration. Wolverine guard McKenzie Mathurin jumped to intercept a pass and go on a one-player fast break. Forward Gisela Sanchez, who lost the ball under duress from the non-stop Michigan defensive pressure, swung at the back of Mathurin, which the officials updated to a flagrant one.
That is the kind of thing that Michigan does to a team. It is not because the Wolverines are purposely trying to antagonize their opponents; rather, it’s because Michigan does not stop playing, regardless of the lead, the quarter or the opponent.
“We practice for two, two and a half hours, and you let up at the end of practice, that goes to show how the fourth quarter is going to go,” forward Alyssa Crockett told reporters. “It’s just a continuation of how to push yourself and how to stay mentally tough. I think obviously that’s something that our team has.”
Owning the mantra
Hard work does not guarantee victories, but at Michigan, it’s certainly helping. To prepare for Notre Dame, Barnes-Arico and her staff had players watch moments from the March Madness defeat, a sobering experience to see all that they did wrong only months prior.
In practice, Michigan practiced six-on-five, where they made the play of Hidalgo two people to frustrate whoever took the ball up the court for the Wolverines. It ended in a lot of turnovers during practice but helped the Wolverines withstand the work rate and quick hands of Hidalgo
When a team publicly lifts up their own team as the “hardest working team” in the sport, it might elicit a scoff or a smirk. When Michigan steps on the court, they back that talk up.
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