ANN ARBOR — Expectations are high for the Michigan women’s basketball team entering the 2025-26 season. Coming off a seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the Wolverines are No. 13 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. Led by an acclaimed sophomore class and buoyed by a pair of transfers, Michigan will take the court Thursday for an exhibition before opening the regular season Nov. 4 at home against Canisius.
Head coach Kim Barnes Arico spoke about her team at length Tuesday as part of the program’s media day, which also involved interviews with the entire roster. Below are five takeaways from her comments.
Michigan started three freshman last season, all of whom are still at Michigan. Syla Swords and Olivia Olson, the team’s top two scorers and rebounders last year, were All-Big Ten preseason selections. Mila Holloway set the program record for assists by a freshman.
“They all made a major impact on the national scene,” Barnes Arico said. Can they do it again?
“Now they are circled on everyone’s scouting report or they’re at the top of everyone’s scouting report,” Barnes Arico said. “So that’s a little bit different. People know who you are, people know your moves, people know your tendencies. They know what you’re going to do.
“So do you have counters to that? Have you continued to develop? Have you become more consistent in the offseason?”
She believes the answer is ‘yes’ to all of those questions. Swords and Holloway played for Canada’s under-19 team at the FIBA World Cup this summer while Swords also suited up for Canada’s national team. Both players spoke Tuesday about the value of those experiences.
Beyond their statistical contributions, Barnes Arico will be counting on them to be better leaders this season, especially with the loss of seniors Jordan Hobbs and Greta Kampschroeder. “When they were freshmen, we only talked about basketball,” Barnes Arico said. “Now the expectations have changed where we need you to not just worry about what you’re doing, but worry about what everyone else is doing.”
Michigan, which started five guards last season, added forwards Ashley Sofilkanich (from Bucknell) and Kendall Dudley (UCLA) via the transfer portal.
The 6-foot-3 Sofilkanich was the Patriot League player of the year as a sophomore last season. Her new teammates said she looks the part of a Big Ten player in preseason practices. “She just has a little bit of an edge and a toughness to her,” Barnes Arico said. “I think every team needs it from an inside post position. We didn’t really have that last year.”
Barnes Arico admires Sofilkanich for testing herself against college basketball’s best and is excited to see how she fares. “She has really soft touch around the basket. We need her to get some of those easy buckets we didn’t have last year.”
Michigan is counting on her rebounding and interior defense as well, which can also be said for Dudley. Her mom is a coach, and Barnes Arico said that’s evident when Dudley takes the court. “She understands how to be a two-way player,” Barnes Arico said. “She’ll play defense, she’ll rebound, she’ll make the right pass, she’ll make the right read. … All of the things that are really important to us…are at the top of Kendall’s list.”
The transfers and three freshmen aren’t the only new faces inside the program. Barnes Arico hired two new assistants this offseason. Jordann Reese, from Creighton, and former Michigan captain Danielle Rauch. They, along with returning assistants Melanie Moore, Justine Raterman and Natalie Achonwa, were present for Barnes Arico’s press conference.
Barnes Arico said Reese brought “a lot of basketball knowledge” from a Creighton program that made the NCAA Tournament the past four years. Rauch, a Wolverine from 2018 to 2022 who spent last season as an assistant at Western Carolina, “has been a phenomenal addition to our staff,” Barnes Arico said.
“(She’s) still really young, connects with the players, has to play against the players every single day so is really helping to make them better. And just really understands our program, the University of Michigan and our team.”
Michigan also has a new graduate assistant, Makayla Daniels, and a director of video and analytics, Dillon Carson.
Te’Yala Delfosse appeared in 24 games off the bench as a freshman last season. The 6-foot-3 forward always seemed to make something happen. Barnes Arico is expecting more consistent production this year.
“Everybody always asks, ‘Who can make a breakthrough this year and who’s doing things that have really stood out in the preseason?’ And I would have to say Te’Yala Delfosse is really doing a great job in the preseason.”
Her athleticism and length allowed her to contribute right away, often running the floor or moving without the ball to get easy baskets.
“I think Te’Yala could really be elite,” Barnes Arico said. “I think she has an opportunity to be among the best, but she has to find that grit and that toughness. She has to find refuse to lose mentality. She has it inside, but she’s just trying to figure out her place in her own class with a really talented class.”
It wouldn’t be a Michigan women’s basketball media day without Barnes Arico complaining about the schedule and playfully calling out the staffer largely responsible for assembling it. “I’ll blame Amy Mulligan just because she usually gets the blame (for) our schedule,” she said. “Our scheduling is something.”
Michigan already played a closed scrimmage against Miami Ohio and hosts Ferris State in Thursday’s lone exhibition. Canisius visits Nov. 4 to tip off the regular season. Both start at 7 p.m. ET and will air on B1G+.
Nonconference highlights include a visit from Harvard, coached by former Michigan assistant Carrie Moore, Nov. 9, and a game with No. 15 Notre Dame in Detroit (Nov. 15). The Wolverines play No. 1 and defending national champion Connecticut and Syracuse in Connecticut in late November and No. 19 Vanderbilt in New Jersey Jan. 19.
“One thing that I found out last year about our team when we opened up against South Carolina is that they want to compete against the best,” Barnes Arico said. “They want to challenge themselves against the best. And they came to the University of Michigan for an opportunity to play against the best competition in the country.”
This schedule, with also includes 18 Big Ten games, allows for that.
