1 of 5 | Michigan guard Olivia Olson (1) makes a pass under pressure from Louisville forward Laura Ziegler (0) in the first half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) When Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico had each of her players bring in a quote that resonates with them, sophomore guard Olivia Olson provided one that truly encapsulates the Wolverines heading into the only womens NCAA Tournament regional final matching the top two seeds.

It goes something like, you had to be a contender before you were a champion. You know, you had to be there before you were on the other side, the 14th-year Michigan coach said Sunday. Thats kind of where our program is right now. You know, were a contender and weve gotten to this point. We have the pieces to be champions. So we are in the Elite Eight with a lot of programs that have rich basketball tradition.

Michigan (28-6) will try to get to its first Final Four when it takes on top-seeded Texas (34-3) in the Fort Worth Regional 3 championship game Monday night.

The Longhorns (34-3), who have won their three NCAA Tournament games by an average of more than 35 points, are in their third consecutive regional final under coach Vic Schaefer. They went to the Final Four last year for the first time since 2003, and won their only national title with a 34-0 record in 1986.

Texas has an experienced group led by fifth-year guard Rori Harmon and AP All-America junior forward Madison Booker. The Wolverines depend heavily on sophomore guards Olson, Syla Swords and Mila Holloway, and second-year transfer Brooke Quarles Daniels. They lost a second-round game last year to Notre Dame but are still playing now after a 71-52 Sweet 16 win over Louisville .

Last year, we kind of just went into everything saying we have nothing to lose, we have nothing to prove really, and this year, like, we have everything to prove, Olson said. We want to make it as far as we can and we want to compete with the No. 1 seeds. Weve shown that we can.

The Wolverines were the Big Ten regular-season runner-up behind No. 1 seed UCLA, which also made the Elite Eight. Their only loss in their first 13 games this season was 72-69 at defending national champion and No. 1 overall seed UConn. They have won 13 of 16 games since a 72-69 loss to Sweet 16 team Vanderbilt on Jan. 19, with a three-point loss to UCLA and two against Iowa, a No. 2 NCAA seed upset in the second round.

Theyre here for a reason. Thats something that you have to pay attention to, but yeah, having experience does help a lot, Harmon said. You understand the urgency that you have to have, the focus and the discipline that you have, and the connectivity and chemistry that you have to have with your teammates at this moment, because any game could be your last game.

While Harmon and Quarles Daniels arent the leading scorers, and are the shortest players, they are the spark plugs for their teams.

The 5-foot-6 Harmon had 11 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and six steals when Texas knocked off Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky 76-54 in the Sweet 16. The 5-7 Quarles Daniels had seven points, a game-high nine rebounds, two assists and two steals Saturday against Louisville.

Harmon returned for another season at Texas just for the another chance to win a championship.

Im not ready for it to be over either. I hugged her this morning at breakfast and said those same words, Schaefer said. Ive seen her every day for five straight years. Its going to be a little different. Its going to be way different, you know, not seeing her.

Barnes Arico spoke about stickers given to players recognizing intangibles in games and practices, like diving for loose balls, taking charges and winning 50-50 battles. The coach often looks at those basketball stickers affixed over a block M at each players locker.

Asked how many stickers she has, Quarles Daniels said she didnt know. Swords quickly responded: Shes almost got two blocks. Shes being humble.

When Texas was in its locker room after the Sweet 16 win and did what has become the tradition of placing its nameplate on the next line on an oversized bracket, the Longhorns put it on the line for the bracket winner that would indicate an advance to the Final Four.

While some Michigan players took that as a slight, Harmon said that it was unintentional during what is always a chaotic scene for the cameras.

Of course, if you are the other team, youre going to use anything for fire and anything for fuel, so thats valid enough, Harmon said. But obviously we made a mistake and we owned up to it immediately as we recognized.

The Longhorns didnt realize what they had done until seeing videos after leaving the arena Saturday.

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AP March Madness bracket: and coverage:

得克萨斯州沃思堡（美联社电）——密歇根大学女篮主帅金·巴恩斯·阿里科要求每位球员分享一句激励自己的名言时，大二后卫奥利维亚·奥尔森给出的引述精准诠释了狼獾队的斗志：她们正以头号种子身份挺进NCAA女篮锦标赛地区决赛，即将与二号种子展开唯一一场巅峰对决。

密歇根大学执教14年的主教练周日表示："这就像你必须先成为竞争者，才能成为冠军。你得经历过这一边，才能站到另一边。"他补充道："这正是我们球队目前的处境——我们已是竞争者，并走到了这一步。我们具备夺冠的拼图，因此才能与众多拥有深厚篮球传统的球队一同跻身精英八强。"

密歇根大学队（28胜6负）将于周一晚间在沃斯堡赛区3号冠军赛中迎战头号种子得克萨斯大学队（34胜3负），力争首次闯入最终四强赛。

德州长角牛队（34胜3负）在主帅维克·舍费尔（Vic Schaefer）带领下，已连续第三次闯入NCAA锦标赛区域决赛，此前三场比赛场均净胜对手超过35分。该队去年自2003年以来首次晋级最终四强，并曾在1986年以34战全胜的辉煌战绩夺得队史唯一一座全国冠军奖杯。

得克萨斯大学女篮拥有一支经验丰富的队伍，由五年级后卫萝瑞·哈蒙和美联社全美最佳阵容大三前锋麦迪逊·布克领衔。密歇根大学狼獾队则高度依赖大二后卫奥尔森、西拉·索兹和米拉·霍洛威，以及转校生二年级球员布鲁克·夸尔斯·丹尼尔斯。该队去年在第二轮比赛中负于圣母大学，但在以71-52战胜路易斯维尔大学晋级甜蜜16强后，目前仍在继续征战。

奥尔森表示：“去年我们参加所有比赛时的心态是没什么可失去的，也无需证明什么；但今年不同，我们需要证明一切。我们希望能走得更远，与头号种子选手一较高下。我们已经证明了自己具备这样的实力。”

狼獾队（Wolverines）在十大联盟（Big Ten）常规赛中位列亚军，仅次于头号种子加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）——后者也成功晋级精英八强（Elite Eight）。本赛季前13场比赛中，他们唯一的败绩是以72-69的比分负于卫冕冠军兼全美头号种子康涅狄格大学（UConn）。自1月19日以72-69惜败于甜蜜十六强（Sweet 16）球队范德堡大学后，他们在后续16场比赛中取得13胜，期间仅以3分之差负于UCLA，并两度不敌爱荷华大学——这支NCAA二号种子队在第二轮爆冷出局。

“他们出现在这里是有原因的。这是你必须关注的事情，但没错，经验确实大有裨益，”哈蒙说道。“你会明白此刻必须具备的紧迫感、专注力与纪律性，以及与队友之间不可或缺的默契与化学反应——因为每一场比赛都可能是你的最后一战。”

尽管哈蒙（Harmon）和夸尔斯·丹尼尔斯（Quarles Daniels）并非队内得分主力，且身高最矮，但他们是球队的发动机。

在甜蜜16强赛中，身高5英尺6英寸（约1.68米）的哈蒙贡献11分、7次助攻、7个篮板和6次抢断，帮助德州大学以76比54击败东南联盟劲敌肯塔基队。而在周六对阵路易斯维尔队的比赛中，身高5英尺7英寸（约1.70米）的夸尔斯·丹尼尔斯拿下7分，并抢下全场最高的9个篮板，另有2次助攻和2次抢断入账。

哈蒙重返得克萨斯队再战一季，只为再次冲击冠军。

“我也还没准备好接受这一切结束。今早吃早餐时我拥抱了她，说了同样的话，”谢弗说道，“五年来我每天都和她见面。以后会有点不一样了。你知道的，见不到她，感觉会非常不同。”

巴恩斯·阿里科谈到球队会向球员颁发贴纸，以表彰他们在比赛和训练中展现的无形贡献，比如飞身扑抢地板球、制造进攻犯规以及赢得五五开的对抗。教练经常查看这些篮球贴纸，它们贴在每位球员更衣室储物柜上那个醒目的字母M上方。

当被问及拥有多少张贴纸时，夸尔斯·丹尼尔斯（Quarles Daniels）表示自己并不清楚。斯沃兹（Swords）迅速回应道：“她都快有两街区那么多了，这是在谦虚呢。”

当得克萨斯大学长角牛队在甜蜜十六强赛后回到更衣室时，他们依照传统将队名牌贴到巨型对阵表的下一个晋级线上——这一位置标志着球队若能获胜便将挺进最终四强赛。

虽然密歇根大学的一些队员将此视为轻慢，但哈蒙（Harmon）表示，在镜头前总是混乱的场面中，这并非有意为之。

“当然，如果你是对方团队，你会不择手段地寻找火种和燃料，这完全可以理解，”哈蒙说。“但显然我们犯了错，并且一意识到就立刻承认了。”

德克萨斯长角牛队直到周六离开赛场后看到视频，才意识到他们做了什么。

美联社三月疯狂赛事对阵表： 及相关报道：