No. 5 Michigan defeats No. 2 UConn in women's basketball 77-66, powered by Te'Yala Delfosse's 22 points

The No. 5 Michigan women's basketball team opened its 2026-27 season with the biggest win in program history, defeating No. 2 UConn 77-66 at Crisler Arena on Thursday . The matchup was the first in Ann Arbor between top-five teams in women's hoops.

Junior guard Te'Yala Delfosse hit two consecutive 3-pointers to put Michigan ahead 63-57, a lead the Wolverines didn't relinquish for the remaining seven minutes of the game. Delfosse finished with a career-high 22 points (shooting 4-for-6 on 3s) adding 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.

Olivia Olson added 19 points, 8 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals, while Courtney Ogden scored 12 points off the bench. Syla Swords contributed 10 points and 5 boards for the Wolverines.

UConn led 21-17 after a closely contested first quarter with freshman guard Jovana Popović scoring nine points. However, the Huskies scored only eight points in the second quarter, four of them by KK Arnold.

Preseason All-American Sarah Strong went scoreless in the first half while dealing with foul trouble. She picked up her third personal foul with 2:25 remaining in the first quarter, and was thus limited to 8 minutes.

Michigan ended the second quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 35-29 lead into halftime capped by a 3-pointer from Delfosse. She scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the first 20 minutes, followed by 10 points and 6 boards from Olivia Olson.

But the Huskies began the third quarter with an 8-1 run to take the lead. Strong scored five points during the surge, making up for spending the second quarter on the bench. Michigan responded by regaining the lead before Strong put the Huskies ahead 48-46 with another 3-pointer.

Popović scored 4 points amid a 6-0 run that gave UConn the lead early in the fourth quarter. But Michigan scored the next 8 points, fueled by Delfosse's gut-punch 3s.

The freshman from Serbia led all scorers with 25 points, shooting 10-for-15 from the floor (including 3-of-5 on 3s). She also tallied 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Popović has 44 points in her first two games.

Strong finished with 13 points, all of them in the second half, in addition to eight boards. She was the only other UConn player to score in double figures. Freshman center Olivia Vukosa added eight points and five rebounds off the bench.

Michigan and UConn faced each other for the first time last season with the Huskies winning 72-69 at the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase. ( Future WNBA No. 1 draft pick Azzi Fudd scored 31 points.)

The Wolverines and head coach Kim Barnes Arico were ranked No. 5 in the AP preseason Top 25 poll after finishing last season 28-7 and losing in the NCAA tournament Elite Eight to Texas. Up next, Michigan will host Wright State on Sunday.

UConn and head coach Geno Auriemma came into the season ranked No. 2 off a 38-1 campaign with its undefeated season ending in the Final Four versus South Carolina . The Huskies next face another top 10 team on Sunday, hosting No. 10 Iowa.