Michigan women’s hoops heading overseas to face international competition this summer

The Michigan women’s basketball team is heading overseas this summer and will face international competition next month, the program announced earlier this week.

The trip includes stops in Italy and Croatia, as the Wolverines will be overseas August 14-24. They’ll play a pair of games in Rome on Aug. 18 against Humber College out of Toronto. They play their final game of the trip three days later, facing ŽKK Ragusa Dubrovnik in Croatia.

The program will get to see a lot of sights on the trip, including stops in Naples, the Amalfi Coast, the Roman Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum, the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Square and the Old City and City Walls in Croatia.

Much like the trip the men’s team took last summer, Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico views this as a trip to help this team while facing competition outside of the United States.

“There is nothing like the experience of going on an international trip as a program,” Barnes Arico said in a release from the program. “The time you get to spend with each other is invaluable for building a team and your culture, while gaining extra practice time and competition in preparation for the upcoming season. For many of these student-athletes, it is their first time traveling to another country and is a life-changing experience.”

The Wolverines will practice 10 times in preparation for this trip — the third international trip for the program, to go along with trips in 2013 and 2017 — starting in mid-July.

Michigan is coming off a solid 2022-23 season, going 23-10 overall and 11-7 in conference play before losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to the eventual champion LSU Tigers.

The Wolverines lose three of their top four scorers from last season in Leigha Brown, Emily Kiser and Maddie Nolan, but shooting guard Leila Phelia is expected to lead this team. She averaged 16.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game last season and is currently playing with Team USA in the FIBA Women’s Americup in Mexico.

Phelia will likely lead the team in scoring last season, but several other key contributors are returning, including Cameron Williams, Jordan Hobbs, Chyra Evans and Greta Kampschroeder. They also have some intriguing freshman joining the team in Macy Brown, Katy Eidle and Taylor Woodson.