Last season felt unique in so many ways.

Many of them not great, not ideal, out of necessity for what we were going through.

But for Michigan women's basketball, last season was unique in one very good way.

That was its final destination.

The Wolverines reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

Now, that was a reality that felt overdue for a program under head coach

Kim Barnes-Riko that has steadily climbed and improved over the years, but finally Michigan broke

through. This season has felt much more normal in a number of reasons, both on the floor and off,

and for this program, there is a new normalcy around here.

Expectations, standards, winning.

Individually, the standard is Nas Hillman,

and she showed it on Monday night against Villanova.

27 points, 11 rebounds.

She secured her 50th double, and she played every second, that is, until there were just

43.6 left. Her and the team's job was done. She exited the game to a roar that was very well

deserved in her final game at Chrysler Center. Speaking of Chrysler, the standard right now is when there's a game, Michigan wins.

The Wolverines went 14 and 0 in Ann Arbor, during the regular season, and they tacked on a pair

of NCAA tournament wins in their first hosting opportunity ever.

And now, normal seat feels like Michigan women's basketball in the sweet

16, doesn't it? Wolverine surprised some people last year to get to the second weekend of the dance.

This season, they were expected to get there. That's exactly what they did, and they did so

thanks to a pair of double-digit victories. All of those normal things came together for Michigan against

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