Michigan's Carmen Reynolds brings the ball upcourt during Thursday night's rout of Northwestern at Crisler Arena in the WNIT.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

On Selection Sunday a few weeks ago, there was a brief moment of disappointment as the ESPN announcers rattled off a slew of at-large bids and the Michigan women’s basketball team was nowhere to be found.

But the Wolverines weren’t hung up on that shortcoming for too long — they made a pact right then and there. They were going to treat the Women’s National Invitation Tournament like a whole new season. The freshmen, of which this young team has more than its fair share, were no longer freshmen, and, with more that 32 collegiate games under their belts, it was time to start playing like it.

Thursday night, in the third round of the tournament, the Wolverines once again emphatically proved that they have been practicing the mantra preached directly after the NCAA snub. Michigan toppled Northwestern, 65-44, in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

“We live to see another day, and we’re very lucky to be in that position,” Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. “I was really surprised (to build a comfortable lead). I honestly thought this game would come down to a slugfest. ”

With the win, the Wolverines advance to the quarterfinals. They will play either Syracuse or Virginia-Commonwealth at Crisler Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. A WNIT Representative said that, with a win on Sunday, it’s likely Michigan could host again in the semifinals.

Michigan coach Kevin Borseth, left, chats with an official during Thursday night's game against Northwestern.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Michigan’s “whole new season” theme rang especially true Thursday night, as the team came into the game with a 1-2 record against Northwestern this season. The Wildcats won both regular-season Big Ten matchups “pretty soundly,” according to Borseth. And the Wolverines beat Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Unlike the previous three games, this one was dominated by the winning squad.

And Michigan’s youngsters — the one who don’t consider themselves freshmen anymore — played a huge role in the win.

Freshman Dayeesha Hollins poured in 14, on 5-of-10 shooting. Freshman Jenny Ryan added six steals, four rebounds and an incredible block on a Northwestern 3-point attempt.

“We’re not concentrating on us, whether this person is a senior or a freshman or whatever,” Borseth said. “We’re concentrating on our opponents right now. … These kids know what it takes to win.”

Ryan agreed with that sentiment.

“When we get out on the court, our grade level disappears, to an extent,” she said.

The Wildcats, who played from behind for 39.5 of the game’s 40 minutes, never really had much of a chance of escaping Crisler Arena with a ‘W.’ The Wolverines blew the game wide open early, outscoring Northwestern 23-3 in the game’s first eight minutes.

Before the game, Borseth made it clear that the battle in the post, between 6-foot-6 Krista Phillips and 6-foot-5 Amy Jaeschke, was going to be one of the deciding factors in the game. During that extended Michigan run in the game’s opening minutes, it became clear that the Wolverines had the advantage.

Jaeschke was held to just four points in the first half, and finished with 12. Meanwhile, Phillips was a force on the offensive end, scoring a game-high 17 points and grabbing seven boards.

“We leaned on her pretty heavily tonight, but she was up for it,” Borseth said.

On Tuesday before the game, Phillips said the key to guarding Jaeschke wasn’t so much shutting her down completely, but making sure she was contained.

“With really good players like her, they’re always going to get their points,” Phillips said Tuesday. “We just have to crash down and play good team defense to make sure she can’t kick the ball back to her teammates for easy buckets.”