Juliann Woodard injury update: Michigan State forward wheeled off after collapse vs. Michigan

Michigan State sophomore forward Juliann Woodard was wheeled off the floor in a wheelchair late in Sunday’s game against rival Michigan after taking an elbow to the face. It was friendly fire as Spartans teammate Grace VanSlooten‘s left elbow appeared to clip Woodard just above her right cheek while battling for a rebound.

Woodard and VanSlooten were among several Michigan State players that went up for an offensive rebound with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game when they collided at the top of the lane. Woodard stayed on the floor for several minutes as medial staff attended to her.

Michigan State teammates huddled around their bench, with several players in tears while Woodard was treated on the floor. A stretcher was brought out but ultimately not used as she was taken off the floor in a wheelchair while sporting a large welt around her right eye socket.

Scary moment at Crisler as Michigan State’s Juliann Woodard appeared to hit her head in the court.

She was eventually able to be wheeled off via wheelchair. pic.twitter.com/zSo2V3x3fG

— Vannzee (@thevannzee) February 15, 2026

No. 7 Michigan led No. 13 Michigan State 77-54 with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter at the time of the injury and closed out the 86-65 rout to improve to 22-4 on the season. Woodard finished with just four points, while VanSlooten had 10 points and two rebounds in the loss.

The Spartans were led offensively with 21 points and 12 rebounds by Kennedy Blair, while Michigan’s Syla Swords and Olivia Olson led the way with 24 and 23 points respectively for the Wolverines.

UConn at No. 1 in first top 16 seed reveal for women’s basketball NCAA Tournament

The NCAA selection committee for women’s basketball released their first top 16 reveal just prior to the marquee matchup of South Carolina at LSU on Saturday night.

The committee met in Indianapolis on Saturday morning to finalize their first of three projections that will be released before Selection Sunday. UConn, the lone undefeated team in the nation, was placed as the No. 1 overall seed, while UCLA, South Carolina and Vanderbilt rounded out the 1-seeds.

It’s no surprise that the SEC and Big Ten have placed the most teams in the projected Top 16 seeds, as they’ve showcased competitive basketball all season and are considered the two strongest conferences in the sport. Each conference has six teams in the Top 16, while the ACC saw two teams and the Big East and Big 12 each earned one spot in the reveal.

Full Top 16 projection:

1. UConn
2. UCLA
3. South Carolina
4. Vanderbilt
5. Texas
6. Michigan
7. Louisville
8. LSU
9. Ohio State
10. Duke
11. Iowa
12. TCU
13. Maryland
14. Michigan State
15. Ole Miss
16. Oklahoma

— On3’s Talia Goodman contributed to this report.