Michigan Professional Athletes

Naz Hillmon closed out the WNBA regular season the way every Michigan alum dreams of — with a playoff berth locked up and a stat line that mattered.

The Dream forward delivered 16 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal in Atlanta's 83-65 dismantling of the New York Liberty on Wednesday, finishing with a +17 plus-minus that told the real story of her impact. The win secured Atlanta the No. 4 seed in the WNBA playoffs, capping a 31-13 regular season for one of the league's most improved teams.

Allisha Gray led all scorers with 24 points, but Hillmon's efficiency and two-way presence — particularly in a blowout that never really felt close after the first half — underscored her value to Atlanta's postseason rotation. The Dream's margin of victory wasn't fluky; this was a team that came to close out the regular season with intent.

The week wasn't all clean sailing for Atlanta. A tense moment arrived just before halftime when star Angel Reese took a hit to the face while drawing an offensive foul from Sabrina Ionescu. Reese's status cast a brief shadow over what was otherwise a dominant performance, and the Dream will monitor her heading into the first round.

Hillmon had also contributed in a 95-84 Atlanta win over New York earlier in the week on Tuesday, posting 8 points, 3 rebounds, and a +10 plus-minus — meaning the Michigan product posted a combined +27 across two games against the Liberty to close the regular season. That's not a footnote; that's a trend.

Atlanta will host the first round beginning Sunday, with the opponent — Indiana or Washington — to be determined. Hillmon and the Dream have home-court advantage and momentum. For Michigan fans tracking their alumni on the pro circuit, the postseason is just getting started.

Fellow Wolverine Kysre Gondrezick is on the Chicago Sky's roster but did not factor into notable activity during the period covered.

Michigan in the WNBA: Week of Aug. 30

Naz Hillmon quietly put together one of the most impactful performances of her WNBA career last Sunday — and the box score almost undersells it.

The Atlanta Dream forward finished with 7 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist in a 89-81 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on August 30. Those numbers are fine. The plus-minus is the story: +21, one of the most striking efficiency marks posted by any player in that game and a signal that Hillmon's presence on the floor was felt in ways that don't always show up on the stat sheet.

Plus-minus isn't a perfect metric — it's team-dependent, lineup-dependent, and can flatter in garbage time. But a +21 in a competitive 8-point win carries real weight. It suggests Hillmon was on the court during Atlanta's most decisive stretches, anchoring lineups that decisively outscored Minnesota's. For a forward working to cement her rotation value in a loaded Dream frontcourt, that kind of impact data matters more than a flashy scoring line.

Hillmon, a four-year standout at Michigan where she became one of the program's all-time scorers, has always been valued for her interior efficiency and basketball IQ rather than volume production. That profile fits the Dream's system — and Sunday's result is an example of what a well-deployed role player can contribute to a winning effort without needing to dominate the stat sheet.

Gondrezick Watch

Kysre Gondrezick, the former Michigan guard now with the Chicago Sky, had no recorded game activity for this period.

The Bottom Line

For Michigan fans tracking their alumni in the WNBA, Hillmon is the name to watch right now. Her efficiency metrics are trending in the right direction at the right time of the season — and a +21 performance in a meaningful win is the kind of tape that keeps a player in the rotation heading into the playoff push. Wolverines faithful should have her on their radar as Atlanta fights for positioning in the final weeks of the regular season.