A Fitting Finale
Big Ten Tournament reactions, and a brief look ahead
Last week was a great reminder that, even if you spend a whole lot of time and effort trying to keep up with the happenings of Big Ten women’s basketball, you can still have no idea what to expect.
My Incorrect Big Ten Tournament Picks
The Big Ten Tournament has come and gone in a flash. Five days of thrilling basketball, and for the third year in a row, the champion remained the same.
Yes, Iowa was back on the mountain top on Sunday, doing it once again despite not finishing the regular season atop the standings in any of their three tournament runs. It’s a result that likely didn’t surprise many.
However, exactly how and who Iowa had to do it against was the stunner.
I went into the Big Ten Tournament with one primary thought: I was excited to see how the teams ranked 5-14 battled it out for the first few days, but while also fully expecting to see a semifinal with the top four. By the time Saturday came around, only one top-four team remained.
Ohio State, Indiana and Michigan State — Seeds 1, 3 and 4 — went a combined 0-3. Instead, it was the Hawkeyes joined by Nebraska, Michigan and Maryland, seeds 5, 6 and 8. Because of course.
It led to a final featuring Iowa and Nebraska, two teams that split contests in the regular season. But the Hawkeyes came into the game with a pair of lopsided wins, and the Cornhuskers were preparing for their fourth game in four days.
These two teams combined for a championship game that may have been the best of the whole Big Ten season.
Nebraska took a lead early and held onto it for the vast majority of the game. The Cornhuskers weren’t specifically efficient, but moved the ball around well, worked it inside, got some key rebounds and did enough to keep Iowa from countering quickly.
At half, Nebraska led 46-35, and it was a deserved lead in every way. It was the right game plan by head coach Amy Williams, and it felt like Iowa was truly on the ropes. This was also because the Big Ten Player of the Year was playing like anything but.
Caitlin Clark played one of the worst first halves of her college career in this game. She had four points and was 2 of 13 from the field. She missed all nine three-point attempts. She looked out of sorts and, though she was being contained well by Nebraska’s defense, was missing shots we are all used to seeing her make.
The second half is where Clark, and this game, found another level.
Clark started the third quarter making a midrange. She followed that up with a made three on her next attempt. Jaz Shelley countered her three with a three of her own to quiet the loud Iowa-heavy crowd. This is where it started to feel like cinema.
Iowa scratched and clawed its way back, briefly taking a lead during the third quarter. Unlike other Hawkeyes games, they did it through defense more than by pouring in the points. They outscored Nebraska 23-12 in the third quarter as the Cornhuskers struggled with the defensive pressure. The interior opportunities dried up and the threes weren’t falling. It led to a tied 58-58 contest entering the fourth quarter.
This fourth quarter was special basketball, folks.
Both teams started slow offensively, and a Clark three gave Iowa a 65-63 lead that held for nearly two minutes. Then, out of nowhere, bang. Callin Hake three. An Iowa turnover, then, bang. Logan Nissley three. Clark made a basket but there, bang. Alexis Markowski counters with a layup. A few turnovers back and forth and Shelley is the next to score with a pair of free throws. Clark turns it over right after these makes giving Nebraska, seemingly out of nowhere, a 75-67 lead, with the ball, with 2:36 to go.
But the Hawkeyes are a battle-tested group who may or may not know how to score points fast. Hake took a wide open look early in the shot clock and missed it, giving Iowa the ball back with 2:27 to play. Clark hits a three, and it’s immediately a ball game once again.
A Nebraska miss is followed with a Hannah Stuelke layup, and a Markowski layup on the other side is then followed by a three from Kate Martin. Both of these came off assists by Clark. Then, with 33 seconds left, Clark hits a layup herself to tie the game at 77. Nissley’s final-second shot misses after Iowa played great defense containing Shelley, and to overtime we went.
The frantic energy continued there. Iowa opened up a five-point lead, but Nebraska responded with a 7-0 run right back. Martin hit yet another three to give Iowa the advantage again, but Nissley responded with a three to put Nebraska back up. Which was then countered by a three from Clark. Even writing all of this back makes me feel out of breath.
Then, Clark got involved defensively, intercepting a long-distance Shelley pass and then hitting both of her free throws. They gave her 34 points on the day, 30 of which were in the second half and overtime. Those went along with 7 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals. In a game where she played one of the worst halves of her career. There is absolutely no one like her. No one.
Nebraska battled from here and cut the lead to one-score, but never got a strong look to extend the game further. Iowa hit some more free throws and ultimately sealed its three-peat with a 94-89 overtime win.
Clark was magnificent when she needed to be, but Iowa doesn’t get this done without some key efforts from the supporting cast. Kate Martin had 13 points and 7 rebounds, but hit 4-of-5 from deep. She hit all four three attempts in the second half. Hannah Stuelke had 25 points and 9 rebounds in 40 minutes of crucial action. Sydney Affloter had 11 points and 11 rebounds, six of which were offensive. Her shooting was off, but she played such a large role elsewhere that it didn’t matter, and I’m so glad she was voted to the All-Tournament team for her efforts.
On the other side, this was one hell of a performance from this Nebraska team. Markowski had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. Shelley had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 13 assists. True freshmen Natalie Potts (21 points, 9 rebounds) and Nissley (13 points, 5 assists, 4-10 3PT) were spectacular in the big moments. I went from predicting this team could lose its first game to fully believing the roster is capable of making a deep NCAA Tournament run. This roster is deep, works brilliantly together and was oh so close to coming home with this one.
There’s more to discuss from this tournament so I have to wrap it up, but man, what a game this was. Two teams that left everything out there in front of a sold out crowd. Heck, I even though this game was officiated well!
It truly had everything, and it reminded me why I love this conference in the first place.
The Bracket Busters
Nebraska wasn’t alone in making a surprising Big Ten Tournament run. As mentioned, three of the conference’s top four fell on the same day, and the other two came in much more surprising fashion.
The day started with Ohio State-Maryland. The Buckeyes handled business against the Terps twice this season, and seemed destined to come into the tournament hungry after the loss to Iowa.
Maryland was hungrier. The first 20 minutes made that clear.
A 26-13 second quarter in favor of the Terps made it 38-30 at half, and this was without scoring help from Bri McDaniel, who was shut out of the entire game after going 0-of-10. Still, the Buckeyes have came out flat and found a burst after halftime before, and I was expecting something similar.
So was Maryland, and the Terps found another level. Ohio State cut the deficit to three — 52-49 — before a 9-0 Maryland run brought the margin up to 12. A Celeste Taylor three ended the run momentarily, but a Faith Masonius and-one kept it rolling. Ohio State scored another bucket, Maryland had another counter. Then, a Brinae Alexander three extended the lead to 59-44, and the wheels fell off.
Kevin McGuff came out to argue a missed call that, on review, was ruled to not even be a foul. He received a technical, Ohio State then fouled on the next possession, and those four combined free throws gave the Terps a 63-44 advantage.
Ohio State showed some fight in the immediate aftermath and made it an 11-point game two separate times, but that was it. The Terps coasted from there, and stunned the top seed with an 82-61 beatdown.
With McDaniel struggling, the rest of Maryland’s starting lineup was excellent. Shyanne Shellers (25-8-7, 9/17 FG) was spectacular, a real superstar performance when her team needed it. Brinae Alexander (19 points, 5/11 3PT) hit a ton of key threes and has been huge as a shooter. Jakia Brown-Turner (19 points, 9 rebounds) and Faith Masonius (15-11-4, 7/8 FG) were great on the glass and chipped in important production offensively. It’s the type of group effort that gives me hope for the Terps in the NCAA Tournament.
As for Ohio State, it was not a good performance. The Buckeyes shot 35.9 percent from the field and were out rebounded by 24. Cotie McMahon was 3 for 17. The team did not have the same energy we are used to seeing from them, and Kevin McGuff seemed to note that with his postgame quotes. It’ll likely cost the Buckeyes a 1-seed, but they will still get home games and absolutely are capable of a huge run, but this has to be an anomaly.
Finally, we get to Michigan. The Wolverines were a bubble team that needed at least one win in this tournament to feel some safety. They got that convincingly over Minnesota, then headed into a matchup with Indiana.
The first half went as the seeds would be expected, with the Hoosiers holding a comfortable 35-21 lead, even without forward Mackenzie Holmes seeing the court. When Yarden Garzon made the lead 38-21 early in the third, it felt like Indiana would get to have its cake and eat it too by advancing in the tournament without having to play its star forward dealing with an injury.
Michigan, however, had some other plans. That 38-21 advantage quickly slimmed to 38-33, with eight of the Wolverines’ 12 points on the run coming from Laila Phelia. Indiana led 43-40 after three quarters, but it felt anything but comfortable.
Two Cameron Williams buckets, plus a free throw, in 1:15, and it was the Wolverines who held a 45-43 lead early in the fourth. More baskets traded until the 6:28 mark. Michigan is up 52-48, and the Hoosiers call a timeout. There, a decision was made.
Teri Moren decides to play Holmes for the first time all game here in the fourth quarter with Indiana’s tournament life at stake. Here’s what she said about the decision in the postgame, via Hoosiers Now:
"I think it was just trying to figure out the balance. Our goal was to be here until Sunday. She was available, we knew she was gonna be available. We didn't want to have to play her. We wanted to be able to use her tomorrow more.
"But she looked at me and said, 'I'm ready to go in.' In terms of how healthy she is, she easily could've played tonight. We were just trying to hold her out as much as we could to see with the pieces that we did have if we could get past Michigan and into tomorrow's semifinal."
The move backfired. Michigan outscored Indiana 17-5 while Holmes was in the game. The Wolverines advanced with a 69-56 win after outscoring the Hoosiers 48-18 in the final 19:24 of the contest.
For starters, what an unbelievable comeback performance by this Michigan team. Head coach Kim Barnes Arico found a way to get through this game after being grinded down early, something especially impressive considering that only one of these teams played a game the day before. Despite that, it was the Wolverines who had far more energy in the second half, and it made the difference.
Laila Phelia is special. She had 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists in things game and was the steady hand that led the charge. Lauren Hansen’s 16 points and four made threes were a massive difference maker as well. This win means we will see Michigan in the NCAA Tournament, which is a huge success for this program that looks to only be getting stronger in the near future.
Indiana has a knack for only losing in blowouts this year, and that continued here, even with a 17-point second-half lead. Hopefully Holmes can be near 100 percent for the NCAA Tournament, but this is a concerning result regardless, simply on how it happened. There’s no excuse for getting demolished in the second half against a team that is playing on a back-to-back.
The Final Bubble Team
Maryland and Michigan sealed spots in the field with big upsets, but Penn State did enough to stay in the talks.
The Nittany Lions dominated Wisconsin 80-56 for their third straight win, then lost handedly to Iowa, 95-62. It’s the tournament run that Penn State was expected to have, but it could have used a closer contest against the Hawkeyes to feel a little safer.
ESPN has Penn State as the Second Team Out. Her Hoop Stats has the Nittany Lions as the Last Team In. They are one of the most on the bubble teams left, and we won’t know where they stand until Selection Sunday. It was an up-and-down year for Penn State, but this is still positive growth for the program overall. The team had not won a Big Ten Tournament game period since Makenna Marisa had been there, so to at least be in a post like this is promising.
We have a week without Big Ten Women’s Basketball. Heartbreaking. Selection Sunday awaits, and then I will be here with all the NCAA Tournament talk. Folks, I can’t wait.
Photo Credit: Iowa Women’s Basketball (@IowaWBB), Twitter/X; Maryland Athletics; Michigan Women’s Basketball (@umichwbball), Twitter/X