A Big Ten Tournament For The Ages
The week of fireworks made up for a fizzle at the end
I look forward to talking Big Ten women’s basketball every Monday, because this conference, almost without fail, always finds a way to excite.
There have been so many moments since I began Hoopla that have made me feel vindicated that yes, this conference is as special as I made it out to be. Last week was among the best of those moments.
Of the 13 games that made up last week’s Big Ten Tournament, nine were decided by single digits. A 10th was an 11-point game between Iowa and Purdue that was neck and neck for much of the duration. Eight of those single-digit margins were five points or less.
This conference went to war this week, and it was the closest tournament in its history, a true testament to how deep the talent pool goes in the Big Ten.
That is, of course, until the very end, when Iowa opened a can of Whoop-Ass on Ohio State to win its second straight tournament.
Indeed, the Hawkeyes reached the mountain top in a 105-72 rout of the Buckeyes that was, quite frankly, even more dominant than the score suggests, and the score suggests a thumping.
Iowa shot 62.1 percent from the field, an outrageous rate for a championship game, while holding Ohio State to 34.8 percent. Those numbers include a first half where the Buckeyes shot 25 percent to Iowa’s 72 percent, which led to a 71-24 Iowa lead at the break.
This was Iowa at its strongest, and Ohio State at its weakest. Caitlin Clark, back-to-back tournament MVP, finished the game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 17 assists for an obscene triple-double. She did it by shooting 9 of 17 from the field and committing just two turnovers against one of the best defenses in the country at forcing turnovers.
When Clark is doing that, the rest comes easy. Monika Czinano had 26 points on 12 attempts. Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin hit all four of their combined three attempts. McKenna Warnock had 11 rebounds. *This* Iowa team, if it keeps showing up, is Final Four quality at worst.
On the other end, it was an extremely disappointing performance from Ohio State, who fell back on some issues that happened earlier in the season. The Buckeyes shot 32 threes, which would have been less an issue if Taylor Mikesell was the one shooting all of them. Mikesell did attempt 10, hitting six of them, but the rest of the team still shot 22 from deep, making just four of them.
There were so many three attempts because Iowa did exactly what it did last time these two teams played: they let it happen. The Hawkeyes were begging the likes of Rikki Harris (24.2% from three this season) and Emma Shumate (23.1%) to fire away, leaving them wide open from beyond the arc basically every possession. The two took those opportunities and went a combined 2 of 14 from deep.
Elsewhere, Ohio State’s defensive efforts were lackluster enough for the ESPN broadcasters to say it looked like Iowa was “playing against air.”
It was a real downer end for the Buckeyes, but let’s not forget how they got there in the first place.
Ohio State found itself down as many as 24 points against top-seeded Indiana in the semifinals. But the Buckeyes never relented, forcing the Hoosiers to shoot 28 percent and commit 14 turnovers in the second half to complete the remarkable comeback.
And when I say remarkable, I mean it. This second half was a team possessed on defense, a monstrous effort that Indiana was just not prepared to deal with. Taylor Thierry and Jacy Sheldon combined for 25 points and seven steals in the final 20 minutes to lead Ohio State through.
The Hoosiers are likely still a one seed in the NCAA Tournament, but this was a good wake-up call for something that could give this seemingly invincible team fits.
Indiana was simply not ready for the press defense Ohio State ran in the second half. Players consistently went into corners, and the Buckeyes kept getting the ball from it. Sheldon’s return gives Ohio State a huge defensive edge it was once lacking, but Indiana still should have done better against a team it dominated a month ago.
Those two games are what I would call the biggest moments of the tournament, but there were still nine other games that came down to the wire. This week deserves 10,000 words on it, but I’m just one man, so I will do my best to give each of these excellent games the proper respect.
Penn State 72, Minnesota 67
What a way for the tournament to begin.
Penn State surged to a 21-3 lead because Minnesota looked completely unprepared to deal with the press defense. But the Gophers slowly crept their way back throughout the rest of the game, and ultimately found themselves tied with 46 seconds left. That is when Makenna Marisa hit a pivotal and-one to give the Nittany Lions a lead it held onto the rest of the way.
Marisa was excellent in this game, finishing with 22 points. Shay Ciezki was also great with 16 points before she went down with an ankle injury in the third quarter that she did not return from.
It was an exciting comeback effort that ended just short, and now we have to wait and see what Minnesota will look like next season. Lindsay Whalen stepped down as head coach the next day, and that could lead to another hectic offseason of moves.
Rutgers 63, Northwestern 59
Kaylene Smikle.
The Rutgers star freshman put in 26 points, 21 of which came in the first half, to give the Scarlet Knights an early lead that they just barely held onto to advance to the next round. Chyna Cornwell (15 points, 16 rebounds) also had a huge role in the victory.
Northwestern’s tumultuous season ended with just nine wins, but it did get a great performance out of Caileigh Walsh (24 points, eight rebounds) in the losing effort. The blizzard defense was able to force 20 Scarlet Knight turnovers, but that only goes so far when the Wildcats commit 20 turnovers of their own.
The Smikle-Cornwell duo shot 14 of 26 on the day, while the rest of Rutgers shot 8 of 32.
Michigan State 67, Nebraska 64
No game had higher stakes for postseason play than this matchup between a pair of teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and both teams played like their lives depended on it.
Jaz Shelley’s 24 points were just not enough, and Nebraska’s run was ended after a pair of good looks from three rattled out.
DeeDee Zageman had 18 points in a big performance for the Spartans, including this nasty, nasty spin move that gave Michigan State a lead headed to the fourth.
Nebraska is likely going to be left out of the NCAA Tournament from this defeat, a shame considering the talent on this roster. But man, this was a blast of a game, as the teams could barely separate themselves from start to finish.
Michigan 63, Penn State 61
So, this one was weird.
Michigan returned Laila Phelia to the lineup, and Penn State was playing on a back-to-back without its starting point guard. Naturally, it was a total nail-biter, and Michigan survived by the skin of their teeth.
Leilani Kapinus (16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, five steals) was a monster for Penn State on both sides of the floor, helping to force 20 Michigan turnovers. The Nittany Lions also held Leigha Brown (12 points), Emily Kiser (13 points) and Phelia (13 points) relatively in check.
All of that led to a game with 17 lead changes and nine ties. By the way, Michigan is going to be a top five seed in the NCAA Tournament, and Penn State was the 13-seed of this tournament.
When the Wolverines went up nine with 2:09 to go, I thought finally, they sealed the deal. Instead, Penn State hit three straight layups plus one free throw, while Michigan missed a pair of shots and turned it over. That gave the Nittany Lions the ball with 11 seconds left and a chance to win. But a wild Marisa chance fell short, and the Wolverines moved on.
The hero? Elise Stuck. The junior, who averages 2.0 PPG this season, finished with a career-high 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting. Nine of those points came in the second half.
Purdue 57, Wisconsin 55
For those keeping track at home, this game made it five straight games within five points to start the tournament.
The Badgers led the Boilermakers 30-21 at halftime and led by as much as 18 in that first half, but Purdue scrapped and clawed and stayed in it, ultimately getting the win with some true heroics.
With a combined 44 turnovers and both teams shooting sub-40 percent, you wouldn’t expect such fireworks to close out the game. But these teams delivered, first with Maty Wilke hitting an ice-cold three to give Wisconsin a one-point lead with 10 seconds to go.
But, Purdue countered, and Jayla Smith hit the ultimate dagger three off a terrific pass from Jeanae Terry, and the Boilermakers moved on.
This win was huge for Purdue, and should be enough to get the Boilermakers into the dance. On the other end, shoutout to Wisconsin for finding some real, genuine momentum to end the season. These past few weeks are the best the Badgers have looked in years, and hopefully it is a sign that Marisa Moseley is building something real in Madison.
Indiana 94, Michigan State 85
In similar fashion to the game above, Michigan State came out of the gates firing, holding a double-digit lead in the second quarter, before Indiana started Indianaing.
Sixty of the Hoosiers’ 94 points came in the second half to complete the comeback, helped along by 27 points from Mackenzie Holmes and a team three-point percentage of 54.5 percent on 22 attempts. Sara Scalia (20 points, 4 of 6 from three) and Chloe Moore-McNeil (19 points, 3 of 3) came up huge as well.
This was redemption for one of Indiana’s two regular season losses, but it did not come easy. These Spartans are a dangerous team who, like Nebraska, are likely to be left out of the Field of 68. But if they do get in, I would not want to be the team that has to face them.
Ohio State 81, Michigan 79
Just a total banger.
Jordan Hobbs hit a four-point play on the first possession of the game, and that set the tone for a fast-paced, offensive-heavy showing between the two rivals. Neither team held a double-digit advantage all game, and the lead changed hands nine times throughout.
A Maddie Nolan three with 47 seconds left made this a two-point game, then Michigan forced a turnover on the other side. But both Wolverine attempts failed to go in, and the Buckeyes held on to a narrow victory.
There were plenty of big performances on both sides of this one, but above all, it was a Cotie McMahon show. In the true freshman’s first ever Big Ten Tournament game, she finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on 10-of-16 shooting. She is such an impressive player, and has the motor of a true superstar already.
Iowa 89, Maryland 84
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that winning a game with zero bench points is hard.
Well, Iowa did that, and did it by scoring nearly 90 points against a team that beat them by 28 a little over a week prior.
This wasn’t even all off the back of a monster Clark performance: her 22 points and nine assists did lead the team, but were not enough to beat Maryland on their own.
Instead, it was Marshall and Warnock, who each added 21 points to give the Hawkeyes a key boost. They were able to match the 21 points apiece from Diamond Miller and Abby Meyers on the other side, and Iowa will take that trade every time.
Iowa led this game almost the entire way, but Maryland was consistently within reach, and trailed by just one point with 25 seconds to go. But Warnock hit all four of her free throws late, and a pair of threes rattled out, giving Iowa a trip to the championship.
I mean goodness, what a tournament. I knew it would be good, but this conference proved again why it’s worth my time to talk about it every week. The performances, the drama, the upsets, the comebacks, it was all just outstanding television.
Selection Sunday looms, and it looks like at least seven Big Ten teams will be dancing. I will pray for Nebraska and Michigan State’s admissions, but none of it will matter for the bigger picture: That this conference kicks ass.
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