Big Ten Tournament Recap
Iowa reigns supreme and Indiana rises from the ashes
The Big Ten Tournament was, as expected, a total blast. There were great games each day, strong upsets and loads of storylines to talk about until the Field of 68 is decided on Sunday.
Let’s start by talking about the winners.
Iowa’s Two-Headed Monster
Iowa was my pick to win it all, and because I am so right so often, the Hawkeyes came through, taking down Northwestern, Nebraska and Indiana in succession to come away with the trophy.
It is the first time in the program’s history that they have won the regular season and conference title, as they shared the regular season crown with Ohio State.
None of the victories were easy for the Hawkeyes, with the Wildcats and Cornhuskers staying close for the majority of the game. Both times, it was a third quarter Iowa surge that led to larger margins that the Hawkeyes were never going to give up with how much the offense is firing on all cylinders.
Was is maybe the most terrifying for upcoming opponents is that it wasn’t just a Caitlin Clark show, though she did have strong numbers, won Big Ten Tournament MVP and put up nearly half (41) of her team’s 83 points against Nebraska.
No, instead it could be argued that Clark was more of 1a, while forward Monika Czinano was the team’s more consistent, more efficient scorer. Simply put, not a damn soul had an answer for Czinano, who used her terrific post moves to score over and over and over again.
Iowa likely does not win the tournament without almost all of Czinano’s 30 points and 10 rebounds on 13-of-18 shooting, and it made the tourney MVP vote very difficult, at least for me.
I ended up going with Clark, but I would have completely understood the case for Czinano. Here are their stats over the three Hawkeye wins:
Clark: 26.0 PPG / 9.3 RPG / 43.3 FG% / 39.3 3PT%
Czinano: 24.3 PPG / 6.7 RPG / 75.6 FG%
If it was just the championship game, Czinano was the no-brainer. But Clark’s 41 the day before, as well as her tremendous rebounding ability, gave her the nod for me. Her assist-to-turnover was troubling to say the least (3.7 APG, 7.0 TOPG), but she just brings so much to this offense, even when the shots aren’t always falling.
Speaking of bringing so much, Iowa did not get massive contributions from McKenna Warnock or Gabbie Marshall all tournament. Enter Kate Martin, Iowa team captain and a massive contributor for the Hawkeyes this past weekend.
Martin added 12.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 55.6 percent from the field, and doing it all while averaging a single turnover per game. Looking back, she likely should have made the All-Tournament team. I wanted some variety so I went with a player off a non-Iowa or Indiana team, but Martin was massive to the Hawkeyes’ success.
Iowa now will get home games to open the NCAA Tournament and is going to be a team everyone will want to avoid like the plague. The Hawkeyes are an elite offensive group that has figured out some answers defensively. If they can beat teams without having to score 90 per game, they are among the most dangerous in the country.
Indiana Is Back
Indiana came into the Big Ten Tournament as losers of three straight and four of its past five. The team seemed to be struggling to incorporate Mackenzie Holmes back into the mix as she slowly returned to her form as one of the top bigs in the conference.
Well, something clicked in Indianapolis for the Hoosiers, as the 5-seed went 3-1 to get to the championship bout, only to fall just short as they appeared mostly out of gas down the stretch.
In the four games Holmes played to end the regular season, she averaged 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. In the four tournament games, those numbers went up to 12.8 points and 5 rebounds per contest, including 17 key points in the Hoosiers; win against Maryland. She’s not all the way back, but she is looking more like the player that we all know she is.
Indiana made this big run off the back of some truly remarkable defensive performances against Maryland and Ohio State, two of the best offenses in the country. The Hoosiers held both of them to a combined 113 points, keeping two excellent shooting teams to absolutely abysmal three-point totals. Maryland didn’t even make one on 12 attempts, while Ohio State shot 4 of 21. Taylor Mikesell, the conference’s top sharpshooter from deep, went 2 of 7.
A lot of this was thanks to the efforts of Nicole Cardano-Hillary, an All-Tournament selection and, in my opinion, Indiana’s best player of the tournament. She was strong offensively, scoring 16 against the Buckeyes and 19 against Iowa, but put opposing guards in hell day after day, finishing the tourney with 14 total steals.
She was helped plenty by Grace Berger, the mid-range assassin who found points late in shot clocks time and time again for Indiana, as she has done all season. It was great to see Indiana’s starting five cooking again, and Holmes’ lengthy absence allowed for a player like Chloe Moore-McNeil to get more action, and it is clear the developments she has made.
Even having that sixth player the Hoosiers can rely on will be huge for a deep run, something that this group is absolutely capable of doing. Getting home games to start that potential run is a great start.
Other Storylines
While Iowa and Indiana reached the highest highs, there was certainly plenty else to discuss from this tournament. Here are some things I thought were worth touching on:
Nebraska made quite a run, reaching the semifinals after upsetting No. 3 Michigan. I picked this because I have a very large cranium, but this proved yet again that the Cornhuskers are not a team to be messed with. I also think Jaz Shelley, who tied a Big Ten Tournament record with nine threes against Illinois, deserved an All-Tournament spot.
Michigan was one of two double-bye teams that came and went in this tournament, but I am not too concerned with the Wolverines. The other, however, I am. That one is Maryland, who put up 51 measly points against Indiana. Ashley Owusu (21 points), who didn’t start, was easily Maryland’s best player despite being hampered with injuries. Katie Benzan didn’t score. Diamond Miller went 2 for 11. Angel Reese fouled out. This was ugly, and I don’t know what to make of the Terrapins at this moment.
Did Northwestern do enough to sneak into the NCAA Tournament? The Wildcats did what was expected from them by beating Minnesota and then losing to Iowa, but they didn’t look specifically good doing either. Blowing out the Gophers may have solidified their spot, but they won by just 5 and it was somehow even closer than that score suggests. Charlie Creme, as it stands, has Northwestern among his First Four Out.
Nebraska was a big upset. Indiana was a 5 seed against top-seeded Ohio State, but it didn’t feel surprising. The only result that truly stunned me came on the first day, when Illinois found life for the first time in months and took down Wisconsin. This win changes nothing for anybody: Illinois lost big to Nebraska and its season is over, but it was nice to see Nancy Fahey get a tournament win in her final season, as she announced her retirement shortly after Illinois’ elimination.
Next week, it’s NCAA Tournament time. Let’s. Go.
If you are interested in more Big Ten women’s basketball content like this, you can subscribe with the button at the top or bottom of the post, or share it with the button below. Thanks!