INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Allison Weidner and Sam Haiby each scored 16 points to lead Nebraska to a 76-73 victory over No. 10 Michigan in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament Sixth-seeded Nebraska (24-7) will play No. 12 Iowa in the Saturday’s semifinals. The No. 2-seeded Hawkeyes advanced by beating No. 7 seed Northwestern 72-59 earlier Friday. Laila Phelia scored 19 points, Naz Hillmon 18 points and Leigha Brown 16 points for the third-seeded Wolverines (22-6).
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Monika Czinano scored 21 points, Caitlin Clark had a double-double and No. 12 Iowa pulled away from Northwestern for a 72-59 win in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament. The Wildcats, on the NCAA Tournament bubble, trailed by 3 when Veronica Burton made a layup with four minutes left in the third quarter but they missed their next 15 shots. When Laya Hartman ended the drought with a 3-pointer with four minutes left in the game, Northwestern trailed 66-54. Clark, the Big Ten player of the year with 15 double-double, finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Burton finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds for seventh-seeded Northwestern.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Mackenzie Holmes scored 17 points in her best game since being injured, Grace Berger scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and 14th-ranked Indiana turned back No. 11 Maryland 62-51 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. Indiana meets top-seeded and 13th-ranked Ohio State in the semifinals on Saturday. Since fourth-seeded Maryland joined the Big Ten in the 2014-15 season, the Terrapins had never been seeded below No. 2 or failed to make the championship game. They are now 19-3 in tournament games. Ashley Owusu scored 21 points for Maryland and Angel Reese had 14 points and 13 rebounds
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jacy Sheldon scored 19 points, Taylor Mikesell added 18 points with four 3-pointers and No. 13 Ohio State closed on a 10-0 run to beat Michigan State 74-58 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament. Top-seeded Ohio State advances to semifinals for the seventh time in nine seasons under coach Kevin McGuff. Rikki Harris sank a corner 3-ponter with 2:04 remaining in the fourth for her first basket of the second half after scoring eight points in opening five minutes of the game. After a Michigan State miss, Mikesell made a 3-pointer from the same spot as Harris for a 72-58 lead and Sheldon capped the game-closing run with a runner in the lane. Matilda Ekh led Michigan State with 21 points and seven rebounds.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Nancy Fahey, who won five national championships at the Division III level, is retiring from coaching. She spent the last five seasons at Illinois. Her greatest success came at Washington University in St. Louis. She coached there 31 seasons and won four straight national titles from 1998-2001 and another in 2010. She was 42-99 overall at Illinois, including 7-77 in Big Ten regular-season games.
UNDATED (AP) — No. 24 Iowa visits No. 20 Illinois on Sunday in the only Big Ten game matching ranked teams this weekend. The Illini can lock up sole possession of second place with a win, or even a share of the regular-season title if Nebraska can knock off No. 10 Wisconsin on the road Sunday. Iowa is the hottest team in the Big Ten as the top four seeds prepare to play their first games in the women’s conference tournament Friday. The Hawkeyes headed to Indianapolis off four straight wins and with Big Ten player of the year Caitlin Clark.
