Shay Ciezki tallied 22 points to help No. 13 seed Indiana rally from 20 points down to defeat 12th-seeded Nebraska 72-69 in the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament opener Wednesday in Indianapolis.
The Hoosiers (18-13) trailed by 20 points before Ciezki ended first-half scoring with a 3-pointer. Indiana then outscored the Cornhuskers 44-24 in the second half — including 25-14 in the fourth quarter.
Indiana took the lead for the first and only time on a 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining by Lenee Beaumont, who added 14 points and hit 3 of 4 threes. Neveah Caffey contributed 13 points, and Edessa Noyan chipped in 12 for the Hoosiers, who shot 50.9% from the floor.
Nebraska (18-12) was led by Amiah Hargrove’s game-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 20 points from Britt Prince. The Cornhuskers shot 41.8% for the game but made just 10 of 32 second-half shots (31.3%).
Illinois 82, Wisconsin 70
Berry Wallace and Destiny Jackson contributed 22 and 21 points, respectively, to lead the 10th-seeded Fighting Illini to a victory over the No. 15 seed Badgers.
Illinois (20-10) used a pair of 8-0 runs in quick succession to pull away during the third quarter, leading by double digits for the entire fourth quarter. Jackson scored 11 of her points at the free-throw line, leading the team’s 24-of-29 performance (82.8%) at the charity stripe.
Gift Uchenna Okeke led all scorers with 24 points for Wisconsin (13-17). The Badgers made 44.8% of their shots and assisted on 21 of their 26 made field goals, but turned it over 19 times which led to 24 Illinois points.
Oregon 82, Purdue 64
The 11th-seeded Ducks sank 27 of 29 foul shots, earning a 21-point scoring edge at the free-throw line, en route to a win over the 14th-seeded Boilermakers.
Mia Jacobs and Astera Tuhina each went 6-for-6 at the line for Oregon (21-11), and Katie Fiso finished 6-for-7 as part of her game-high 20-point effort. Ehis Etute added 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Jacobs totaled 14 points and nine boards.
Lana McCarthy logged 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Purdue (13-17), which made just 6 of 13 foul shots. Tara Daye added 11 points.
–Field Level Media
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