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.
–Field Level Media
