Bruins Get Their Revenge
And other Big Ten Tournament Takeaways
USC won once. They won twice. And with a 13-point lead, it looked like they were going to register a third win over UCLA and, with it, a Big Ten Tournament title.
But this time, they were no match for a ferocious finish from the Bruins. UCLA rallied and captured the tournament title in their first year in the Big Ten.
Yes, that still feels like a weird sentence to type. But congratulations to UCLA, with an incredible season that is only just beginning.
What a week it was. So much fun basketball. And a fantastic championship game to wrap it up. The Big Ten is going to be a real force in March Madness.
And congratulations to Fantatical Hoosier for winning the Dream B1G Bracket Challenge. They had a fantastic bracket, with the only miss being Iowa over Ohio State (a 1-point difference). Yours truly finished fourth. Thanks to everyone who participated!
Here’s what stood out to me this week:
Bruins Take Over
Defense was the story for USC in their first two wins. First, it was Juju Watkins’ eight blocks (a month later, I’m still reeling from that.) Then, in the second matchup, they held Lauren Betts to just 11 points.
This time, it was the Bruins’ defense that dominated.
From down 13 points early in the second half, UCLA roared back. They held USC to just six points in the final 9:47 of the third quarter, keeping everyone out of the paint. They held the Trojans without a field goal for eleven minutes. They swallowed up everything USC was trying to do.
Watkins was fantastic in the first half. And she finished with 29 points. Because she’s Juju Watkins. But she was invisible for large stretches of the second half. Major credit to Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalić for their defense on Juju.
This was the performance UCLA needed to prove to the country that they are, in fact, one of the very best teams. And the South Carolina win was not, in fact, a fluke.
There’s no reason this team can’t go all the way this year.
I am almost certain that both USC and UCLA will be #1 seeds in the tournament. They deserve it. This should put UCLA as #1 overall, and I’ll be whining about bias if they don’t. They’ve lost just twice, and have the head-to-head win over South Carolina.
I also think they will be the only two Big Ten teams that host a regional. An outside shot at Ohio State or Maryland, but I think both lost their chance with some ugly losses.
How ‘Bout them Hawkeyes?
I really haven’t given Iowa their due this season.
I think I wrote them off a bit after a bad stretch to start Big Ten play, when they lost five straight games. I wasn’t paying attention, and I should’ve thought more after they beat USC.
But they deserve my, and your, attention.
Playing a third game in three days, they took a fully-rested Ohio State team all the way to the wire. They held a lead with 10 seconds left, after Sydney Affolter had a wild stretch (she finished 4-of-5 from deep). But Cotie McMahon’s two free throws with six seconds left kept Iowa out of the semifinals. (This was Iowa’s first loss in the Big Ten Tournament since 2021.)
Iowa started the tournament as the #11 seed (after losing a four-way tiebreaker at 10-8). They took care of business against Wisconsin by 27 points. Then they took control in the second quarter against Michigan State, battled back in the third, and slammed the door at the end to win by 13. They advanced to the quarterfinals behind 24 forced turnovers.
They had finished the regular season fantastically, winning eight of their last 10 games, only losing by two to UCLA and in overtime at Ohio State. Lucy Olsen picked up her game and has been the player we were promised. Overall, over the last 13 games, Olsen has averaged 21.3 points, and hit 47% of her 66 3-pointers. She’s on fire.
Ohio State, by the way, is looking really rough. They were pretty good in beating Iowa (though a big rest advantage mattered) and in an overtime loss to Maryland. And their late win over Michigan State was impressive. Otherwise … there’s a lot to be worried about. They haven’t looked like a real Top-15 team in a while.
Wolverines Win a Wild One
Olivia Olson, I apologize. A bit.
I maintain that Syla Swords was, in my view, the best Big Ten Freshman this season. By a miniscule margin. (You’ve been reading this blog, you know what I think of the entire class.) Olson got the nod of Big Ten coaches (shared with Jaloni Cambridge.)
Olson is as good as it gets. She showed that much this week. Olson scored 20 points in Michigan’s win over Washington. And 21 in a win over Maryland. She shot at least 60% in both games.
That game against Maryland was a thriller. Look at this score graph:
I still don’t fully understand what happened. Michigan had a 25-0 run. Maryland immediately then went on a 16-0 run, and got within one point. Then the Wolverines exploded, with a 20-3 run in the third quarter, and taking at one point a 30-point lead. Maryland didn’t know what hit them. I don’t either.
Props to Sarah Te-Biasu though, she’s become stellar on offense.
Swords, meanwhile, backed up my argument against USC. Now, her three highest-scoring performances have come against teams that will be one seeds. She made the All-Tournament team. Michigan went toe to toe with USC for 35 minutes before they ran out of juice.
I think Michigan maybe even could have won if Yulia Grabovskaia (who had an awesome tournament) didn’t run into early foul trouble. Michigan didn’t really have anyone else who could match up with Kiki Iriafen.
More than anything else this year, Michigan (and the freshmen especially) have absolutely no fear about their opponent. Olson has no issue pulling up in Juju Watkins’ face. Swords has no worries about matching her jabsteps.
They’re going to be a worry for anyone who sees them in the tournament.
On the Bubble
Washington and Minnesota entered the tournament as the two bubble teams. They also squared off in the first round.
The Huskies dominated. They cemented their spot in the tourney. I’ve come to accept Washington as a true Big Ten team because of how fun they are. Then they put up a big fight against Michigan.
Elle Ladine finally cooled off in that loss to Michigan. She’ll be back. I don’t think anyone wants to face Washington.
Meanwhile, projections mostly now have Minnesota as the first team out of the field — likely in a dead heat with Virginia Tech (and both are likely out if a bid stealer comes from a mid major, and George Mason might have already done so.)
I can’t quibble with it. Minnesota doesn’t have a Quad-1 win, and ranked 357th in non-conference strength of schedule. The toughest of those was Vermont, and several of those on the schedule are embarassing. They really need to schedule tougher if they want to make the tournament with any margin of error.
Moseley Out
One last word: Wisconsin officially announced that they parted ways with Head Coach Marisa Moseley on Sunday night. (It was announced as Moseley resigning, and the release is a bit weird.)
Wisconsin had a promising first couple of years under Moseley, and made the WNIT last year. But they never really took stride. Serah Williams made fantastic strides, but they’ve been quite weak beyond her.
And there have been significant off-the-court allegations of abuse against Moseley that came out this year from former players and one current one.
Now, Wisconsin will look to regroup and rebuild with a new coach. We shall see if any other Big Ten team joins them.
If Williams leaves, she’s going to be one of the biggest transfers on the market.