INDIANAPOLIS — Berry Wallace scored 22 points, Destiny Jackson added 21 and No. 10 seed Illinois beat 15th-seeded Wisconsin 82-70 on Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Cearah Parchment scored 14 points for Illinois (20-10) and Lety Vasconcelos — at 6-foot-7 the tallest player in program history — scored a career-high 12 on 5-of-8 shooting
Wisconsin (13-17) has lost 10 in a row, including a 92-60 loss at Illinois on Feb. 11.
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Gift Uchenna tied her season high with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting, Kyrah Daniels scored 17 and Laci Steele 12 for the Badgers. Destiny Howell, who went into the game averaging a team-leading 14.1 points, finished with six on 2-of-12 shooting.
Uchenna scored seven points in a 12-3 run that cut Wisconsin’s deficit to a point a little more than four minutes into the third quarter, but the Illini scored 16 — eight by Vasconcelos — of the next 19 to take a 62-48 lead with 41 seconds left until the fourth.
Illinois shot 83% from the free-throw line, where the Illini outscored Wisconsin 24-10. The Illini have won seven of eight against Wisconsin and lead the series 44-43.
Jackson, the 2025 Ms. Basketball of Illinois, had five assists moved past Jill Estey (154 in 1990-91) into second on the program’s single-season assist list with 156. Alexis Smith set the record of 168 in 2012-13.
Illinois plays seventh-seeded and No. 18 Michigan State in the second round Thursday.
Indiana 72, Nebraska 69
Shay Ciezki had 22 points and seven assists, Nevaeh Caffey scored nine of her 13 in the fourth quarter and No. 13 seed Indiana overcame a 20-point deficit to beat Nebraska.
Indiana (18-14) has won four in a row and is 7-2 after an 0-10 start in Big Ten play.
No. 12 seed Nebraska (18-12) has lost seven of nine and may have seen its NCAA Tournament bubble burst.
Amiah Hargrove led the Cornhuskers with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and Britt Prince had 20 points and eight assists. Logan Nissley scored 12 and Jessica Petrie added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Ciezki had her 21st game this season with at least 20 points and passed Mackenzie Holmes (692 points, 2022-23) for second on Indiana’s single-season scoring list with 694.
Former Illinois Ms. Basketball Lenee Beaumont of Benet made two 3s in an 8-0 spurt that gave Indiana a 68-67 lead — its first of the game — with 1:06 left. Prince missed a pull-up jumper before Ciezki darted to the rim for a layup with 32 seconds to go. Hargrove had an offensive rebound and putback that made it a one-point game with 17 seconds remaining before Caffey made two free throws to cap the scoring.
Prince and Nissley missed potential tying 3-pointers in the closing seconds.
Beaumont scored 11 of her 14 in the second half, and Edessa Noyan had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana, which trailed 45-25 late in the second quarter.
Then-No. 25 Nebraska beat the Hoosiers 78-73 at home Jan. 8 to snap an eight-game skid in the series, which Indiana leads 14-7.
Indiana moves on to play 11th-ranked and fifth-seeded Ohio State in the second round Thursday.
Oregon 82, Purdue 64
Katie Fiso scored 20 points, Ehis Etute had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Oregon defeated Purdue 82-64 on Wednesday.
Mia Jacobs had 14 points and nine rebounds for 11th-seeded Oregon (21-11).
Lana McCarthy had 14 points and nine rebounds before fouling out, and Hila Karsh and Tara Daye each scored 11 points for Purdue (13-17), the 14th seed.
Etute scored eight points in the first quarter and the Ducks led 21-12 after one.
In the second, the Boilermakers had a seven-minute stretch in which they missed all 10 of their shots. Oregon’s lead ballooned to 47-24 at halftime.
After shooting 24% and scoring only 24 points in the first half, Purdue shot 73% in the third quarter and scored 25 points. The Ducks shot only 25% in the third quarter but still led 64-49 heading to the fourth.
Oregon shot 47% in the first half and held on despite shooting only 33% after halftime.
Oregon plays No. 6-seed Maryland on Thursday, with the winner moving on to play third-seeded Michigan in the quarterfinals.
Big Ten Tournament schedule
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Wednesday’s first round
- (13) Indiana 72, (12) Nebraska 69
- (10) Illinois 82, (15) Wisconsin 70
- (11) Oregon 82, (14) Purdue 64
Thursday’s second round
All games on Big Ten Network and the Fox Sports app
- (8) Washington vs. (9) USC, 11 a.m.
- (5) Ohio State vs. (13) Indiana, 1:30 p.m. (approx.)
- (7) Michigan State vs. (10) Illinois, 5:30 p.m.
- (6) Maryland vs. (11) Oregon, 8 p.m. (approx.)
Friday’s quarterfinals
All games on BTN and the Fox Sports app
- (1) UCLA vs. 8-9 winner, 11 a.m.
- (4) Minnesota vs. 5-12/13 winner, 1:30 p.m. (approx.)
- (2) Iowa vs. 7-10/15 winner, 5:30 p.m.
- (3) Michigan vs. 6-11/14 winner, 8 p.m. (approx.)
Saturday’s semifinals
All games on BTN and the Fox Sports app
- First two quarterfinal winners, 1 p.m.
- Last two quarterfinal winners, 3:30 p.m. (approx.)
Sunday’s final
- Semifinal winners, 1:15 p.m., CBS-2
