INDIANAPOLIS — Ava Heiden scored 16 points and Hannah Stuelke finished with 13 points and five rebounds despite playing with an injured right elbow, leading No. 9 Iowa past Illinois 64-58 on Friday night and into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
The Hawkeyes (25-5), who will play No. 8 Michigan on Saturday, have won seven straight and need two more wins to capture their fifth conference tournament crown in eight years. Taylor Stremlow had nine points and six assists, while Journey Houston grabbed 12 rebounds for Iowa.
Jasmine Brown-Haggard finished with 22 points and Berry Wallace 13 for 10th-seeded Illinois. The conference’s youngest team played its third game in three nights after advancing to the quarterfinal round following wins over Wisconsin and No. 18 Michigan State.
Stuelke’s return seemed to reinvigorate the second-seeded Hawkeyes. She was injured during Iowa’s victory over the Fighting Illini on Feb. 26 and missed the Hawkeyes’ regular-season finale last weekend with what coach Jan Jensen described as a “pretty severe” injury.
But it didn’t seem to bother Stuelke, who went 6 of 11 from the field and helped Iowa take control quickly before getting some extra rest late in the game.
The Hawkeyes used a 12-2 run to take a 19-7 lead late in the first quarter, and the Illini spent the rest of the game futilely playing catch-up. Iowa extended the margin to 34-18 late in the second quarter and led 37-23 at the half.
The Hawkeyes led by double digits, extending the margin to as much as 53-31 early in the fourth, until Illinois finally cut the deficit to nine in the final minute.
Michigan 80, Oregon 58
Syla Swords scored 17 points, Olivia Olson had 16 and No. 8 Michigan beat Oregon in the last quarterfinal. The Wolverines (25-5) will face No. 9 Iowa in Saturday’s semifinals.
The final margin was Michigan’s largest lead of the game. Olson went 7 of 11 from the field for the Wolverines, who shot 44%. Ashley Sofilkanich added 14 points and Kendall Dudley scored 10.
Katie Fiso scored 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Ehis Etute had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Ducks (22-12).
Oregon made 41% of its shots. Both teams struggled from 3-point range as the Ducks were 3 of 19 and the Wolverines 4 of 19.
Oregon committed 17 turnovers, eight more than Michigan.
The Wolverines outrebounded Oregon 24-16 in the first half en route to a 33-24 lead. Michigan had a 12-4 edge in offensive rebounds, leading to a 12-3 advantage in second-chance points.
Olson picked up two first-half fouls and was limited to five points in the half.
UCLA 78, Washington 60
Big Ten Player of the Year Lauren Betts had 26 points and eight rebounds and Kiki Rice added 18 points and six assists to help No. 2 UCLA overcome a sluggish start and beat Washington in the first quarterfinal.
The regular-season champion and top-seeded Bruins (29-1) won their 23rd consecutive game, matching last season’s mark for the longest winning streak in school history. UCLA also has won 22 straight Big Ten games, a streak that began with last year’s march to the conference tournament crown.
The Bruins will play No. 11 Ohio State (26-6) in Saturday’s first semifinal (1 p.m., BTN).
Avery Howell scored 18 points to lead the Huskies (21-10). Brynn McGaughy had 12 points and all-conference guard Sayvia Sellers had 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting after scoring 25 in Thursday’s win over USC. Washington had a two-game winning streak snapped with its second loss to the Bruins this season.
Still, this game didn’t follow the expected script in front of a sparse, midday crowd in Indianapolis.
Washington charged out to a 13-6 lead after one quarter and UCLA coach Cori Close called timeout when the Huskies extended the margin to 22-12 with 6:26 left in the second.
The game then turned quickly. UCLA responded to the stoppage with 15 consecutive points while allowing just one basket the rest of the half as they rallied to take a 27-24 halftime lead.
The Huskies started fast again in the third quarter, retaking a 34-33 lead on Elle Ladine’s 3-pointer.
But Kiki Rice answered with the Bruins’ first 3 of the game before making two free throws, and Betts scored in the post to give UCLA a 40-34 edge. Washington continued to stay close — until UCLA closed the quarter with a 7-0 spurt to make it 49-41 and pulled away in the fourth.
Ohio State 60, Minnesota 55
Elsa Lemmila had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jaloni Cambridge also scored 17 and No. 11 Ohio State beat No. 19 Minnesota in Friday’s second quarterfinal.
Fourth-seeded Ohio State (26-6) plays No. 1 seed and second-ranked UCLA — which beat the Buckeyes 82-75 on Dec. 28 — in a semifinal Saturday.
Cambridge added six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Chance Gray hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.
Mara Braun hit a 3-pointer that cut Minnesota’s deficit to 58-55 with 1:32 left in the game. Neither team scored again until Cambridge made a jumper with 16 seconds left.
Grace Grocholski led No. 5 seed Minnesota (22-9) with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophie Hart had 12 points and a career-high 19 rebounds and Amaya Battle added 10 points. Hart has 1,000 career points, 966 for the Gophers. Tori McKinney had two points on 1-for-4 shooting in just 16 foul-plagued minutes.
Kennedy Cambridge had six of Ohio State’s 12 steals and added five points, four assists and three rebounds.
Ohio State, which lost 71-64 at Minnesota on Feb. 18, has won 10 of 11 against the Gophers and leads the series 66-17, 11-2 at neutral sites.
Big Ten Tournament schedule
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Friday’s quarterfinals
- (1) UCLA 78, (8) Washington 60
- (5) Ohio State 60, (4) Minnesota 55
- (2) Iowa 64, (10) Illinois 58
- (3) Michigan 80, (11) Oregon 58
Saturday’s semifinals
Games on BTN and the Fox Sports app
- UCLA vs. Ohio State, 1 p.m.
- Iowa vs. Michigan, 3:30 p.m.
Sunday’s final
- Semifinal winners, 1:15 p.m., CBS-2
