– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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INDIANAPOLIS — The best thing about conference championship season being in full swing is that one doesn’t have to wait until the semifinals or a championship game to witness must-win games, especially for those who are teetering on the NCAA Tournament inclusion cut line. The biggest example of that took place in Indy all day on Thursday, where the quartet of contests all had a “prove it” nature to them right before the big girls take the court to start the weekend.
Our first day covering the 2026 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse had at least one team that a) was not 100 percent sure of their Big Dance status and, because of that, b) came onto the floor knowing that the only way to better their chances at making it to the NCAAs would be a win.
The evening session provided the most drama, as No. 10 seed Illinois started the night portion with a dramatic 71-69 victory over No. 7 seed and 18th-ranked Michigan State. Five players scored in double figures for the Illini, led by Cearah Parchment’s 15 points and six rebounds. Destiny Jackson scored six of her 14 points in the fourth quarter. Michigan State had a chance to tie or win the game on the final possession, but Kennedy Blair, who had 30 points to lead all scorers, threw a pass out of bounds with one second left to preserve the victory for Illinois, whom many bracketologists have in an 8-9 match-up in mock brackets.
That position is also the projection for the Oregon Ducks, the No. 11 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, and they came through in the nightcap as they down the sixth-seeded Maryland Terrapins for the second time this season with a 73-68 triumph. When the two teams met in College Park in January, the Ducks outscored Maryland 24-11 in the fourth quarter to steal the victory, and déjà vu occurred on Thursday as Oregon dominated the fourth to the tune of outscoring the Terps 21-11 to complete the comeback. The win wasn’t sealed until the Ducks’ final possession, when guard Katie Fiso — who scored all 14 of her points of the second half — drove towards the basket before passing to the top of the key to Avary Cain, who knocked in a three-pointer with 4.4 seconds remaining and the shot clock running down.
Cain scored 13 points, including making all three of her three-point attempts, while forward Ehis Etute also came alive in the game’s final 20 minutes by scoring 18 of her 20 points in the second half.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday’s Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament second round, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 39 pictures in total.
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