Cearah Parchment tallied 15 points and six rebounds as Illinois used a late defensive stand to upset No. 18 Michigan State 71-69 on Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten women’s tournament in Indianapolis.
The 10th-seeded Illini (21-10) weathered a career-high 30 points from Kennedy Blair, who added six rebounds and five assists in her standout performance for the seventh-seeded Spartans (22-8). Blair was unable to generate a final look at overtime in the closing seconds thanks to pressure from Parchment, who came up big on defense twice down the stretch.
The Spartans gained possession when Ines Sotelo knocked away a pass attempt forced into the post by Destiny Jackson (14 points, six rebounds). Grace VanSlooten took the ball inside on the other end, but could not get off a clean shot with Parchment and Maddie Webber surrounding her.
The defensive sequence capped a 13-point effort from Webber in 37 minutes off the bench, helping fill some of the void with Aaliyah Guyton limited due to foul trouble. Webber and Parchment were among five Illini scorers in double figures, joining Jackson, Jasmine Brown-Hagger with 12 and Berry Wallace with 11. The win sends Illinois onto Friday’s quarterfinals for a meeting with Iowa.
No. 11 Ohio State 83, Indiana 59
Jaloni Cambridge racked up 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists and the fifth-seeded Buckeyes overwhelmed the 13th-seeded Hoosiers with a stifling defensive effort.
Ohio State (25-6) held Indiana (18-14) to just 19-of-57 shooting from the floor (33.3%), including 5 of 21 from 3-point range, while also forcing the Hoosiers into 15 turnovers. Ava Watson helped key the Ohio State defense with five steals, while Elsa Lemmila blocked three shots to go with her 13 rebounds and five assists.
Chance Gray added 18 points and Kennedy Cambridge scored 14 points for the Buckeyes, who advance to face No. 19 Minnesota in the quarterfinals. Indiana’s Maya Makalusky led all scorers with 21 points in the loss.
Washington 76, Southern California 64
Elle Ladine scored a season-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and the Huskies topped the Trojans in the tournament’s 8-9 matchup.
It was USC’s fourth consecutive loss and the Trojans are waiting for more than an NCAA bid after losing conference freshman of the year Jazzy Davidson to a shoulder injury. The team’s leader in average points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, Davidson shot 2 of 13 from the field and totaled eight points in 29 minutes. She said an MRI on her injured shoulder was scheduled for Friday.
Washington (21-9) came alive with 48 points in the second and third quarters after the teams combined for 14 points in the first. The Huskies held USC (17-13) to just 20 first-half points, building a 20-point cushion through the third period.
The Huskies outscored the Trojans 40-14 on points in the paint. Ladine’s ability to attack helped key the Huskies, while Avery Howell provided support to the tune of 18 points and nine rebounds. Londynn Jones led USC with 19 points. Washington moves on to face the tournament’s No. 1 seed UCLA — ranked No. 2 in the latest Top 25 poll — on Friday. The Bruins beat the Huskies 82-67 last month and went undefeated in Big Ten play.
Oregon 73, No. 14 Maryland 68
Ehis Etute punctuated her 20-point, 10-rebound double-double with clutch defensive stops down the stretch as the 11th-seeded Ducks upset the No. 6-seed Terrapins, 73-68, in the nightcap of Thursday’s Big Ten tournament second-round action in Indianapolis.
Etute came up big with 35 seconds remaining when, with four personal fouls, she challenged a driving Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu on a would-be, game-tying possession for Maryland. Etute grabbed the rebound after the stop, completing her third straight double-double — which includes her 16 points and 12 points on Wednesday night vs. Purdue.
The critical stop was Etute’s second game-defining defensive play for Oregon (22-11). With less than three minutes remaining and the Ducks leading by two, Etute chased down Oluchi Okananwa in transition for a block, leading to a Sofia Bell 3-pointer going the other way.
The sequence was a rare misstep for Okananwa, who scored a game-high 27 points. The resulting 3-pointer was also the first of two pivotal shots from deep for Oregon, which got a critical bucket from Avary Cain in the closing seconds.
Her swished triple with five seconds remaining put the game out of reach, and capped Cain’s 13-point night — her first double-figure-point scoring game since Dec. 18.
With the win, the Ducks advance to Friday’s quarterfinal to meet third-seeded Michigan.
–Field Level Media
