The first two rounds of the women?s Big Ten basketball tournament have seen the regular-season champs lose and have featured a number of upsets by teams trying to play their way into the NCAA tournament.
The conference champion, Penn State?s Nittany Lions, were unable to hold off a resurgent Ohio State team, losing 72-61 in the first semifinal of the tournament. Purdue dominated Iowa in the second semifinal, setting up a Monday night championship game between the fourth-seeded Buckeyes and the third-seeded Boilermakers.
The Buckeyes played their way into the finals by beating fifth-seeded Michigan State 71-55 in the second round of the tournament and defeating regular-season Big Ten champions Penn State in the semifinals. Purdue reached the finals by beating 11th-seeded Michigan by 22 points in the second round and then demolishing eighth-seeded Iowa by 27 points in the semifinal.
The tournament is being held in the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and will have its final game tomorrow night on ESPN2. The Monday final is a result of the Indiana high-school girls? basketball state championship, which was held Saturday. Though the top finisher in the conference throughout the regular season is named the Big Ten champion, the winner of the final game in the conference tournament will receive the automatic bid that the Big Ten has for the NCAA tournament.
Iowa was the surprise team of the tournament, coming from a seventh seed to defeat Northwestern in the first round, and then beating second-seeded Minnesota by 3 points in the second round. Kristi Faulkner led the Hawkeyes with 21 points, while Jennie Lillis added 15 points and 13 rebounds in the Iowa victory. The Hawkeyes were unable to keep their Cinderella run alive, however, as they lost to Purdue in the semifinals.
Purdue made it to the semifinals by averaging 78 points per game throughout the tournament while giving up an average of 54 points a contest. The Boilermakers were lead by junior guard Erika Valek, who scored 19 points in the quarterfinal win, while junior Shereka Wright and senior Mary Jo Noon each added 12 points and eight rebounds.
?I think we stepped up to the challenge of the physical game,? Noon said. ?The bench did a great job for us, and it was an all-around good effort.?
Wright led the Boilermakers in its semifinal game by scoring 28 points in the Purdue victory.
Purdue will face Ohio State in the finals, after the Buckeyes used a balance offensive attack to beat the Nittany Lions in the semifinals.
The Buckeyes had four players score double-figure point totals and shot over 50 percent from the floor en route to a 9-point victory. It is the first time Ohio State has made it to the conference finals since 1995, when they lost to Penn State by five, 68-63.
Senior Courtney Coleman led the Buckeye attack, scoring 19 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Junior LaToya Turner added 15 points, while freshman Kim Wilburn scored 12 and senior Didi Reynolds netted 11.
The Buckeyes? defense shut down the Lady Lions? hottest shooter, Kelly Mazante, holding her to just 6 of 20 shooting, as she scored 18 points.
?We played great defense today,? Coleman said. ?We worked very hard and played aggressive. We played good defense on Mazzante, but mostly, we just boxed out and rebounded.?
Ohio State out-rebounded Penn State 40-29 while committing just 11 fouls. The final game of the tournament between Ohio State and Purdue can be seen at 7 p.m. Monday night on ESPN2.
