Seven teams, including four Power 5 conference tournament winners in Iowa, Notre Dame, South Carolina, and Southern California, formally punched their tickets to the NCAA tournament on one of the most significant evenings of the women’s college basketball season.
Here’s a closer look at the results of the Pac-12, SEC, ACC, and Big Ten conference tournaments:
Nebraska got very close to spoiling Caitlin Clark’s last tournament trip by unseating Iowa as the Big Ten Tournament champions. As usual, though, Clark had other ideas, as the Hawkeyes prevailed 94-89 in overtime at Target Center, which was packed.
With 2:33 left in the fourth quarter, Nebraska was up 75-67 and looking to defeat Iowa for the second time this year. But Iowa is never out of a game, as supporters of women’s basketball have witnessed during the last three seasons. There were 2:09 seconds left in regulation when Clark made a step-back 3-pointer to cut Iowa’s deficit to five. After forcing the Cornhusker defense to falter exactly one minute later, Clark drove to the hoop and disheveled to Kate Martin for a wide-open corner three, reducing the margin to just two points, 77-75. Later, with 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Clark blitzed toward the hoop and finished a layup through contact to tie the game at 77 points apiece.
Within the first minute of overtime, the Hawkeyes led 82-77. However, in a game where runs were scored often, Nebraska rallied and led 84-82 with 2:33 left on a 3-pointer by Nissley. Nissley made another 3-pointer with 1:07 left to play, putting the Cornhuskers ahead 87–86. With 51 seconds left, the all-time Division I scoring leader answered once more, sinking a step-back 3-pointer to give the Hawkeyes an 89-87 lead over Nebraska. With 40 seconds remaining, Nebraska attempted a skip pass in an attempt to get an open three, but Clark intercepted it and drew a foul, setting her up for two free throws to seal the victory.
