Sean Merriman, BTN.com web editor, February 27, 2014
There were four Big Ten women's hoops games tonight, and the ranked teams took care of business. No. 25 Iowa kicked off the night with an impressive 65-61 victory over Ohio State. Minnesota followed with a 73-62 win over Indiana, Nebraska topped Illinois, 72-65, and Michigan State cruised to a 75-44 win over Northwestern. Catch up on all the scores, stats and select in-game highlights in this post.
IOWA 65, OHIO STATE 61 | RECAP
(AP) Theairra Taylor scored 21 points Thursday night and No. 25 Iowa pulled away in the second half to beat Ohio State 65-61. Melissa Dixon scored 14, Bethany Doolittle 12, and Iowa (22-7, 10-5 Big Ten) forced 21 turnovers and had 15 steals. Ohio State (15-16, 5-10) outshot the Hawkeyes 46.2 percent to 41.7 percent from the field, 33.3 percent to 29.4 percent from distance, and 66.7 percent to 55.6 percent from the free-throw line.
MINNESOTA 73, INDIANA 62 | RECAP
A career high 26 points from Amanda Zahui B. and 20 points from standout Rachel Banham led the University of Minnesota women's basketball team to a 73-62 victory over Big Ten foe Indiana Thursday night at Williams Arena. The Gophers moved to 18-11 overall and 7-8 in Big Ten competition with the win, while the Hoosiers fell to 18-10 overall and 5-10 in the Big Ten. With 20 points on the evening, Banham finished the game with 1,865 career points to move into fourth all-time on Minnesota's career scoring list. She surpassed Linda Roberts, who scored 1,856 points from 1977-81.
NEBRASKA 72, ILLINOIS 65 | RECAP
(AP) Jordan Hooper, a Nebraska native and lone senior on the roster, scored 29 points on Senior Night as the No. 16 Cornhuskers held off Illinois 72-65 Thursday for their ninth-straight win. Tear'a Laudermill added 15 points, Emily Cady had 10 points with 12 rebounds and Rachel Theriot had 10 assists for the Cornhuskers (22-5, 12-3 Big Ten).
MICHIGAN STATE 75, NORTHWESTERN 44 | RECAP
(AP) No. 21 Michigan State got its 20th win of the season and kept hope alive for a share of Big Ten Conference title with an easy, 75-44 win over Northwestern Thursday night. With one game left in the regular season, the Spartans are tied with No. 11 Penn State and No. 17 Nebraska, which knocked off the Lady Lions Monday. All three schools are 12-3. Michigan State closes out the regular season at home Sunday against Indiana.