The Big Ten has typified midwestern regionalism for more than a century. Now, its women’s basketball tournament is headlined by … Southern California and UCLA?
It doesn’t make much sense, but it does make for good basketball. The No. 2 Trojans and No. 4 Bruins crashed a party some 2,000 miles away from home, threw up the “W” for West Side and instantly cleared out the snack table.
These neighboring programs combined to go 33-3 in their inaugural conference efforts. Even wilder, two of those three losses were Trojans wins in the head-to-head battle for Los Angeles. JuJu Watkins, Kiki Iriafen and the squad won last Saturday night’s regular-season finale to clinch the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament. The two California teams will hope to meet a third time in this Sunday’s championship round.
Elsewhere, No. 13 Ohio State spent the season racking up points and dominating turnover margins. No. 15 Maryland finished with a four-game winning streak. We get five days of ball in the home confines of Tyrese Haliburton and Caitlin Clark. As interest and investment in women’s basketball steadily swing up, every team in the field has a chance to draw new lifelong fans and mint March sensations.
How to watch the 2025 Big Ten women’s basketball tournament
- Venue: Gainbridge Fieldhouse — Indianapolis
- Dates: March 5-9
- TV: Big Ten Network, CBS
- Streaming: Fubo (try for free), Peacock, Paramount+ for all CBS games, Fox Sports app for all BTN games
- Watching in-person? Get tickets on StubHub
Full schedule
All times Eastern.
First round — Wednesday, March 5
- Game 1 | No. 12 Washington 79, No. 13 Minnesota 65
- Game 2 | No. 10 Nebraska 84, No. 15 Rutgers 60
- Game 3 | No. 11 Iowa 81, No. 14 Wisconsin 54
Second round — Thursday, March 6
- Game 4 | No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 9 Indiana | Noon | BTN
- Game 5 | No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 Washington | 25 min. after G4 | BTN
- Game 6 | No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 10 Nebraska | 6:30 p.m. | BTN
- Game 7 | No. 6 Michigan State vs. No. 11 Iowa | 25 min. after G6 | BTN
Quarterfinals — Friday, March 7
- Game 8 | No. 1 USC vs. G4 winner | Noon | BTN
- Game 9 | No. 4 Maryland vs. G5 winner | 25 min. after G8 | BTN
- Game 10 | No. 2 UCLA vs. G6 winner | 6:30 p.m. | BTN
- Game 11 | No. 3 Ohio State vs. G7 winner | 25 min. after G10 | BTN
Semifinals — Saturday, March 8
- Game 12 | G8 winner vs. G9 winner | 3 p.m. | BTN
- Game 13 | G10 winner vs. G11 winner | 5:30 p.m. | BTN
Championship — Sunday, March 9
- Game 14 | G12 winner vs. G13 winner | 4:30 p.m. | CBS
Paths to victory
(1) USC — No imagination required here. The Trojans just went 17-1 against the rest of the conference, and a dozen of those wins were by at least eight points. Lindsay Gottlieb’s group dominates through three facets — tremendous size, versatile defense and being the only team with JuJu Watkins.
USC’s paint presence is huge. Walking bucket Iriafen is hard to contain around the rim, fleet-footed and tenacious. She has one of the sauciest staredowns in the nation. Rayah Marshall is an elite rebounder and a supreme annoyance in coverage. The Trojans led the conference in blocks and offensive and defensive boards. Their length on the floor also earned them a sublet at the foul line. Opposing Big Ten offenses had uninspiring 40/27.7 percent shooting splits.
Oh, right, the 19-year-old Angeleno megastar. She has become an inevitability. If last year was her claim for the country’s best freshman, this year is her coronation as the best, period:
(2) UCLA — The Bruins lost twice to their crosstown rivals and went undefeated against everyone else. Saturday’s ending was bitter, but 2024-25 was still a lot of fun for Cori Close and the crew. If the Trojans didn’t go east with them, UCLA would be mounting a claim for historic best newcomer to any power conference.
Lauren Betts balled out at an All-American level wire-to-wire. She was a perpetual 20-point double-double who anchored a strident defense and topped the Big Ten in blocks. USC may have her number (29 points in two matchups, 41.7 percent shooting with nine turnovers). The rest of the conference is all but helpless against her.
UCLA’s offense was No. 1 in assisted baskets, and Betts’ supporting cast is deep. Six Bruins averaged between six and nine shots per game. At her best, Kiki Rice is a sure-handed playmaker with a duffle bag of dribble moves. This team would be underdogs against USC after the home-and-home sweep, but they should be considerable favorites in any other draw.
(3) Ohio State — The Buckeyes thrived in turnover differential, didn’t foul too much and shot well on 2-pointers this season. They were beaten on the boards and dropped two of their final four tries. Their Pacific Coast trip was a headache, losing by 13 at Pauley Pavilion and by 21 at USC. A complete tournament triumph is unlikely, but Kevin McGuff and Ohio State should at least be in line for a semifinal berth. They were ranked eighth in the Feb. 17 AP poll and still tout two lead-scoring options. Cotie McMahon and Jaloni Cambridge were each coming on from behind the arc in the last quarter of regular-season action.
(4) Maryland — After losing a tiebreaker for the third seed, Maryland will be the last of the “double-bye” teams for this weekend. That puts them on USC’s side of the bracket. The Terrapins finished on a high, winning four straight games and eking past Ohio State Sunday in overtime. Kaylene Smikle is unafraid of high volume and superstar usage rate; she had five conference games with at least 20 points. Shyanne Sellers is a heat-check threat. She averaged fewer than two 3s in the first three months, then boosted up to 3.7 attempts in February. She took seven treys in that OT win to start March. If Brenda Frese and the Terps indeed stun the league, it will almost certainly involve Sellers getting atomically hot.
Other teams to watch
A conference tournament is a zero-sum game, but it can be rewarding to follow the different styles presented across this field. Michigan State has been nationally ranked since Dec. 2. Forward Grace VanSlooten averaged an efficient 15 points and added more than a block and a steal per game. Senior Julia Ayrault closed out her Big Ten career with dignity, finishing 11th in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating. The Spartans are led by three seniors and two juniors.
Michigan was partial to the deep shot, and freshman floor-ranger Syla Swords has a bright future on the horizon. She hit at least three 3s in five of her final six games. Fellow first-year Olivia Olson posted 47/40/82 shooting splits and was 10th in Big Ten win shares. That Wolverines duo is going to be a headliner in subsequent tourneys.
Illinois also likes the 3. They made 39 percent of them while holding opponents to just 30 percent. Illini senior Kendall Bostic led the conference in total rebounding.
In their first Caitlin Clark-less campaign, Iowa was the lone Big Ten team to topple USC. It took UCLA to the brink in a two-point L, beat Michigan in Ann Arbor and forced overtime at Ohio State. Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen put big numbers on the boards in February and finished at 18 points per game. Jan Jensen’s Hawkeyes are the 11th seed due to tiebreakers, but they do have a high ceiling.
(Photo of JuJu Watkins: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
