1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ILL | 13 | 12 | 17 | 16 | 58 |
NU | 21 | 15 | 24 | 15 | 75 |
Wolf leads No. 14 Northwestern women to Big Ten title
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Abbie Wolf scored 21 points and No. 14 Northwestern defeated rival Illinois 75-58 on Saturday to clinch a share of its first Big Ten title in 30 years and set a school record with its 26th win.
Lindsey Pulliam added 17 points, Veronica Burton 13 and Abi Scheid 10 for the Wildcats (26-3, 16-2), who have won nine straight.
Scheid had all 10 of her points, Northwestern shot 50% and held Illinois to 30% to take a 36-25 lead at the half.
Wolf provided the spark in the third quarter with three consecutive and-on conversions, part of a 14-4 run that pushed the lead to 16. She also had a pair from free throws in a 6-0 spurt that made it 56-35 late in the quarter.
Brandi Beasley scored 18 points for the Illini (11-17, 2-15), who take a six-game losing streak into the conference tournament.
Northwestern was plus-15 on the boards. Wolf had nine rebounds, Pulliam eight and Scheid, who also had seven assists, had seven boards.
The Wildcats won 25 games in 1979-79 and the 1989-90 Big Ten champions won 24 games.
No. 7 Maryland is now a half-game behind Northwestern heading into a regular-season ending game at Minnesota on Sunday.
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More AP women's basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
Game Information
- Referees:
- Mark Zentz
- Tina Napier
- Brian Hall
2023-24 Big Ten Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Ohio State | 16-2 | - | 26-6 |
Iowa | 15-3 | 1 | 34-5 |
Indiana | 15-3 | 1 | 26-6 |
Michigan State | 12-6 | 4 | 22-9 |
Nebraska | 11-7 | 5 | 23-12 |
Penn State | 9-9 | 7 | 22-13 |
Michigan | 9-9 | 7 | 20-14 |
Maryland | 9-9 | 7 | 19-14 |
Illinois | 8-10 | 8 | 19-15 |
Wisconsin | 6-12 | 10 | 15-17 |
Minnesota | 5-13 | 11 | 20-16 |
Purdue | 5-13 | 11 | 15-19 |
Northwestern | 4-14 | 12 | 9-21 |
Rutgers | 2-16 | 14 | 8-24 |