INDIANAPOLIS — Fifteen groups from throughout the nation descended upon Indianapolis this week with the hope of successful the 2026 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. Four days and 13 video games later, solely two stay: No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 2 seed Iowa.
These two packages have mixed for the final 4 titles: Iowa from 2022-24 and UCLA final 12 months. The Bruins solely joined the Big Ten in 2024, however they have already got an opportunity to turn into the sixth program to win the convention’s event a number of instances. (Iowa has six Big Ten event titles, which is sweet for second all-time.)
Here’s every thing you want to learn about Sunday’s showdown.
UCLA vs. Iowa
- Time: 2:15 p.m. ET | Date: Sunday, March 8
- Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
- TV channel: CBS | Live stream: Paramount+
Bruins dominated first matchup
These two groups have met as soon as this season, again on Feb. 1. UCLA dominated proceedings in Los Angeles, main by as many as 27 en route to an 88-65 win. The Bruins had 5 gamers in double figures, and shot 58% from the sector whereas forcing 19 Hawkeyes turnovers.
In Iowa’s protection, that February contest was their second street sport in 4 days on a West Coast journey, and on Sunday they will have the group on their aspect. Still, the primary assembly was a mirrored image of how simply UCLA has cruised by means of the Big Ten this season.
The 30-1 Bruins, who’re ranked No. 2 within the nation, had been an ideal 18-0 in convention play, and gained 17 of these video games by double digits. If you embody their two event video games up to now, they’re 20-0 in opposition to Big Ten foes with 19 double-digit victories.
To no shock, UCLA is an enormous favourite heading into Sunday.
‘We’re at a spot now the place no person within the nation thought we would be’
While UCLA, which boasts six potential 2026 WNBA Draft picks, entered the season because the clear favorites within the Big Ten, nobody anticipated Iowa to be proper there with them. In the Big Ten preseason coaches poll, the Hawkeyes weren’t even projected to be within the prime 5.
Fast ahead 5 months, and Iowa is ranked No. 9 within the nation after a second-place end within the Big Ten, and has a shot to win a fourth Big Ten Tournament title within the final 5 years.
“I told [my players] I was just so grateful. We’re at a spot now where nobody in the country thought we’d be, except the people in that huddle. No one really predicted this, that we could be there,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen stated Saturday. “I didn’t know until we started working in June. This team just has something special.”
“I know, I know, we gotta play UCLA tomorrow and they’re great, and they got 6-foot-7 [Lauren Betts], but for us to be here and have this moment… I just told them to enjoy it and know that this circle believed, and now we get a shot in the finals in one of the most prestigious conferences in America,” Jensen continued.
Both groups centered on themselves
Whether it was out of a way of caginess, or just a reminder of the dearth of preparation time in a event setting, each groups stated they had been centered on themselves heading into Sunday.
“I honestly think it’s just playing up to our standard every game,” UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker stated when requested in regards to the keys to victory. “We have goals that no matter who we’re playing, we always want to hit on, whether that’s on the defensive end, rebounding, coming out with really good energy. If we’re the aggressors in a lot of those areas, we set ourselves up pretty good.”
Fellow Bruin Gianna Kneepkens echoed these ideas, saying “the goal is to just play our type of basketball… if we play really hard, which I know we will, things will go the way they’re supposed to go.”
In the Iowa locker room, senior ahead Hannah Stuelke admitted that UCLA will likely be a tricky problem.
“They have a lot of great pieces, and I’m not sure how we’ll handle it yet,” Stuelke stated. “But I think just showing up and being us, being aggressive and giving it our all is gonna be key.”
Likewise, Chit-Chat Wright stated the Hawkeyes may have to play “Iowa basketball” to pull off the upset. “Not trying to do anything else outside of what we do and just really focusing in on our scout,” she stated.
Can Iowa cope with UCLA’s measurement?
While UCLA is extremely proficient, its measurement can also be a serious cause for its success this season. Lauren Betts stands out at 6-foot-7, however the Bruins even have three different rotation gamers which are at the very least 6-foot-4, and nobody on the roster is shorter than 5-foot-10.
It’s no surprise that one of many first issues Chit-Chat Wright stated in Iowa’s locker room about UCLA was “they have a pretty big team.”
The Bruins’ measurement goes to be an actual concern for the 5-foot-4 Wright, particularly. Though extraordinarily fast, Wright is the second-smallest participant within the Big Ten, and will likely be up in opposition to two potential first-round WNBA draft picks in 5-foot-11 Kiki Rice and 5-foot-10 Charlisse Leger-Walker, each of whom understand how to use their measurement to their benefit on each side of the ball. In the primary assembly, Wright had simply 10 factors on 3 of 8 capturing, whereas Rice and Leger-Walker mixed for 27 factors on 11 of 19.
Additionally, UCLA’s benefit within the paint goes to pose issues for Iowa. No one within the nation has a solution for Betts, who had 16 factors on 8 of 11 the primary time the groups met. But it is not simply Betts, it is the depth UCLA can roll in. Siena Betts — Lauren’s sister — Angela Dugalić and Amanda Muse are all 6-foot-4. Iowa solely has three gamers on their roster taller than six ft, and considered one of them is freshman Layla Hays, who barely performs.
The Bruins are second within the nation in offensive rebounding charge (44.5%) and fifth in factors within the paint per sport (43.4). If the Hawkeyes need to pull off an upset, they will want to work out a way to cope with the Bruins across the basket.
Prediction
This has been an unimaginable season for Iowa, and the truth that this sport will likely be in Indianapolis in entrance of an enormous pro-Hawkeyes crowd will matter. However, there is a cause UCLA is ranked No. 2 within the nation and is without doubt one of the favorites to win the nationwide championship.
Iowa goes to struggle and work extraordinarily exhausting, and if this turns right into a low-possession slog, they will have an opportunity to maintain issues fascinating. In the top, although, UCLA’s expertise, measurement and depth will show an excessive amount of and the Bruins will defend their Big Ten Tournament crown. Pick: UCLA 72, Iowa 59
