The Hoosiers headed to Indianapolis this week hoping that a long and fruitful run at the Big Ten Tournament might lift them into a No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. But after a surprising 69-61 loss to Michigan State on Thursday, they left Bankers Life Fieldhouse hoping their one-and-done appearance won’t instead knock them down to a No. 4 seed.
Fingers crossed.
It was a frustrating opener at the conference event for second-seeded IU, which led by 11 points before halftime, but ultimately had no answers for Spartans guard Nia Clouden. Michigan State’s top player scored 27 of her game-high 30 points in the second half, barreling her way to a big night and sending IU back to Bloomington to await the NCAA Tournament pairings on Monday evening.