Nicole Cardano-Hillary led a balanced attack with 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 14 Indiana moved within a game of making Big Ten Conference history with a 70-62 win over No. 13 Ohio State in the semifinals on Saturday.
If the fifth-seeded Hoosiers can beat the winner of the Nebraska-Iowa game in Sunday’s championship game they will become the first team to win four straight to win the tournament.
Indiana was a five-seed in 2002 when it won the title but there were fewer teams in the league and hasn’t been back to the title game since.
Ali Patberg scored 15 points for the Hoosiers (22-7), Mackenzie Holmes had 12, Chloe Moore-McNeil 11 and Grace Berger 10. Berger had six rebounds and seven assists and Cardano-Hillary had five assists as Indiana had 20 helpers on 24 baskets.
Jacy Sheldon scored 22 points for top-seeded Ohio State (23-6), league co-champion with Iowa, and Taylor Mikesell and Braxtin Miller had 12 apiece.
The Buckeyes never led and fell behind 38-28 late in the second quarter before Mikesell hit a jumper. The lead stayed around 10 in the third quarter but a Mikesell 3-pointer and Miller fast-break layup pulled Ohio State within 49-44. Berger answered with a jumper and four free throws restored the lead, which was 57-48 going into the fourth quarter.
Twice the lead got to 13 before a Miller 3 and two Sheldon layups had Ohio State within 68-62 with a minute left but the Buckeyes missed their last three shots.
Indiana went 5 of 10 from 3-point range to 4 of 21 for Ohio State but the Hoosiers were 17 of 23 from the foul line — although five of the misses were in the fourth quarter — while Ohio State was 4 for 4.
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