Bruins DEVASTATE Iowa

By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports

   The Top Seed UCLA Bruins dominated the #2 Seed Iowa Hawkeyes 96-45 Sunday Afternoon in the Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. UCLA has won Back-to-Back Championships and will receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins are 31-1 and will be one of the number 1 seeds when the NCAA Tournament Field of 68 is announced next Sunday Night at 8 PM on ESPN.

  Iowa is 26-6 and was playing in the Big Ten Championship for the 9th time and the 5th time since 2021. UCLA is first team to repeat since Iowa did it three straight times form 2022-2024. There have been 10 teams winning back-to-back Big Ten Tournament Championships with Penn State in 1995-96, Purdue 1998-1999, Purdue 2003-04 and 2007-08, Ohio State 2010-11, Purdue 2013-14, Maryland 2015-17 and 2020-21.

   UCLA’s Kiki Rice was named the tournament’s most outstanding player as she becomes the second Bruin to win the award with Lauren Betts winning the award a season ago. Betts was looking to become the fourth player in Big Ten Tournament History to win the most outstanding player award joining Shereka Wright of Purdue in 2003-04, Jantel Lavender of Ohio State in 2009-11 and Caitlin Clark of Iowa who did it three times from 2022-24. Rice along with Lauren Betts of UCLA, Ava Heiden and Hannah Stuelke of Iowa and Chance Gray of Ohio State were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team as voted on by Media.

   The Bruins dominated start to finish setting the record for the largest margin of victory in a Big Ten Championship game winning by 51 points. The Burins set a championship game record with 34 assists on 40 field goals and scored the third most points in championship game history behind Maryland’s 104 points in 2021 and Iowa’s 105 points in 2023. UCLA has been a force since arriving in the Big Ten since the start of 2024-25 season going 34-2 in the Regular Season with both losses to crosstown rival USC last year and 6-0 in the Big Ten Tournament and taking back-to-back Titles.

   Taylor Stremlow’s triple gave Iowa a 3-0 lead 56 seconds into the game. Kiki Rice scored the next two baskets to give UCLA a 4-3 lead with 7:30 left in the first quarter as the Bruins did not trail for the rest of the game. UCLA outscored Iowa 18-2, the rest of the quarter of a 22-5 lead after ten minutes. UCLA outscored Iowa 22-15 in the second quarter as the Bruins led 42-20 at halftime. UCLA outscored Iowa 54-25 in the second half. UCLA led 67-36 after the third quarter as the Bruins outscored the Hawkeyes 25-16 in the period and closed out the fourth quarter with a 29-9 run as UCLA hit their last nine shots from the field and missed their last six shots and did not hit a field goal for the last 2:41.

  Gianna Kneepkens scored 19 Points led the Bruins along 15 points from Kiki Rice. Sienna Betts scored14 Points, Gabriela Jaquez added 12 Points along with 11 points from Charlise Ledger Walker and Lauren Betts had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Ava Heiden led Iowa with 15 Points and Addie Deal scored 11 Points for the Hawkeyes. UCLA beat USC 72-67 a season ago and now they leave Indianapolis with back-to-back championships and head back to Los Angeles to get ready for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

  This was 27th time that Indianapolis hosted the Big Ten Tournament in 3 different venues. Hinkle Fieldhouse 1995-96, RCA Dome 1997-99, Conseco Fieldhouse 2000 and 2002-11 Bankers Life Fieldhouse 2012, 2014 and 2016-21 and Gainbridge Fieldhouse 2022 and 2025-26 which is all the same budling with different names throughout the years. Five times the tournament has been held outside of Indianapolis. Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids Michigan hosted in 2001, Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois in 2013 and 2015 and the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2023 and 2024. Next Year the Big Ten Tournament heads to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Nevada and the following year it will be in Detroit, Michigan at Little Caesars Arena in 2028.