Wisconsin to play Minnesota in first round of the Big Ten women's basketball tournament

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Wisconsin will play Minnesota on Thursday night in the first round of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis. The Badgers earned the ninth seed after closing out its regular season with a 72-to-60 home win over Illinois yesterday. The Illini was up by one midway through the second half when Wisconsin pulled ahead for good with an 18-to-4 run. Morgan Paige scored 29 points, the most by a Badger this season. She made all 11 of her free throws. Wisconsin also set a new record for the most three-pointers in a season with 175. But the Badgers only went 5-and-11 in the Big Ten under first-year coach Bobbie Kelsey, and they’re 9-and-19 overall. In the league tournament, they’ll play an eight-seeded Minnesota squad that went 6-and-10 in Big Ten games and 14-and-16 overall. The winner will play top-seeded Penn State on Friday.

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U-W Milwaukee will host Illinois-Chicago, and U-W Green Bay will play at Youngstown State in the first round of the Horizon League men's basketball tournament. They're among four first round games to be played tomorrow night. Milwaukee, Butler, and Detroit all tied for third in the regular season -- and with tie-breakers, Milwaukee earned the fourth seed with an overall mark of 19-and-12. They'll play a ninth-seeded Illinois-Chicago team that's 8-and-21, and the winner will face either Wright State or Butler in the second round on Friday night. Green Bay and Youngstown State are both 10-and-8 in the conference and 15-and-14 overall. But Youngstown earned the higher seed at Number-six -- and they'll play a Green Bay team that's seeded seventh. That winner will face either Loyola or Detroit in the next round. Friday's second-round and Saturday's semi-finals will be played at top-seeded Valparaiso. The tournament title game will be played a week from tomorrow night at the highest remaining seed.

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Bids will be announced today for the N-C-A-A Division-Three men's-and-women's basketball tournaments. U-W River Falls, Carroll of Waukesha, and Madison Edgewood received automatic men's berths by winning their conference tournaments during the weekend. Nationally-ranked Stevens Point could get an at-large berth. Yesterday, unranked River Falls upset eighth-ranked and top-seeded Whitewater 64-to-58 in the W-I-A-C title game. Wade Guerin had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Falcons. On the women's side, U-W Stevens Point and Wisconsin Lutheran earned automatic N-C-A-A berths by repeating as champions of their respective league tournaments. Point won its fifth straight W-I-A-C crown. Nationally-ranked Eau Claire and River Falls could get at-large berths. The Division-Three men's field will be announced during a Selection Show at 11 this morning. The women's Selection Show begins at 1:30 this afternoon.

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U-W Parkside will play Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday in the quarter-finals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference women's basketball tournament in Springfield Illinois. Parkside earned a bye in yesterday's first round by earning the Number-two seed. The Rangers won the Eastern Division title in the regular season by going 15-and-4. And they're 22-and-4 overall with a nine-game winning streak. Parkside will play a Kentucky Wesleyan team that's 15-and-12 overall, after beating Saint Joseph's in yesterday's first round 84-to-73. Thursday's winner will take on either Drury or Indianapolis on Saturday. The Parkside men ended their season last Thursday night with their 14th straight loss. The Rangers went 1-and-17 in conference play, and 8-and-18 overall.

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