Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament: How to Watch and Game Thread - #10 Seed Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. #2 Seed UCLA Bruins
After dropping the regular season finale to Southern Cal, the Bruins begin play in the Big Ten Tournament.
After blowing an opportunity to win the school’s first ever conference title in women’s basketball, the UCLA Bruins are set to begin play in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament this afternoon at 3:30 pm PT.
The Bruins are the number two seed in this tournament while crosstown rival Southern Cal is the number one seed by virtue of having won the regular season title.
#10 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers
When the Bruins tip off this afternoon, they will be facing the #10 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers. It’s a rematch of UCLA’s final game of 2024 when the Bruins crushed the Huskers, 91-54. How much of a mismatch was that game? Well, UCLA scored 54 points in the second half alone, which was as many as Nebraska scored in the entire game. Ouch. So, it seems like this matchup will be a good way for the Bruins to overcome the meltdown that occurred last Saturday against the Trojans.
While UCLA earned the double bye because they finished in the second place in the conference standings, Nebraska is already playing their third game of the tournament. On Wednesday, the Cornhuskers faced the #15 seed Rutgers Scarlet Knights, whom they beat almost as badly as they lost to the Bruins in December. Nebraska defeated Rutgers, 84-60, to advance.
That win matched the Huskers up with the #7 seed Illinois Fighting Illini. While Nebraska was certainly the underdog entering the game, they rallied from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Illinois, 74-70, after being down 56-49 at the end of the third quarter. The Cornhuskers outscored the Illini 25-14 in the final frame to come away with the win.
Nebraska tied the game, 65-65, with 2:23 left on a jumper by Britt Prince. After Callin Hake grabbed the rebound following a missed jumper by Illinois’ Jasmine Brown-Hagger, Jessica Petrie hit a three-pointer to give Nebraska the lead for good.
Outlook
Let’s start with the obvious: When you destroy a team by 37 points in December, you should never lose to that team in a conference tournament game.
That said, UCLA cannot afford to take Nebraska lightly.
The Bruins need to come out this afternoon with much more intensity and purpose than they showed last Saturday. They need to prove that the two losses to Southern Cal were not a true measure of this team, even though the Trojans had their number twice during the regular season.
By earning a double bye, UCLA did not need to play a game before today, but now, they have to go out and win three games between today and Sunday and capture the conference tournament title to re-state their claim to being one of the best women’s basketball teams in the country and not just the second best team in Los Angeles. They need to build some momentum to take into the NCAA Women’s Tournament and the Big Ten Tournament is their opportunity to do just that.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network with Sloane Martin, Christy Winters Scott, and Elise Woodward on the call. Of course, you can choose to listen to Dave Marcus call the game for the Bruins by listening online. To do that, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to tonight’s game online.
This is your UCLA women’s basketball vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
#2 Seed UCLA Women’s Basketball (27-2, 16-2)
Opponent: #10 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers (21-10, 10-8)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 5-3
When: 3:30 pm PT, Friday, March 7, 2025
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
TV: Big Ten Network with Sloane Martin, Christy Winters Scott, and Elise Woodward
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Online Audio: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
Good start to the weekend. Good luck tomorrow night, Bruins.
Gabs!!! 💙💛 Great game by Gabs!