Illinois Women's Basketball Receives Its Big Ten Tournament Draw

The Illini showed during the regular season that they're capable of a run in this week's conference tournament

Feb 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Genesis Bryant (1) drives to the basket between UCLA Bruins guards Elina Aarnisalo (7) and Londynn Jones (3) during the first quarter at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The Big Ten on Sunday revealed the full bracket for the 2025 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament, which begins Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, and Illinois now knows what it's up against.

Sort of.

The announcement of the brackets provided the Illini (21-8, 11-7 Big Ten) some vital information: They received a first-round bye, which translates to an extra day of preparation time (and rest, which Illinois sorely needs). But by now, after finishing seventh in the conference, they knew this.

But with the regular season coming to a close Sunday, Illinois learned that it will play the winner of 10th-seeded Nebraska versus 15th-seeded Rutgers on Thursday in Game 6 of the tournament, at 5:30 p.m. CT (on the Big Ten Network).

Neither of those two potential opponents is a gimme – the Cornhuskers stayed within a point of the Illini well into the second half before falling a few weeks ago, and the Scarlet Knights took them to overtime back in January. Plus, there is the small matter of Illinois trying to pull itself out of a season-worst three-game losing streak.

But those defeats to close the season should also serve as confidence-boosters for the Illini, who – despite going with a six-player rotation – were competitive with powerhouses USC and UCLA, and led Michigan before running out of gas in the fourth quarter Sunday.

STATE FARM CENTER IS LOUD!@genesisbryant_ WITH A 3!

4:16 Q4 | #Illini 63, Michigan 57

📺: Big Ten Network pic.twitter.com/bsrcH5DQ7k

— Illinois Women's Basketball (@IlliniWBB) March 2, 2025

If they win Thursday, the Illini will get another crack at the No. 4 Bruins (27-2, 16-2 Big Ten) in Friday's quarterfinals (5:30 p.m. CT, on BTN). Coach Shauna Green's crew has almost zero margin for error at this stage of the season, but even in an injury-decimated season, it has also proven to be capable of winning 21 games and hanging with the best outfits in women's college basketball.

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