Freeman, Purdue edge Illini for Big Ten title

All Purdue's Lakisha Freeman needed Sunday was a second chance.

A second look confirmed what her teammates already knew: Purdue was headed back to the NCAA Tournament.

After missing a potential game-winning 15-footer with less than three seconds left, the junior forward slithered past Illinois defenders, grabbed her own rebound and barely beat the buzzer with a 10-foot jumper to give the Boilermakers a 58-56 victory in the Big Ten title game at Indianapolis.

"After the shot, I saw it was going off. I saw that she didn't box me out, so I followed my shot. I had a little time, so I just got the shot up," she said, before describing the team's emotions as officials reviewed the play. "My teammates, they were excited, they said they knew for sure it was good."

The officials agreed after the replay showed the shot left Freeman's hands with 0.3 seconds on the clock, and when the ruling was finally announced at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Boilermakers celebrated by diving onto the floor, hugging and dancing at midcourt.

Who could blame them?

Purdue (18-14) came into the tournament needing a second straight championship run to make its 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. By clinching the conference's automatic bid, the nation's fifth-longest streak remains intact.

There were times throughout the weekend when it didn't seem possible, but Freeman's nimbleness and quick release erased all doubts.

"We just set up a play that we could get it to Kiki, and if they overplayed her, we were going to try to get it to Danielle (Campbell)," said point guard FahKara Malone, the tournament's most outstanding player. "Kiki got open for us and got the shot off, and was lucky enough to be able to follow it."

It was a fitting end to an unpredictable tournament, which was marred by poor shooting, sloppy play and improbable outcomes. The Big Ten regular-season co-champions, Ohio State and Iowa, were knocked out in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, and games on Friday and Saturday produced two of the three lowest combined scores in tourney history.

Then there was the Fighting Illini's run. They were the lowest-seeded team, No. 9, to ever reach the Big Ten title game and came within a whisker of matching the 1997 Auburn Tigers as the lowest seed from any Bowl Championship Series conference to win a tournament title.

Thanks to Freeman, who led Purdue with 12 points, Auburn still holds that distinction. Kalika France added 11 points, while Campbell and Keshia Mosley each finished with 10 for Purdue.

Illinois (19-14) was also trying to become the first Big Ten school to win four games in four consecutive days but eventually wore down. It failed to score in the final 2:55 and now must wait another week to see if the NCAA Tournament selection committee will reward it with an at-large bid.

"I wanted so bad for them to get to the NCAAs, to make history, to just see it, just taste it," first-year Illini coach Jolette Law said. "I just said 'Give them five more minutes to fight,' but they said the shot went in."

The Illini were led by Jenna Smith with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Lacey Simpson, who had 15 points.

Tennessee 61, LSU 55: Candace Parker hit a jumper with 1:57 left that put host Tennessee ahead to stay, and the No. 3 Lady Vols won their record 13th Southeastern Conference title and third in four years by beating No. 7 LSU.

The last three all have come against LSU, but this win is a little sweeter for Tennessee after the Lady Tigers won the SEC regular season by defeating the Lady Vols 78-62 in Knoxville on Feb. 14. The Lady Vols (30-2) reached 30 wins for a sixth straight season and for the 18th time in coach Pat Summitt's 34 years.

Parker finished with 28 points and Shannon Bobbitt had 12 for Tennessee. Nicky Anosike had a team-high 11 rebounds for the Lady Vols.

Sylvia Fowles finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (27-5).

UConn 86, DePaul 67: Renee Montgomery had 19 points, and Tina Charles added 16 as top-ranked Connecticut routed DePaul in the second round of the Big East tournament in Hartford, Conn.

Freshman sensation Maya Moore had 14 points and 15 boards for the Huskies (30-1), who reached the 30-win plateau for the third consecutive season.

Allie Quigley had 17 to lead the ninth-seeded Blue Demons (20-11).

North Carolina 86, Duke 73: Erlana Larkins and Cetera DeGraffenreid each scored 17 points to help second-ranked North Carolina (30-2) win its fourth straight ACC tournament championship, this one in Greensboro, N.C. Chante Black and Jasmine Thomas each had 16 points for No. 12 Duke (23-9).

Louisville 57, Rutgers 56: Angel McCoughtry had 20 points and a big steal at the end as Louisville (23-8) upset No. 4 Rutgers in the second round of the Big East tournament in Hartford, Conn. Epiphany Prince and Matee Ajavon each had 13 points for Rutgers (24-6), the defending tournament champion.

Stanford 78, UCLA 45: Candice Wiggins scored 13 points to lead No. 6 Stanford (29-3) past UCLA (16-15) to its seventh straight Pac-10 tournament title game -- every one since its inception, in San Jose, Calif. The Cardinal will face No. 10 California for the title today.

Pitt. 64, Notre Dame 53: Marcedes Walker had 18 points and 13 rebounds for her 52nd career double-double, and Pittsburgh (22-9) upset No. 9 Notre Dame in the second round of the Big East tournament in Hartford, Conn. Charel Allen had 17 points for Notre Dame (23-8).