Illini women upset top-seeded Ohio St.
Illinois never considered itself the underdog against Ohio State.
Never mind the Buckeyes' (22-8) top seed or No. 22 national ranking. The Fighting Illini fully expected to win their Big Ten tournament quarterfinal game Friday night in Indianapolis.
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Rebecca Harris scored 22 points, and Illinois beat the Buckeyes 64-58. Lori Bjork scored 14 points and Jenna Smith added 13 for the ninth-seeded Illini (18-13), who reached the semifinals for the first time since 2001.
"The seeding means nothing to us," Harris said. "We know we can beat any of these teams because we've seen them already. If we were the underdog, then I guess it was an upset."
Illinois gained confidence by beating the Buckeyes 68-64 on Jan. 31 to split the regular-season series. The Illini have won three in a row under first-year coach Jolette Law, but they need 2 more victories to clinch their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2003.
"I tried to mute my celebration a little bit, trying to save energy for the next two games," Bjork said.
Tennessee 92, Florida 61: Candace Parker scored 26 points and No. 3 Tennessee (28-2) beat visiting Florida (18-13) to reach the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Men (MVC quarters)
Illinois St. 63, Missouri St. 58: Boo Richardson scored 14 points and Osiris Eldridge added 13 to lead Illinois State past Missouri State (17-16) in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis.
Second-seeded Illinois State (23-8) faces either Northern Iowa in a semifinal contest today.
The Redbirds outscored Missouri State 16-7 over the final 6:26.
N. Iowa 54, S. Illinois 49: Matt Shaw scored 22 points and had 9 rebounds but it wasn't enough for Southern Illinois (17-14) in a loss to Northern Iowa (18-13). Adam Viet hit 6 of 9 3-pointers and scored 19 points for Northern Iowa.
Drake 68, Indiana St. 46: Adam Emmenecker had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, and No. 20 Drake (26-4) beat Indiana State (15-16).
Leonard Houston scored all of his 16 points, including three 3-pointers, in the second half for the Bulldogs. Drake, the top seed for the first time in the 32-year history of the tournament, will play Creighton in the semifinals.
Creighton 74, Bradley 70: Cavel Witter scored 15 points, including the final 6 for Creighton, in a win over Bradley. The fourth-seeded Bluejays (21-9) led by as many as 18 points in the first half behind 53-percent shooting, but they shot only 32 percent in the second half. Bradley rallied for a 69-68 lead on Matt Salley's putback with 2:40 to play.
Theron Wilson scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half for Bradley (17-15).