Parchment scores 15, Illinois women win 71-69 over No. 18 Michigan State in Big Ten Tournament

By Canadian Press on March 5, 2026.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Cearah Parchment scored 15 points, and Destiny Jackson added 14 for No. 10-seeded Illinois in a 71-69 win over No. 10-seeded Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night.

Maddie Webber added 13 for the Illini (21-10), Jasmine Brown-Hagger scored 12 and Berry Wallace finished with 11. Illinois will move on to the quarterfinals to play No. 2 seed Iowa.

The Spartans (22-8), who are ranked No. 18 in the country, were led by Kennedy Blair, who scored a career-high 30 points. Grace VanSlooten scored 13, and Jalyn Brown added 12.

Illinois turned over the ball on its first four possessions of the game, forcing a timeout to reset. An 8-0 run gave the Fighting Illini their first lead of the game at the end of the first quarter, and they led 36-29 heading into the break.

Michigan State had a 9-0 run after the break to regain the lead, 42-41, but a layup and a 3-pointer from Brown-Hagger gave the advantage back to Illinois.

On the Spartans’ final possession of the game, VanSlooten collected two rebounds from under the basket before kicking it back out to Blair in the midrange. Without a clear shot, she passed it out wide to Brown, who couldn’t save the ball from going out of bounds with a second to go in the game.

Up next

Illinois: Will face No. 2 seed Iowa on March 6. The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 9 in the country.

Michigan: Will wait for an invitation to a postseason tournament.

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The Associated Press

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