Sara Scalia has another good game, but her Indiana team falls short

Stillwater native Sara Scalia's quest for a Big Ten tournament title at Target Center ended in Indiana's 79-75 loss to Ohio State in Saturday's semifinals, but it was still a memorable trip back home for her.

Scalia, a Gophers transfer, followed up her 20-point game against Michigan State on Friday with 15 points on 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range against the Buckeyes on Saturday, including 12 points in the second quarter.

"I never got to play here before," Scalia said about Target Center. "It was definitely a special feeling surrounded by my friends and family."

The 5-10 senior scored 12 of 14 points for a stretch in the second quarter for the Hoosiers. She attacked the basket to get fouled and convert a three-point play. Her third shot from beyond the arc extended it to a game-high 46-22 advantage just before half.

But the Hoosiers, who averaged a Big Ten-low 12.9 turnovers a game entering Saturday, committed 14 of their 18 turnovers in the second half.

"Their press was really good," Scalia said. "They were really active in it. I think we just weren't prepared for it as much as we had been in the past. That kind of showed."

Scalia, who averages 9.6 points and shoots 35% from three-point range this season, displayed recently that she could be an important piece should Indiana make a deep NCAA tournament run.

"If we could have gotten to the championship game, we would have all been entertained by how she's been shooting the ball," Indiana coach Teri Moren said. "That's what I'm most excited about."

Still No. 1 seed?

Losing a big lead in a big game couldn't have been easy for No. 1 seed Indiana, which led by as many as 24 points in the first half before wilting in the face of a furious Ohio State rally.

But there's good news for the Hoosiers. According to ESPN women's basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme, Indiana is still likely to secure a No. 1 seed when the NCAA bracket is announced last week.

"Indiana was another No. 2 seed with too much collateral to fall off the 1-line with a loss,'' Creme tweeted Saturday afternoon. "Great comeback by Ohio State, but Hoosiers are still a No. 1. The Buckeyes move up the 3-line but remain there for now. A chance to get to a 2 is still there with tomorrow's finale.''

Not just Caitlin Clark

There's no question Iowa's Caitlin Clark deserves hype and accolades after another year as arguably the most entertaining player in college basketball.

But Saturday's semifinal victory against Maryland proved even Clark can't do it on her own. She finished with 22 points and nine assists, but had just one point on 0-for-3 shooting in the fourth quarter.

The Hawkeyes still outscored the Terrapins 25-23 with McKenna Warnock, Gabbie Marshall and Minnesota native Monika Czinano combining for 22 points in the final period. The trio of Warnock, Marshall and Czinano also had 57 points combined in Saturday's game.

Close to attendance record

The Big Ten women's tournament record for attendance was nearly broken Saturday night.

During Iowa's 89-84 victory against Maryland in the second semifinal, the Big Ten announced that the attendance was 9,375. That eclipsed the 8,577 from Friday's quarterfinals, which appeared to be mostly Hawkeyes faithful.

The Big Ten women's tourney all-time attendance mark was set with 9,417 in the 2004 championship game in Indianapolis.