After earning a double bye and the #2 seed thanks to the record-breaking regular season that led to them earning a share of the regular season Big Ten Championship, 11th-ranked Northwestern women’s basketball (26-3, 16-2) will kick off the Big Ten Tournament in Friday’s quarterfinals against, in some ways, the toughest opponent they could have reasonably expected.
For the third time this year, the Wildcats will do battle with Naz Hillmon and seventh-seeded Michigan (20-10, 10-8) after the Wolverines snuck past tenth-seeded Nebraska 81-75 on Thursday behind a 24-10 third quarter (and, more specifically, a 13-2 run to begin the second half).