INDIANAPOLIS — Fifteen teams from across the country descended upon Indianapolis this week with the hope of winning the 2026 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. Four days and 13 games later, only two remain: No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 2 seed Iowa.
These two programs have combined for the last four titles: Iowa from 2022-24 and UCLA last year. The Bruins only joined the Big Ten in 2024, but they already have a chance to become the sixth program to win the conference’s tournament multiple times. (Iowa has six Big Ten tournament titles, which is good for second all-time.)
Here’s everything you need to know about Sunday’s showdown.
UCLA vs. Iowa
- Time: 2:15 p.m. ET | Date: Sunday, March 8
- Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
- TV channel: CBS | Live stream: Paramount+
Bruins dominated first matchup
These two teams have met once this season, back on Feb. 1. UCLA dominated proceedings in Los Angeles, leading by as many as 27 en route to an 88-65 win. The Bruins had five players in double figures, and shot 58% from the field while forcing 19 Hawkeyes turnovers.
In Iowa’s defense, that February contest was their second road game in four days on a West Coast trip, and on Sunday they’ll have the crowd on their side. Still, the first meeting was a reflection of how easily UCLA has cruised through the Big Ten this season.
The 30-1 Bruins, who are ranked No. 2 in the country, were a perfect 18-0 in conference play, and won 17 of those games by double digits. If you include their two tournament games so far, they’re 20-0 against Big Ten foes with 19 double-digit victories.
To no surprise, UCLA is a big favorite heading into Sunday.
‘We’re at a spot now where nobody in the country thought we’d be’
While UCLA, which boasts six potential 2026 WNBA Draft picks, entered the season as the clear favorites in the Big Ten, no one expected Iowa to be right there with them. In the Big Ten preseason coaches poll, the Hawkeyes weren’t even projected to be in the top five.
Fast forward five months, and Iowa is ranked No. 9 in the country after a second-place finish in the Big Ten, and has a shot to win a fourth Big Ten Tournament title in the last five years.
“I told [my players] I was just so grateful. We’re at a spot now where nobody in the country thought we’d be, except the people in that huddle. No one really predicted this, that we could be there,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said Saturday. “I didn’t know until we started working in June. This team just has something special.”
“I know, I know, we gotta play UCLA tomorrow and they’re great, and they got 6-foot-7 [Lauren Betts], but for us to be here and have this moment… I just told them to enjoy it and know that this circle believed, and now we get a shot in the finals in one of the most prestigious conferences in America,” Jensen continued.
Both teams focused on themselves
Whether it was out of a sense of caginess, or simply a reminder of the lack of preparation time in a tournament setting, both teams said they were focused on themselves heading into Sunday.
“I honestly think it’s just playing up to our standard every game,” UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker said when asked about the keys to victory. “We have goals that no matter who we’re playing, we always want to hit on, whether that’s on the defensive end, rebounding, coming out with really good energy. If we’re the aggressors in a lot of those areas, we set ourselves up pretty good.”
Fellow Bruin Gianna Kneepkens echoed those thoughts, saying “the goal is to just play our type of basketball… if we play really hard, which I know we will, things will go the way they’re supposed to go.”
In the Iowa locker room, senior forward Hannah Stuelke admitted that UCLA will be a tough challenge.
“They have a lot of great pieces, and I’m not sure how we’ll handle it yet,” Stuelke said. “But I think just showing up and being us, being aggressive and giving it our all is gonna be key.”
Likewise, Chit-Chat Wright said the Hawkeyes will have to play “Iowa basketball” to pull off the upset. “Not trying to do anything else outside of what we do and just really focusing in on our scout,” she said.
Can Iowa deal with UCLA’s size?
While UCLA is incredibly talented, its size is also a major reason for its success this season. Lauren Betts stands out at 6-foot-7, but the Bruins also have three other rotation players that are at least 6-foot-4, and no one on the roster is shorter than 5-foot-10.
It’s no wonder that one of the first things Chit-Chat Wright said in Iowa’s locker room about UCLA was “they have a pretty big team.”
The Bruins’ size is going to be a real issue for the 5-foot-4 Wright, in particular. Though extremely quick, Wright is the second-smallest player in the Big Ten, and will be up against two potential first-round WNBA draft picks in 5-foot-11 Kiki Rice and 5-foot-10 Charlisse Leger-Walker, both of whom know how to use their size to their advantage on both sides of the ball. In the first meeting, Wright had just 10 points on 3 of 8 shooting, while Rice and Leger-Walker combined for 27 points on 11 of 19.
Additionally, UCLA’s advantage in the paint is going to pose problems for Iowa. No one in the country has an answer for Betts, who had 16 points on 8 of 11 the first time the teams met. But it’s not just Betts, it’s the depth UCLA can roll in. Siena Betts — Lauren’s sister — Angela Dugalić and Amanda Muse are all 6-foot-4. Iowa only has three players on their roster taller than six feet, and one of them is freshman Layla Hays, who barely plays.
The Bruins are second in the country in offensive rebounding rate (44.5%) and fifth in points in the paint per game (43.4). If the Hawkeyes want to pull off an upset, they’ll need to figure out some way to deal with the Bruins around the basket.
Prediction
This has been an incredible season for Iowa, and the fact that this game will be in Indianapolis in front of a big pro-Hawkeyes crowd will matter. However, there’s a reason UCLA is ranked No. 2 in the country and is one of the favorites to win the national championship.
Iowa is going to fight and work extremely hard, and if this turns into a low-possession slog, they’ll have a chance to keep things interesting. In the end, though, UCLA’s talent, size and depth will prove too much and the Bruins will defend their Big Ten Tournament crown. Pick: UCLA 72, Iowa 59
