Lindsay Whalen news leaves ripples through Big Ten women's basketball tournament

Born a year apart, Basketball Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen and Penn State coach Carolyn Kieger grew up playing against each other and still talk often.

As recently, in fact, as Wednesday when Kieger's 13th-seeded Lady Lions knocked Whalen's 12th-seeded Gophers out of the Big Ten tournament in the opening game at Target Center.

On Thursday, University of Minnesota athletics director Mark Coyle said the Gophers and Whalen mutually agreed to part ways. Whalen will continue as a special assistant to Coyle until April 2025.

"I've known Lindsay for years," said Kieger, who grew up in Roseville not all that far from Whalen's Hutchinson, Minn. home. "I love what she's done for Minnesota as a player, as a coach. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and what she has done for the game. I just really value her as a player, as a coach.

"I'm a big fan of Whalen's, always will be, always have been. She's a winner."

Thursday's news left Whalen's peers surprised and reaching a similar conclusion.

"Coaching is hard," Michigan State acting coach Dean Lockwood said.

Even if you're an NCAA All America, a four-time WNBA champion and a two-time Olympian.

"I'm really sorry to hear that news, really disappointed," said Nebraska coach Amy Williams. "Lindsay is one of my favorite coaches in the league. I'm sorry to hear that.

"There's kind of a camaraderie among Big Ten coaches when you see each other, not just through league play, but at media days and on the road recruiting. She's always somebody I enjoy mingling with and talk hoops and shoot the breeze. She's a really kindhearted individual who is a great basketball coach."

Lockwood is coaching Michigan State after head coach Suzy Merchant last month stepped away indefinitely from the job because of a medical incident and car accident.

"Suzy has a lot of respect for Lindsay, I know," Lockwood said. "Coaching is hard no matter where you are and especially when you go somewhere that hasn't done well recently. It's hard to get something going. … I would just tell you this: she's a legend in the women's game. Who she is as a person is going to way outweigh what she has done at Minnesota or any other coaching stop. I'm sorry to hear that, but we wish her well in the next thing. She's going to be great whatever she does."

The ninth-seeded Spartans scored the game's first seven points and the fourth quarter's first 11 points, holding a lead as big as 13 points for more than 37 minutes. The eighth-seeded Cornhuskers led by a point for barely a minute in the third quarter, the first of four second-round games at Target Center on Thursday.

Senior guard DeeDee Hagemann led three Spartans in double figures with 18 points.

"It's always important," MSU senior guard Moira Joiner said of the fast start. "We've had a lot of close games this year and we look back at the start of our quarters and we're like, OK, we took a punch there and didn't come back."

The fifth-seeded Wolverines advance to Friday's quarterfinal against fourth-seeded rival Ohio State after they led by nine points with 2:09 left and hung on to win at the buzzer against the 13th-seeded Lady Lions.

Penn State forced a change of possession with 11 seconds left, but Michigan got a stop at the buzzer, forcing a missed shot. Laila Phelia scored 13 points in 21 minutes in her first game after missing six games with an injury.

The Wolverines had four players score in double figuresw for the eighth time this season and had a 24-0 advantage in bench points against shorthanded Penn State.

It took the better part of three quarters, but the seventh-seeded Boilermakers fought back from a 30-12 second-quarter deficit to beat the 10th-seeded Badgers in the third second-round game.

Wisconsin used a 20-5 run to take a 30-12 lead with 4:27 left in the first half.

The Boilermakers (19-9, 9-8 Big Ten) spent the rest of the game coming back. To within nine at the half, to within three entering the fourth.

Finally, with five seconds left, right after Wisconsin's Maty Wilke's three had given the Badgers a one-point lead, Jayla Smith took a pass from Jeanae Terry and hit a three to give Purdue the victory.

Abbey Ellis led the Boilermakers with 19 points, Cassidy Hardin had 10.

Wisconsin got 17 points each from Julie Pospisilova and Wilke.

Illinois' dynamic duo was too much for Rutgers' elite eight in the final second-round game.

Continuing their remarkable one-season turnaround, the Illini used the 1-2 punch of Makira Cook (24 points) and Genesis Bryant (21) to down Rutgers by 26 points.

Cook and Bryant combined to hit 18 of 24 shots and seven of 12 threes for the Illini, who shot 59.6% and made nine of 18 threes. The sixth-seeded Illini, who won just seven games last season, improved to 22-8 under first-year coach Shauna Green. Illinois will face Maryland in the quarterfinals Friday.

The 11th-seeded Scarlet Knights (12-20), who played their first season under coach Coquese Washington with an eight-player roster, were led by freshman Kaylene Smikle with 22 points and Chyna Cornwell with 14.