The 2026 Big Ten women's basketball tournament (branded as the 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament for sponsorship reasons) was a postseason women's basketball tournament for the Big Ten Conference of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season which took place from March 4–8, 2026. The tournament was held at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Following the completion of the 2025–26 Big Ten Conference women's basketball regular season, the bracket was announced on March 1, 2026.2026 Allstate Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket Announced. Big Ten conference bigten.org, March 1, 2026 The top four seeds were UCLA, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota. Penn State, Northwestern, and Rutgers did not participate as the lowest three teams in the standings.
The UCLA Bruins were the tournament winner.UCLA Wins 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Crown. bigten.org, March 8, 2026Heron, Joshua - Undisputed champs: UCLA women's basketball beats Iowa for consecutive Big Ten Tournament titles. Indianapolis Star, March 8, 2026 As the tournament winner, the Bruins received the conference automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
Seeds The top 15 Big Ten schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. The top nine teams received a first round bye and the top four teams received a double bye.
SeedSchoolConferenceTiebreaker1 UCLA 18–02 Iowa 15–3 1–0 vs. MICH3 Michigan 15–3 0–1 vs IOWA4 Minnesota 13–5 1–0 vs. OSU5 Ohio State 13–5 0–1 vs. MINN6 Maryland 11–7 1–0 vs. MSU7 Michigan State 11–7 0–1 vs. MD8 Washington10–89 USC9–91–0 vs. ILL10 Illinois 9–90–1 vs. USC11 Oregon8-1012 Nebraska 7–1113 Indiana 6–1214 Purdue 5–13 1–0 vs. WIS15 Wisconsin 5–13 0–1 vs. PURDNQ Penn State 4–14DNQ Northwestern 2–16DNQ Rutgers 1–17
Schedule SessionGameTime*Matchup#ScoreTelevisionAttendance First round – Wednesday, March 4113:30 p.m.No. 13 Indiana vs. No. 12 Nebraska72–69Peacock/NBCSN6,58726:00 p.m.No. 15 Wisconsin vs. No. 10 Illinois70–8238:30 p.m.No. 14 Purdue vs. No. 11 Oregon64–82 Second round – Thursday, March 52412:00 p.m.No. 9 USC vs. No. 8 Washington64–76BTN5,96252:30 p.m.No. 13 Indiana vs. No. 5 Ohio State59–83366:30 p.m.No. 10 Illinois vs. No. 7 Michigan State71–69 5,14979:00 p.m.No. 11 Oregon vs. No. 6 Maryland73–68 Quarterfinals – Friday, March 64812:00 p.m.No. 8 Washington vs. No. 1 UCLA60–78BTN 5,14692:30 p.m.No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Minnesota60–555106:30 p.m.No. 10 Illinois vs. No. 2 Iowa58–64 6,053119:00 p.m.No. 11 Oregon vs. No. 3 Michigan58–80 Semifinals – Saturday, March 76122:00 p.m.No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 1 UCLA62–72BTN6,387134:30 p.m.No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 2 Iowa42–59 Championship – Sunday, March 87142:15 p.m.No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 1 UCLA45–96CBS6,451 *Game times in EST through the semifinals and EDT for the championship. #Rankings denote tournament seeding.
Bracket
* denotes overtime period
Game summaries First round
Second round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Championship
All-Tournament team Kiki Rice, UCLA (Most Outstanding Player) Lauren Betts, UCLA Ava Heiden, Iowa Chance Gray, Ohio State Hannah Stuelke, Iowa
Tournament notes New tournament records were set in the championship game by the UCLA Bruins in the victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes UCLA's 51 points was the largest margin of victory in a Big Ten Tournament Final. The previous record was Iowa's 33-point victory over Ohio State in the 2023 Big Ten women's basketball tournament. The Bruins' shooting percentage of 63.5 percent (40-for-63) from the field was the highest percentage by a team in any Big Ten Tournament game. The UCLA Bruins set the record for assists in any Big Ten Tournament game with 34 The UCLA Bruins tied the record for most steals in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game with 15. The UCLA 51 point margin of victory over number 8 ranked Iowa is the highest of a team over a top ten team in the NCAA era.Maloney, Jack - After 51-point rout of Iowa in Big Ten final, can UCLA steal the No. 1 overall seed from undefeated UConn? CBS Sports, March 8, 2026 Article Note, "UCLA has 18 Quad 1 wins, while UConn only has 10" For the second year in a row, a record-tying twelve Big Ten teams were invited to the 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament: UCLA, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan State, Washington, Illinois, Oregon, USC, and Nebraska.Big Ten Conference Ties Record with 12 Programs Headed to the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Big Ten conference, bigten.org, March 15, 2026 Five teams hosted first-round games. UCLA, Minnesota, and Michigan would advance to the Sweet Sixteen. UCLA defeated Minnesota to advance to the Elite Eight. The Bruins would win the 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game, defeating South Carolina. Wisconsin was invited to the 2026 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament.Wisconsin Chosen for 2026 WBIT Field. Big Ten Conference bigten.org, March 15, 2026 They lost in the semifinals to Columbia.Steppe, John - Wisconsin's season ends with WBIT semifinal loss to Columbia. USA Today (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), March 30, 2026
References