# 2012 Big Ten women's basketball tournament

The 2012 Big Ten women's basketball tournament was held from March 1 to March 4 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The tournament marked the debut of the University of Nebraska. The Big Ten Network carried all games except the championship game which was aired on ESPN2. Purdue won the tournament and received an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA tournament.

## Seeds

All 12 Big Ten schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by 2011–12 Big Ten Conference women's basketball season record. A new tie-breaking procedure was announced for the 2012 tournament for teams with identical conference records. The top 4 teams would receive a first round bye.
The seeding for the tournament was determined as the conference season concluded:
| Seed | School | Conf | 1st Tiebreak | 2nd Tiebreak | 3rd Tiebreak | 4th Tiebreak |
| Seed | School | Conf | Head-to-Head | Win% vs. #1 Seed | Win% vs. All D1 | Coin Flip |
| #1 | Penn State | 13–3 | | | | |
| #2 | Ohio State | 11–5 | 3–0 | | | |
| #3 | Iowa | 11–5 | 2–2 | | | |
| #4 | Purdue | 11–5 | 2–3 | | | |
| #5 | Michigan State | 11–5 | 1–3 | | | |
| #6 | Nebraska | 10–6 | | | | |
| #7 | Michigan | 8–8 | | | | |
| #8 | Minnesota | 6–10 | | | | |
| #9 | Wisconsin | 5–11 | 2–0 | | | |
| #10 | Illinois | 5–11 | 0–2 | | | |
| #11 | Northwestern | 4–12 | | | | |
| #12 | Indiana | 1–15 | | | | |

## Schedule

Source
| Session | Game | Time** | Matchup$^#$ | Television | Score |
| First round - Thursday, March 1 ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:30am | #7 Michigan vs. #10 Illinois | BTN | 68–53 |
| 1 | 2 | 2:00pm | #6 Nebraska vs. #11 Northwestern | BTN | 88–56 |
| 2 | 3 | 6:00pm | #8 Minnesota vs. #9 Wisconsin | BTN | 81–49 |
| 2 | 4 | 8:30pm | #5 Michigan State vs. #12 Indiana | BTN | 97–68 |
| Quarterfinals - Friday, March 2 ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 11:30am | #2 Ohio State vs. #7 Michigan | BTN | 57–48 |
| 3 | 6 | 2:00pm | #3 Iowa vs. #6 Nebraska | BTN | 68–80 |
| 4 | 7 | 6:00pm | #1 Penn State vs. #8 Minnesota | BTN | 78–74 |
| 4 | 8 | 8:30pm | #4 Purdue vs. #5 Michigan State | BTN | 73–64 |
| Semifinals - Saturday, March 3 ||||||
| 5 | 9 | 5:00pm | #2 Ohio State vs. #6 Nebraska | BTN | 62–77 |
| 5 | 10 | 7:30pm | #1 Penn State vs. #4 Purdue | BTN | 66–68 |
| Championship Game - Sunday, March 4 ||||||
| 6 | 11 | 4:00pm | #6 Nebraska vs. #4 Purdue | ESPN2 | 70–74* |
| * – Denotes overtime **Game Times in ET. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. ||||||

## Bracket

| First round Thursday, March 1 | First round Thursday, March 1 | First round Thursday, March 1 | Quarterfinals Friday, March 2 | Quarterfinals Friday, March 2 | Quarterfinals Friday, March 2 | Semifinals Saturday, March 3 | Semifinals Saturday, March 3 | Semifinals Saturday, March 3 | Championship game Sunday, March 4 | Championship game Sunday, March 4 | Championship game Sunday, March 4 |
| | | | 2 | Ohio State | 57 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Michigan | 48 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Michigan | 68 | 7 | Michigan | 48 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Illinois | 53 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Illinois | 53 | | | | 2 | Ohio State | 62 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Nebraska | 77 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Iowa | 68 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Nebraska | 80 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Nebraska | 88 | 6 | Nebraska | 80 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Northwestern | 56 | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Northwestern | 56 | | | | | | | 6 | Nebraska | 70 |
| | | | | | | | | | 4 | Purdue | 74* |
| | | | 1 | Penn State | 78 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Minnesota | 74 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Minnesota | 81 | 8 | Minnesota | 74 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 49 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 49 | | | | 1 | Penn State | 66 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Purdue | 68 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Purdue | 73 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Michigan State | 64 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Michigan State | 97 | 5 | Michigan State | 64 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Indiana | 68 | | | | | | | | | |
All game times are ET. * – Denotes overtime