Rachel Sheffer

The Michigan women’s basketball team wrapped up the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament thanks to its past performance against some of the league’s better teams.

But the Wolverines had to survive quite a scare from last-place Illinois on Sunday afternoon to get there.

Rachel Sheffer scored on an inbounds play that started with 1 second remaining. She hit a short jump shot and was fouled with one-tenth of a second left and made the free throw to give the Wolverines a thrilling 58-55 win at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill.

Sheffer’s basket wiped out a strong effort from Illinois’ Adrienne GodBold, who scored eight of her 14 points in the final 4:08 as the teams went back-and-forth down the stretch. It was also the difference between a No. 3 seed and a No. 7 seed for the Wolverines at this week's postseason tournament.

Michigan (17-11, 10-6) started the day in a three-way tie for fourth place with conference pre-season favorites Ohio State (19-9, 10-6) and Iowa (22-7, 10-6). Both won Sunday, with the Buckeyes’ 80-47 thumping of Wisconsin (15-13, 10-6), which was tied for second, creating a four-way logjam in third place.

Thanks to its 5-0 record against Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa this season, Michigan earned the No. 3 seed according to Big Ten tie-breaking procedures.

Michigan led Illinois (7-22, 2-14) by as many as eight points in the second half and took a 47-40 advantage on two Courtney Boylan free throws with 8:25 left.

But Illinois rallied, pulling back within 49-47 on a Macie Blinn 3-pointer with 5:04 remaining. GodBold did the rest of the Illini scoring, including baskets that tied the game at 53-53 and 55-55 with 15 seconds remaining.

On Michigan’s final possession, Illinois’ Karisma Penn blocked a Boylan jumper. That set up Sheffer’s game-winner on the final inbounds play, triggered by Jenny Ryan, which followed a 30-second timeout.

It was the Wolverines' fifth Big Ten road win, a program record. It's also the first time Michigan has won 10 conference games and finished with a winning record in league play since the 2000-01 season.

Sheffer scored 13 of her game-high 23 points in the first half. She was the only Michigan starter with more than two points when the Wolverines went into halftime with a slim 28-25 lead.

Carmen Reynolds finished with 16 points and a team-high six rebounds for Michigan. Penn led Illinois with 15 points. (Boxscore)

The Wolverines will play a quarterfinal game at 2 p.m. Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. They'll face the winner of Thursday’s first-round game between No. 6 seed Wisconsin and No. 11 seed Illinois.

Michigan State (25-4, 13-3) is the tournament's No. 1 seed and Penn State (22-8, 11-5) is No. 2.