Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Feb. 10-16

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Big Ten Statistics | NCAA Statistics | National Top 25 Polls (Feb. 9-10)

Big Ten Weekly Release - Feb. 10

Big Ten. Big News.

• The Big Ten will have 11 contests featured on national platforms this week, while the remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information). A top 15 outing is slated for Wednesday night when No. 13 Michigan State hosts No. 2 UCLA at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock. Another ranked clash takes place Sunday with No. 20/17 Maryland visiting No. 8 Ohio State at 2 p.m. ET on FS1. Action continues on the network at 4 p.m. ET with No. 7 Michigan welcoming No. 13 Michigan State.
• UCLA owns possession of the top spot in the conference standings with an unblemished 13-0 record. Michigan and Ohio State have 11-2 marks, followed by Iowa at 9-3.
• Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge and UCLA’s Kiki Rice were tabbed as two of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on Tuesday. Cambridge averaged 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in two wins for the Buckeyes. She became the 40th player in Ohio State history to score 1,000 career points as she chipped in 19 against Oregon. Rice, who was also recognized as the Big Ten’s Co-Player of the Week on Monday, had a 17-point, seven-rebound, three-steal effort versus Rutgers. She finished with 20 points, four rebounds and two steals at No. 8 Michigan. Rice delivered 16 points in the second half, shooting 4-for-7 from the field and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe against the Wolverines.
• Indiana’s Shay Ciezki was selected as the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on Monday after scoring 31 points while shooting 63.2 percent with nine rebounds and a season-high five steals at Wisconsin. She led the Hoosiers with 29 points and 12 rebounds against Purdue for her second double-double of the season. Her team-best eight assists were just shy of a triple-double.
• For the fifth time this season, USC’s Jazzy Davidson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. She paced the Trojans at Northwestern behind 21 points, six assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block. Davidson scored a career-high 27 points with eight rebounds and eight assists at Illinois.
• The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in assists (16.8 apg), field goal percentage (.455), three-point field goal percentage (.343) and free throw percentage (.736), while ranking second in scoring (76.0 ppg).
• Through games on Feb. 9, the Big Ten boasts 10 teams in the top 25 and 12 in the top 50 of the NCAA’s NET Rankings, the top marks among all conferences. UCLA paces the Big Ten contingent at No. 2, followed by No. 6 Michigan, No. 10 Minnesota, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 14 Maryland, No. 15 Iowa, No. 17 Ohio State, No. 20 USC, No. 23 Oregon, No. 25 Nebraska, No. 31 Washington and No. 34 Illinois.
• Through Monday’s contests, Big Ten teams have combined to win 59 Quad 1 games, the most among Division I conferences, with 12 teams posting at least two Quad 1 wins. UCLA leads the country with 13 Quad 1 victories and the Big Ten is the only conference that has seven teams with at least four Quad 1 wins.
• Every day is a battle as the Big Ten has 12 teams in the top 25 for NET strength of schedule – UCLA (1st), USC (2nd), Penn State (4th), Iowa (5th), Michigan (7th), Rutgers (11th), Purdue (15th), Northwestern (16th), Maryland (17th), Illinois (22nd), Indiana (24th) and Ohio State (25th).
• This week’s Associated Press (AP) poll featured seven teams from the Big Ten. UCLA held steady at No. 2 and was joined by No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 15 Iowa, No. 20 Maryland and No. 25 Washington. Minnesota and Illinois received votes.
• Six programs made an appearance in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll – No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 12 Iowa, No. 13 Michigan State and No. 17 Maryland. Minnesota, Washington and Nebraska garnered votes.
• Illinois currently leads the nation shooting 82.0 percent from the free throw line. UCLA ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (1.72), assists per game (22.4), field goal percentage (.518) and rebound margin (15.2). Iowa is third in assists per game (21.2) while Minnesota has a 1.64 assist/turnover ratio to come in third.
• The Big Ten has multiple individuals leading the country in statistical categories, including Northwestern’s Carolina Lau with 8.8 assists per game and Penn State’s Gracie Merkle in field goal percentage (.746).
• Seven of the nation’s best long-range shooters reside in the Big Ten. Iowa’s Chit-Chat Wright (2nd – .476) leads the pack, followed by Indiana’s Shay Ciezki (5th – .466), Minnesota’s Grace Grocholski (7th – .463), UCLA’s Gianna Kneepkens (9th – .461), Nebraska’s Logan Nissley (10th – 46.0), Wisconsin’s Destiny Howell (17th – .438) and Michigan State’s Emma Shumate (19th – .436).
• Offensive production continues to be the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has seven teams ranked in the top 25 in field goal percentage – UCLA (2nd – .518), Michigan State (7th – .490), Iowa (9th – .487), Nebraska (11th – .485), Indiana (13th – .479), Michigan (14th – .476) and Ohio State (22nd – .464).
• Sharing the rock comes naturally for the Big Ten with seven teams featured in the top 25 rankings for assists per game, including five in the top 15 – UCLA (2nd – 22.4), Iowa (3rd – 21.1), Nebraska (10th – 18.6), Michigan State (12th – 18.5), Ohio State (15th – 18.2), Northwestern (21st – 18.0) and Oregon (22nd – 17.9).
• Illinois hosted USC on Feb. 8 inside a sold-out State Farm Center. The game was played in front of a capacity crowd of 15,544, the program’s first sellout since 1999.
• Olivia Olson became the 32nd member of the 1000-point club at Michigan in just 58 games, which tied for the third-fastest in program history.
• Ohio State defeated Washington, 70-60, for head coach Kevin McGuff’s 500th career win. It was his first win against the Huskies in Seattle since coaching for Washington from 2011-13.
• Purdue fifth-year Madison Layden-Zay became the second player in Big Ten history, alongside Cailtin Clark, to amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 200 steals, 200 three-pointers and 50 blocks in a career.
• HISTORY. MADE. The Big Ten is the first conference to ever have nine teams ranked in three different Associated Press (AP) polls in a single season – Dec. 8, Dec. 15 and Jan. 5. The Big Ten has had nine programs ranked in the AP poll four times, first achieved on Dec. 2, 2024, and is the only conference to have nine ranked teams since 1996.
• The Big Ten had a 170-33 (.837) combined record in non-conference play this season, which ranked second behind the SEC (197-24, .891) and ahead of the Big 12 (156-39, .800) and ACC (144-72, .667).
• Big Ten Conference Deputy Commissioner and Michigan women’s basketball great Diane Dietz was honored Jan. 11 with the lifting of her No. 21 jersey into the rafters at the Crisler Center. Dietz, who competed in Maize and Blue from 1979-82, was the program’s first 2,000-point scorer, a record that stood for more than 30 years. She still ranks fourth all-time in scoring with 2,076 points, a feat she achieved before the addition of the three-point line to the women’s game. Dietz is also second all-time in 30-point games (11) and in field goals made (940) and is only one of two players with at least 900 makes. She graduated as the Wolverines’ all-time leader in steals (229), a mark that currently ranks fourth in program history. Dietz was also a standout in the classroom and is one of only two Michigan student-athletes to have been inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame (2009). The three-time Academic All-American was the first female recipient of the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1982, which is considered the most prestigious honor a Big Ten student-athlete can receive. Dietz was inducted into the Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and is a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame after her induction in 2019.
• The 2025-26 season will be the final ride for storied Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown, who announced on March 24 that he intends to retire at the conclusion of season. McKeown is the longest-tenured and winningest head women’s basketball coach in Northwestern history. This is his 18th season in Evanston and his 40th season overall as a head coach.
• Each Big Ten institution will play an 18-game conference schedule for the seventh time in eight seasons. During the conference season, each program will play one school both home and away, while facing 16 teams once. Of the single-play opponents, institutions will face eight at home and eight on the road.
• The 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament is set for March 4-8 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, marking the 27th time the tournament will be played in Circle City. Fifteen teams will qualify for the tournament, with three first-round games slated for Wednesday, March 4 on Peacock. The second-round, quarterfinal and semifinal contests on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be carried on the Big Ten Network. CBS will broadcast the championship game for the third year in a row on Sunday.