WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 2/6/2024, Last updated: 3/15/2024
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Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Feb. 6-8

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BIG TEN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL  |  BIG TEN STANDINGS  |  BIG TEN SCHEDULE & RESULTS

2023-24 BIG TEN STATISTICS (XML)  |  2023-24 BIG TEN STATISTICS (PDF) |  2023-24 BIG TEN MEDIA GUIDE

NCAA STATISTICS  |  NATIONAL TOP 25 POLLS (FEB. 5-6)

BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - FEB. 6

  • The first full week of February features 10 games on national platforms and began with a pair of contests Monday night on the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App). RV Michigan State took care of Minnesota, 76-65, and Purdue claimed a 77-72 overtime win versus Illinois. Action on BTN continues Tuesday with Maryland visiting Rutgers at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Big Ten has a Thursday doubleheader on Peacock with RV Michigan State and No. 14/13 Indiana at 7 p.m. ET, followed by No. 5 Ohio State and Minnesota at 9 p.m. ET. Penn State heads to No. 2 Iowa for a 9 p.m. ET matchup on BTN that night. Saturday’s lone contest will take place on BTN between Rutgers and Michigan at 2 p.m. ET. No. 2 Iowa is back on FOX this Sunday, taking on Nebraska at 1 p.m. ET. Illinois hosts Maryland at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 and No. 5 Ohio State travels to RV Michigan State for a 4 p.m. ET showdown on Peacock. This week’s remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).

  • Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark were chosen as two of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on Tuesday. Sheldon led the Buckeyes to a pair of wins, including a victory over No. 10/9 Indiana, by averaging 21.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.5 rebounds. She had 17 points, five assists and three steals against Wisconsin before dropping 25 points, four assists and three steals versus the Hoosiers. Clark, the Big Ten’s Player of the Week for the eighth time this season, contributed 36.5 points, 11.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds in Iowa’s two road wins. She netted 35 points against Northwestern to become the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer and had 38 points, 12 assists and six rebounds at Maryland. Clark ranks second on the NCAA’s all-time scorer’s list with 3,462 points, just 66 points shy of passing Kelsey Plum for the top spot.

  • Purdue’s Jeanae Terry dished 14 assists against Illinois, the second-most assists in a game in Boilermaker history. She also became the seventh player in Purdue history to record 500 assists. Mary Ashley Stevenson tallied 25 points, the most by a Boilermaker rookie since 2010.

  • Adalia McKenzie grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds for Illinois, 12 of which were offensive boards to tie the single-game program record.

  • Rutgers earned its first Big Ten win of the season and first overall victory since December in a hard-fought 71-70 battle with Nebraska.

  • Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder earned the first win of her tenure against Maryland in College Park with a 93-85 Hawkeye win. It was the first victory for the Hawkeyes in College Park since the 1992-93 season.

  • Maryland sold out the XFINITY Center for the fourth time in its history and first since the 2016-17 season when it hosted Iowa last Saturday.

  • The Big Ten leads all Division I conferences with a remarkable eight schools among the top 40 in the latest NET rankings (including four in the top 20, second behind the Pac-12) – No. 5 Iowa, No. 13 Indiana, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 25 Penn State, No. 32 Nebraska, No. 34 Maryland and No. 37 Minnesota. The NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) is the primary sorting tool used by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee for determining NCAA Tournament teams.

  • The Big Ten has three teams ranked, including two in the top five of this week’s Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll. Iowa gained a spot, getting back to No. 2 for the third time this season, while Ohio State jumped three places to sit at No. 5, its highest ranking this season. Indiana dropped to No. 14 and Michigan State is receiving votes.

  • The Big Ten has three programs featured in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll. Iowa and Ohio State both moved up two spots to No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, while Indiana fell to No. 13. Michigan State continues to receive votes.

  • In the latest Massey Ratings, the Big Ten owns the country’s top offensive power rating (97.7), while coming in second in the nation in strength of schedule for games played and third in strength of schedule for future games.

  • Offensive production continues to be the story for the Big Ten Conference as 10 different schools (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State) have scored 100 points in at least one game this season. Six Big Ten teams are averaging more than 80 points per game to ensure multiple national top 20 scoring offenses reside in the Big Ten, led by Iowa (1st – 91.9), Penn State (5th – 86.7), Michigan State (6th – 86.0), Ohio State (17th – 81.1), Maryland (19th – 80.3) and Indiana (20th – 80.2).

  • The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (76.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.348), free throw percentage (.741), field goal percentage (.452) and assists (16.3 apg).

  • With a 1.80 assist/turnover ratio, Michigan State sits at No. 1 in the NCAA’s national statistical rankings. Iowa (5th – 1.55) and Indiana (15th –1.45) are also included in the top 15. Individually, DeeDee Hagemann (MSU) comes in 13th at 2.75.

  • The Big Ten features some of the best shooting teams in the country with five programs among the top 25, including three in the top five, in field goal percentage. Indiana ranks third at 51.3 percent, followed by Penn State (4th – .509), Iowa (5th – .506), Michigan State (13th – .479) and Ohio State (22nd – .464). Penn State and Indiana are also efficient from beyond the arc. The Lady Lions rank second in the nation with a 41.1 three-point percentage while the Hoosiers check in fifth at 39.6 percent.

  • Big Ten teams have been passing the rock quite well this season as five programs rank in the top 25 in the country in assists, led by Iowa (1st – 21.0), Michigan State (7th – 19.8), Indiana (15th – 18.6), Penn State (19th – 18.2) and Northwestern (21st – 18.0). A quartet of Big Ten players rank among the top 25 nationally in assists – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (1st – 7.9 apg), Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (13th – 6.0 apg), Northwestern’s Caroline Lau (18th – 5.7 apg) and Minnesota’s Amaya Battle (22nd –5.6 apg).

  • Individually, Caitlin Clark (IOWA) leads the country in points (746), points per game (32.4) and assists (182). Serah Williams (WIS) is averaging 3.0 blocks per game, which is good enough for fifth. Mackenzie Holmes (IND) is shooting 66 percent from the floor to rank fourth in field goal percentage, followed by Kendall Bostic (ILL) with a 63.5 clip to stand seventh and Hannah Stuelke (IOWA) at 61.2 percent for 12th. Mara Braun (MINN) has the second-best free throw percentage (95.0) in the nation.

  • The Big Ten has consistently ranked among the top three conferences in women’s basketball attendance for the past three decades and that trend has continued into the 2023-24 season. Currently, 11 Big Ten schools rank among the top 50 in the nation in average attendance, including five in the top 15, with both figures leading all Division I conferences. Iowa is second nationally in attendance (14,998 fans per game), followed by Indiana (6th – 9,005), Maryland (9th – 7,662), Ohio State (11th – 7,088) and Purdue (12th – 6,364).

  • The Big Ten closed its non-conference slate with a combined 114-41 (.735) record. Big Ten teams dominated on their home courts with an 82-11 (.882) record. Among the 114 victories, five were over AP Top 25 opponents.

  • The 2023-24 schedule marks the most coverage on nationally distributed platforms in Big Ten women’s basketball history. Six Big Ten regular-season games will be televised on a broadcast platform, the most in conference history. NBC televised its first-ever Big Ten women’s basketball game on Jan. 21 when Ohio State upset Iowa and Peacock carried its first Big Ten women’s basketball broadcast on Jan. 2, a thriller between Michigan State and Iowa. The Ohio State-Iowa matchup on NBC and Peacock was the most-watched regular season women’s college basketball game on any network since 2010. Viewership peaked at 3.9 million viewers and the broadcast averaged 1.93 million viewers.

  • No. 16/13 Ohio State claimed a landmark non-conference 78-58 win at No. 20/22 Tennessee. It was just the second time in Tennessee’s history that the Lady Vols have lost in Thompson-Boling Arena by at least 20 points. Ohio State is only the second Big Ten Conference program to defeat Tennessee in Knoxville, joining Indiana. It was the first time in conference history that the Big Ten has posted multiple wins over Tennessee in back-to-back years – Ohio State and Indiana both claimed victories over the Lady Vols during the 2022-23 season – and has won five of its last six matchups with Tennessee.

  • No. 21/19 Indiana secured an impressive non-conference 71-57 victory over No. 19/21 Tennessee on Nov. 23. It was the second time in as many years that the Hoosiers have bested the Lady Vols and the largest margin of victory (14) in the four-game all-time series. Last year’s Hoosier win was the first time a Big Ten Conference school defeated Tennessee in Thompson-Boling Arena. The matchup scored 1,118,000 viewers to rank as FOX’s most-watched women’s college basketball game ever and the most watched regular season women’s college basketball game on any network since last season’s 1,466,000 viewers for LSU vs. South Carolina on ESPN.