Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Jan. 2-6

Big Ten Weekly Release - Jan. 2

The first weekend of 2025 features seven Big Ten Conference games, including four nationally televised contests. No. 1 UCLA heads to Indiana on Saturday for a noon ET outing on FOX. Fans can tune into the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App) at 3:30 p.m. ET to catch Wisconsin visiting Oregon. A top-25 battle is slated for Sunday between No. 23/22 Iowa and No. 8/7 Maryland in Iowa City at 6 p.m. ET on BTN. Rutgers closes out the network’s doubleheader by hosting No. 4/5 USC at 8 p.m. ET.
Multiple student-athletes from the Big Ten picked up national recognition for their performances last week. Elle Ladine (WASH), Kaylene Smikle (MD) and JuJu Watkins (USC) were tabbed as three of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Ladine dropped a career-high 40 points to top Northwestern and earn the first weekly honor from the USBWA for a Washington player since 2017. Smikle added 19 points, four boards and two assists to help lead Maryland to victory over then-No. 19 Michigan State. Watkins scored 31 points, including 13-of-14 from the line, with five rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks in the Trojans’ win over then-No. 23 Michigan. Watkins also earned Associated Press National Player of the Week laurels for the second consecutive week.
UCLA head coach Cori Close earned her 300th victory at the helm for the Bruins as her team defeated Nebraska, 91-54.
Genesis Bryant went 16-for-17 at the charity stripe against Oregon, tying Illinois’ single-game record and the Big Ten’s second-best mark for free throws made in a conference game.
This week’s Associated Press (AP) poll featured seven teams from the Big Ten. UCLA remained in the top spot and was joined by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Maryland, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 21 Michigan State, No. 23 Iowa and No. 24 Michigan. Nebraska and Illinois received votes.
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today poll featured six Big Ten teams this week. UCLA stayed at No. 1, followed by No. 5 USC, No. 7 Maryland, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 21 Michigan State and No. 22 Iowa. Michigan, Illinois and Nebraska garnered votes.
The Big Ten leads all Division I conferences with 12 teams among the top 50 in the latest NET rankings (including six in the top 25, which ranks second) – No. 3 UCLA, No. 6 USC, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 21 Maryland, No. 24 Michigan, No. 28 Minnesota, No. 30 Iowa, No. 36 Nebraska, No. 37 Oregon, No. 38 Indiana and No. 40 Illinois. 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.
Individually, the Big Ten has five players ranked in the top 20 in the nation in field goal percentage – Iowa’s Addison O’Grady (3rd – 69.4), Penn State’s Gracie Merkle (5th – 67.3), Ohio State’s Ajae Petty (10th – 63.3), UCLA’s Kiki Rice (14th – 61.1) and Lauren Betts (16th – 60.2). USC’s JuJu Watkins leads the country in total points (354) and ranks third in points per game (25.3). Wisconsin’s Serah Williams is among the best nationally in double-doubles (3rd – 10), rebounds per game (4th – 12.1) and blocks per game (5th – 2.79).
Offensive production remains the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has six teams averaging more than 80 points per game, five of which are included among the nation’s top 20 scoring offenses – Ohio State (10th – 85.9), Maryland (12th – 85.0), USC (14th – 83.9), UCLA (15th – 83.6) and Michigan State (16th – 83.6).
In the latest Massey ratings, the Big Ten owns the country’s toughest strength of schedule among Division I conferences while coming in second in the nation for overall strength, power rating, offensive power to score and strength of schedule for future games.
The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in assists (16.8 apg) while standing second in field goal percentage (.457) and rebounds (40.0 rpg).
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 2024-25 season. Currently, 13 Big Ten schools rank among the top 50 in the nation in average attendance, including nine in the top 25, with both figures leading all Division I conferences. Iowa is second nationally in attendance (14,998 fans per game), followed by Indiana (4th – 10,412), Maryland (9th – 8,113), Ohio State (13th – 5,433), Nebraska (17th – 5,085), UCLA (18th – 5,051), Oregon (19th – 5,048), Illinois (24th – 4,889) and USC (25th – 4,873).
The Big Ten has faced numerous ranked non-conference opponents this season and has handed out its fair share of upsets – Oregon def. No. 12 Baylor, 76-74; Illinois def. No. 19 Florida State, 83-74; No. 18 Maryland def. No. 11 Duke, 85-80; Indiana def. No. 24 Stanford, 79-66; No. 5 UCLA def. No. 1 South Carolina, 77-62; Indiana def. No. 18 Baylor, 73-65; No. 21 Iowa def. No. 18 Iowa State, 75-69; No. 7 USC def. No. 4 UConn, 72-70.
On Dec. 2, for the first time in the history of the Big Ten Conference, nine women’s basketball teams were ranked in the Associated Press (AP) poll. The last time any conference had nine teams ranked in the AP poll was in 1996. UCLA remained in the top spot and was joined by No. 6 USC, No. 7 Maryland, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 17 Iowa, No. 21 Illinois, No. 23 Michigan, No. 24 Michigan State and No. 25 Nebraska.
On Nov. 25, UCLA received 20 first-place votes to overtake South Carolina for the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press (AP) poll. The Bruins handed the Gamecocks their first loss of the season to earn the first No. 1 ranking in program history.
DOWN GOES NO. 1! In front of a sellout crowd at Pauley Pavilion, No. 5 UCLA took down the defending national champions in No. 1 South Carolina, 77-62, on Nov. 24. The win marked the first victory for the Bruins over a number one ranked opponent in program history and snapped the Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak. South Carolina hadn’t lost since falling to Iowa in the Final Four of the 2023 NCAA Tournament and it was the first road defeat for the Gamecocks since December 2021.
Rutgers legend Cappie Pondexter was selected as one of seven inductees into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2025 class. Pondexter, who was inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016, led the Scarlet Knights to back-to-back BIG EAST Championships in 2005 and 2006. She was the first player to earn All-BIG EAST First Team laurels four times in the history of the league and ranks third in Rutgers history with 2,211 career points. Pondexter was the second overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. She went on to win two WNBA titles with the Mercury, be named Finals MVP in 2007, earn seven All-Star appearances and win a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
The new era of Big Ten women’s basketball got off to a hot start as programs won more than 87 percent of their games during the first week of the 2024-25 campaign. The stellar results included five wins over AP Top 25 opponents, including three upsets.
The 2024-25 television schedule features the most coverage on nationally distributed platforms in Big Ten women’s basketball history. Twelve Big Ten matchups, including eight regular season games, will be televised on a broadcast platform via NBC or FOX, the most in conference history. All 162 conference games will be nationally produced or distributed for the 11th consecutive season.
The 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament is set for March 5-9 inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. This will mark the 26th time the tournament has been held in Indianapolis since the event began in 1982. The tournament will be the first to feature a 15-team field. Peacock will televise the opening three games on Wednesday, with second-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday slated for the Big Ten Network. CBS will broadcast Sunday’s championship game for the second year in a row.

Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Jan. 2-6

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