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

Big Ten Weekly Release - Dec. 10

Final exams are on the horizon and the Big Ten has a full slate of non-conference games. This week’s schedule is highlighted by the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series between No. 18/17 Iowa State and No. 21/24 Iowa. The Hawkeyes host the Cyclones on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET live on FS1. The lone Big Ten matchup will take place on Sunday when No. 21/24 Iowa visits No. 17/19 Michigan State for a 12 p.m. ET outing on the Big Ten Network.
This week’s Associated Press (AP) poll featured eight teams from the Big Ten. UCLA remained in the top spot and was joined by No. 5 USC, No. 7 Maryland, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 20 Michigan, No. 21 Iowa and No. 24 Nebraska. Illinois received votes. The Big Ten led the charge with the most ranked teams.
Michigan State moved up seven spots in the AP poll and is off to the best start in program history with a 9-0 record. It is the highest ranking for the Spartans since they were 15th in 2019.
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today poll featured seven Big Ten teams this week. UCLA stayed at No. 1, followed by No. 5 USC, No. 7 Maryland, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 24 Iowa and No. 25 Illinois. Nebraska and Michigan garnered votes.
The Big Ten paces all Division I conferences with 129 non-conference wins so far this season, followed by the SEC (124), Big 12 (123) and ACC (121).
Offensive production remains the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has eight teams averaging more than 80 points per game, all of which are included among the nation’s top 25 scoring offenses – Michigan State (5th – 91.4), Ohio State (9th – 88.4), USC (13th – 85.8), Nebraska (16th – 84.3), Maryland (18th – 84.1), UCLA (21st – 83.7), Michigan (23rd – 82.9) and Penn State (25th – 82.6).
The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in field goal percentage (.462) and assists (16.7 apg), while standing second in scoring (77.0 ppg) and rebounds (41.0 rpg).
So far this season, the Big Ten has faced 15 ranked non-conference opponents. This includes numerous 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.
Sophomore JuJu Watkins was named Big Ten Player of the Week, AP National Player of the Week and one of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). She averaged 30.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks last week. Watkins set a new USC record with nine made three-pointers against Cal Baptist and shot a career-high 9-for-11 from beyond the arc on her way to a season-best 40 points.
Olivia Olson picked up Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors with a game-high 18 points and six rebounds against Northwestern. She started the fourth quarter on a solo 8-0 run to erase Michigan’s deficit and help lead the squad to victory over the Wildcats.
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 - Dec. 10-16

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