WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
media source avatar
Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 1/9/2024, Last updated: 3/15/2024
link picture
Copied!

Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Jan. 9-11

page picture

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 (JAN. 8-9)

BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - JAN. 9

  • Another busy week lies ahead for the Big Ten Conference with 14 games over five days, including seven on national platforms. Action begins Tuesday with a doubleheader on the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App) as RV Maryland visits RV Michigan State at 6 p.m. ET and Minnesota heads to NR/RV Michigan for an 8 p.m. ET tip. No. 3 Iowa and Purdue square off on Peacock at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday before another BTN doubleheader on Thursday as Rutgers travels to No. 17/16 Ohio State (6 p.m. ET) and RV/NR Nebraska hosts Illinois (8 p.m. ET). The nation will be treated to a Top 15 matchup on Saturday when No. 14/13 Indiana and No. 3 Iowa face off at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. The television slate concludes on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET with RV Michigan State and No. 17/16 Ohio State on BTN. This week’s remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).

  • Caitlin Clark earned her 24th career Big Ten Player of the Week award on Monday to become the all-time leader in conference history. She received her sixth honor of the season after contributing 34.5 points, 7.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game during Iowa’s 2-0 week. Clark totaled 40 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer to push the Hawkeyes past Michigan State. She followed up that performance with her 14th career triple-double on 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Rutgers. Clark was also selected as one of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), her fifth time this season, and named Associated Press National Player of the Week on Tuesday.

  • Rutgers’ matchup with Iowa produced a sellout crowd at Jersey Mike’s Arena, the first sellout since 2006 and first under head coach Coquese Washington.

  • Indiana is off to a 4-0 start in Big Ten play for the second time in program history and first time since 2019-20. The Hoosiers had a 22-point victory over Nebraska, the largest win in the all-time series with the Huskers.

  • Wisconsin claimed its first Big Ten victory of the season after taking down Illinois on the road, 67-61, behind double-doubles from Serah Williams (27 points, 15 rebounds) and Ronnie Porter (14 points, 12 rebounds).

  • The Big Ten leads all Division I conferences with a remarkable nine schools among the top 40 in the latest NET rankings (including four in the top 20, second behind the Pac-12) – No. 6 Iowa, No. 11 Indiana, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 17 Ohio State, No. 29 Nebraska, No. 30 Penn State, No. 33 Maryland, No. 37 Michigan and No. 39 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 six teams making an appearance in this week’s Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll. In the latest media survey, Iowa moved up to No. 3, Indiana remains at 14th and Ohio State gained three positions to sit at No. 17. Michigan State, Nebraska and Maryland are receiving votes.

  • The Big Ten has six programs in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll. Iowa checks in at No. 3, Indiana is up to 13th and Ohio State rises to No. 16. Michigan, Michigan State and Maryland are receiving votes.

  • 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 and six of the national top 25 scoring offenses reside in the Big Ten, led by Michigan State (3rd – 91.1), Iowa (4th – 90.6), Penn State (7th – 88.6), Ohio State (19th – 81.6), Indiana (20th – 81.3) and Maryland (21st – 80.9).

  • The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (77.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.350), free throw percentage (.733), field goal percentage (.458) and assists (16.8 apg).

  • As of Tuesday, the Big Ten features some of the best shooting teams in the country with four programs among the top 20, including four in the top 10, in field goal percentage. Indiana has the best percentage in the country at 52.1 percent, followed by Penn State (5th – .512), Iowa (7th – .509) and Michigan State (10th – .493). Penn State is also efficient from beyond the arc, ranking second in the nation with a 41.5 three-point percentage while Indiana checks in fifth at 39.5 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 Michigan State (6th – 20.6), Iowa (7th – 20.1), Indiana (10th – 19.9), Penn State (17th – 19.1) and Northwestern (22nd – 18.7). A quartet of Big Ten players rank among the top 25 nationally in assists – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (3rd – 7.6 apg), Northwestern’s Caroline Lau (12th – 6.3 apg), Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (20th – 5.9 apg) and Minnesota’s Amaya Battle (22nd – 5.9 apg).

  • Individually, Caitlin Clark (IOWA) leads the country in points (501), points per game (31.3) and assists (121). Serah Williams (WIS) and Julia Ayrault (MSU) are sixth (3.08) and 12th (2.57), respectively, in blocks per game. Mackenzie Holmes (IND) is shooting 66.9 percent from the field to rank fifth in field goal percentage, followed by Hannah Stuelke (IOWA) with a 65.5 clip to stand ninth and Kendall Bostic (ILL) at 64.5 percent to rank 10th. Mara Braun (MINN) has the third-best free throw percentage (93.6) 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 six 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 (6th – 8,974), Maryland (10th – 6,871), Ohio State (14th – 5,482), Nebraska (15th – 5,412) and Purdue (23rd – 4,826).

  • The Big Ten closed its non-conference slate with a combined 114-41 (.735) 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 will televise its first-ever Big Ten women’s basketball game on Jan. 21 when Iowa visits Ohio State at 12 p.m. ET. Peacock carried its first Big Ten women’s basketball broadcast on Jan. 2, a thriller between Michigan State and Iowa.

  • 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.