WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 2/20/2024, Last updated: 3/15/2024
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Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Feb. 20-22

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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. 19-20)

BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - FEB. 20

  • The Big Ten Conference has a loaded schedule with 13 games this week, including eight on national platforms. Action began Monday on FOX as Illinois defeated No. 12/14 Indiana, 86-66. Tuesday features a doubleheader on the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App) with Wisconsin-Minnesota at 7 p.m. ET and Northwestern-Nebraska at 9 p.m. ET. No. 2/2 Ohio State visits Penn State Thursday at 6 p.m. ET on BTN, followed by a Top 20 showdown between No. 4/4 Iowa and No. 14/16 Indiana slated for 8 p.m. ET on Peacock. Sunday has three contests, starting with Illinois heading to No. 4/4 Iowa for a 1 p.m. outing on FS1. Maryland travels to No. 2/2 Ohio State and Wisconsin hosts Purdue for a BTN doubleheader at 2 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET, respectively. This week’s remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).

  • Iowa’s Caitlin Clark was selected as one of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and tabbed as the Associated Press (AP) National Player of the Week on Tuesday. Clark set an Iowa single-game record with 49 points against Michigan to become the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball history with 3,569 points. She passed Washington’s Kelsey Plum’s previous record of 3,527 points to claim the NCAA scoring title with a logo three-pointer in the first quarter. Clark had 13 assists, five rebounds and a steal versus the Wolverines and tied her career mark with nine three-pointers. She was also named ESPN and Big Ten Player of the Week for her efforts.  

  • Illinois dominated at home to upset No. 14/12 Indiana, 86-66, and capture its first win over the Hoosiers since Feb. 23, 2013. The Fighting Illini snapped a 16-game losing streak in the series with Indiana. Illinois picked up its first win over a ranked opponent since Jan. 1, 2023 and the 20-point margin of victory was the largest by the Illini over the Hoosiers since Jan. 9, 2000.

  • Alexis Markowski produced a 20-point, 21-rebound effort to lead Nebraska past Purdue. Her career mark in boards tied the fourth-best rebounding total in school history.

  • Serah Williams grabbed 18 rebounds against Rutgers, the sixth-best mark all-time in a single game in Wisconsin's history. The win marked the Badgers' first-ever regular-season sweep of the Scarlet Knights in a series dating back to 1999.  

  • The Big Ten leads all Division I conferences with a remarkable 10 schools in the top 50 of the latest NET rankings (including three in the top 20) – No. 5 Iowa, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 17 Indiana, No. 21 Michigan State, No. 28 Penn State, No. 30 Nebraska, No. 31 Maryland, No. 44 Illinois, No. 47 Minnesota and No. 49 Michigan. 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. Ohio State remains at No. 2, tying its highest ranking in program history. Iowa and Indiana are steady at No. 4 and No. 14, respectively.

  • The Big Ten has three programs featured in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll. Ohio State is steadfast at No. 2, its highest ranking this season. Iowa stays at No. 4 and Indiana falls four spots to check in at No. 16. Michigan State continues to receive votes.

  • In the latest Massey Ratings, the Big Ten owns the country’s top offensive power rating, 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. Five 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 – 92.7), Michigan State (5th – 85.0), Penn State (6th – 84.5), Ohio State (13th – 80.9) and Indiana (17th – 80.3).

  • The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (75.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.349), free throw percentage (.740), field goal percentage (.452) and assists (16.3 apg).

  • With a 1.68 assist/turnover ratio, Michigan State sits at No. 2 in the NCAA’s national statistical rankings. Iowa (7th – 1.54) and Indiana (11th –1.42) are also included in the top 15. Individually, DeeDee Hagemann (MSU) comes in 12th at 2.76.

  • The Big Ten features some of the best shooting teams in the country with five programs among the top 20, including four in the top 10, in field goal percentage. Indiana has the best mark in the country at 51.8 percent, followed by Iowa (2nd – .506), Penn State (8th – .489), Michigan State (10th – .482) and Ohio State (17th – .469). Indiana, Penn State and Iowa are also efficient from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers lead the nation with a 41.0 three-point percentage while the Lady Lions check in sixth at 38.7 percent and Iowa ranks 10th with a 37.6 clip.

  • Big Ten teams have been passing the rock quite well this season as six programs rank in the top 25 in the country in assists, led by Iowa (1st – 21.2), Michigan State (9th – 19.0), Indiana (14th – 18.7), Northwestern (20th – 17.7), Ohio State (21st – 17.5) and Penn State (24th – 17.5). A quartet of Big Ten players rank among the top 25 nationally in assists – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (1st – 8.5 apg), Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (10th – 6.2 apg), Minnesota’s Amaya Battle (17th – 5.8 apg) and Northwestern’s Caroline Lau (24th – 5.4 apg).

  • Individually, Caitlin Clark (IOWA) leads the country in points (852), points per game (32.8) and assists (220). Serah Williams (WIS) is averaging 3.0 blocks per game, which is good enough for sixth. Mackenzie Holmes (IND) is shooting 65.4 percent from the floor to rank third in field goal percentage, followed by Hannah Stuelke (IOWA) at 63.9 percent for fifth and Kendall Bostic (ILL) with a 61.8 clip to stand 10th. 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 six in the top 20, with both figures leading all Division I conferences. Iowa is second nationally in attendance (14,998 fans per game), followed by Indiana (6th – 9,303), Maryland (9th – 7,799), Ohio State (11th – 7,090), Purdue (13th – 6,274) and Nebraska (16th – 6,148).

  • 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.

  • The Jan. 27 outing between Nebraska and Iowa drew 421,000 viewers, making it the most watched women’s basketball broadcast in Big Ten Network history.

  • The primetime battle on Feb. 3 between Iowa and Maryland averaged 1,578,000 viewers, the most watched women’s college basketball game ever on FOX.

  • 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.