WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 1/16/2024, Last updated: 3/15/2024
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Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Jan. 16-18

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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 (JAN. 15-16)

BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - JAN. 16

  • It’s an action-packed week for the Big Ten Conference with 13 games, including six on national platforms. The schedule opens Tuesday on Peacock with Wisconsin visiting No. 2 Iowa at 9 p.m. ET. Wednesday features two contests streaming on Peacock – No. 18/15 Ohio State at NR/RV Maryland (7 p.m. ET) and Minnesota at No. 16 Indiana (8 p.m. ET). Thursday’s sole game features Purdue and Penn State at 7 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App). NBC will televise its first-ever Big Ten women’s basketball game on Sunday when No. 2 Iowa heads to No. 18/15 Ohio State at 12 p.m. ET. The television slate concludes with Purdue hosting No. 16 Indiana at 2 p.m. ET on Peacock. This week’s remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).

  • Caitlin Clark picked up her 25th career Big Ten Player of the Week award on Monday after averaging 28.0 points, 10.5 assists and 7.5 rebounds in a pair of Iowa wins. It is her fifth straight weekly laurel and seventh overall this season. She registered her fourth triple-double of the season behind 26 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds against Purdue and dropped 30 points, 11 assists and five rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes past No. 14/13 Indiana. It was her 46th career game with at least 30 points, the most in Iowa women’s basketball history. Clark was also tabbed as one of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) for the sixth time this season.

  • Illinois secured its first Big Ten win of the season by defeating Northwestern, 93-52. The Fighting Illini’s 93 points are the most in a conference road game since Feb. 14, 1999. The 41-point margin of victory is the largest in Big Ten play since Feb. 15, 1998 and the second-largest in a true road game in program history.

  • Penn State earned its 1,000th all-time victory with a 94-80 win over Rutgers, one of only 29 programs to achieve the feat.

  • Minnesota’s defense held Nebraska to just 58 points, tied for the second fewest in series history (30 games). The only other game where Minnesota held Nebraska to less points was on Jan. 3, 1979, when the Gophers defeated the Cornhuskers 63-55.

  • Iowa is off to its best start under head coach Lisa Bluder’s tenure at 17-1 overall. The last time the Hawkeyes started 17-1 was during the 1995-96 season. The squad also has a 6-0 mark in conference play for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign.

  • Shyanne Sellers became the 38th player in Maryland history to reach 1,000 career points after tallying 12 against Purdue.

  • Rutgers' Destiny Adams scored a career-high 33 points against Penn State, the first Scarlet Knight to do so in Big Ten play since Arella Guirantes on Feb. 22, 2020.

  • 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. 16 Michigan State, No. 17 Ohio State, No. 26 Maryland, No. 33 Penn State, No. 34 Nebraska and No. 35 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 four teams making an appearance in this week’s Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll. In the latest media survey, Iowa moves up to No. 2, its highest ranking since Nov. 13. Indiana drops to 16th, Ohio State falls to 18th and Michigan State is receiving votes for the seventh consecutive week.

  • The Big Ten has five programs in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll. Iowa gains a spot to come in second (first time back at No. 2 since Nov. 14), Ohio State rises to No. 15 and Indiana is down three spots to 16th. 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. Five Big Ten teams are averaging more than 80 points per game to ensure multiple national top 25 scoring offenses reside in the Big Ten, led by Iowa (3rd – 90.6), Michigan State (5th – 88.4), Penn State (6th – 87.6), Ohio State (19th – 81.4) and Maryland (22nd – 80.6).

  • The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (76.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.351), free throw percentage (.736), field goal percentage (.454) and assists (16.5 apg).

  • As of Tuesday, the Big Ten features some of the best shooting teams in the country with four programs among the top 15, including three in the top 10, in field goal percentage. Indiana ranks fourth at 51.0 percent, followed by Penn State (5th – .509), Iowa (6th – .509) and Michigan State (14th – .482). Penn State is also efficient from beyond the arc, ranking second in the nation with a 42.2 three-point percentage while Indiana checks in at 11th with 38.1 percent.

  • Big Ten teams have been passing the rock quite well this season as five programs rank in the top 20 in the country in assists, led by Iowa (7th – 20.2), Michigan State (9th – 19.9), Indiana (17th – 18.9), Penn State (18th – 18.7) and Northwestern (20th – 18.2). A quartet of Big Ten players rank among the top 25 nationally in assists – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (2nd – 7.9 apg), Northwestern’s Caroline Lau (16th – 6.0 apg), Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (21st – 5.8 apg) and Minnesota’s Amaya Battle (25th – 5.7 apg).

  • Individually, Caitlin Clark (IOWA) leads the country in points (557), points per game (30.9) and assists (142). Serah Williams (WIS) and Julia Ayrault (MSU) are fifth (3.21) and 17th (2.38), respectively, in blocks per game. Mackenzie Holmes (IND) is shooting 65.1 percent from the field to rank sixth in field goal percentage, followed by Hannah Stuelke (IOWA) with a 64.4 clip to stand eighth and Kendall Bostic (ILL) at 63.7 percent to rank ninth. Mara Braun (MINN) has the best free throw percentage (94.4) 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, 12 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 – 8,923), Maryland (10th – 6,916), Purdue (13th – 5,942), Nebraska (14th – 5,668) and Ohio State (16th – 5,639).

  • 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.