Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Jan. 21-23

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Big Ten Weekly Release - Jan. 21

• Seven of the Big Ten’s 13 games will be featured on national platforms this week, while the remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information). A doubleheader on Peacock is slated for Wednesday with No. 4/5 USC visiting Purdue at 7 p.m. ET and Washington hosting Iowa at 9 p.m. ET. A top-25 tilt will take place between No. 24/RV Michigan and No. 23/24 Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET on B1G+.
• Thursday tips off with a top-15 clash at 6 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports app) as No. 12 Ohio State welcomes No. 8/10 Maryland to Columbus. Rutgers hosts No. 1 UCLA at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 before Illinois and Northwestern meet at 8 p.m. ET on BTN. In-state foes No. 21/22 Michigan State and No. 24/RV Michigan are set to face off Saturday in Ann Arbor at noon ET on BTN. Another top-10 outing will be showcased on NBC when No. 1 UCLA and No. 8/10 Maryland collide at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
• Maryland’s Shyanne Sellers was selected as the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday. She powered the Terrapins to a 99-92 victory over No. 24 Minnesota with a season-high 27 points while adding nine rebounds and seven assists to the stats sheet. The senior shot 81.8 percent from the field while going 6-for-6 at the free throw line and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to earn the second conference player of the week laurel of her career.
• Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge and Nebraska’s Britt Prince were named Big Ten Co-Freshmen of the Week on Monday. Prince also earned Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week honors from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on Tuesday. Cambridge had 27 points, four assists and a career-high eight rebounds in the Buckeyes’ 69-60 road win at Wisconsin. Prince scored 22 points to propel Nebraska to an 87-84 overtime win against Iowa. She registered career marks in three-pointers (5) and steals (6) while chipping in seven rebounds and five assists.
• Heading into this week, USC owns sole possession of the top spot in the conference standings at 7-0. UCLA is also undefeated at 6-0 while Ohio State and Maryland both have 6-1 records.
• 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. 12 Ohio State, No. 21 Michigan State, No. 23 Minnesota and No. 24 Michigan. Nebraska received votes.
• 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. 10 Maryland, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 22 Michigan State, No. 24 Minnesota and No. 25 Nebraska. Michigan garnered votes.
• UCLA closed out its non-conference slate with a dominant 72-57 win over No. 25 Baylor on Monday. Junior Lauren Betts set the Bruins’ single-game record for blocks after swatting nine shots against the Bears.  
• Nebraska tied a Pinnacle Bank Arena record with 16 made three-pointers while hosting Wisconsin and is on a 15-game home win streak.
• On a historic sold-out afternoon on Jan. 18 at Alaska Airlines Arena, Washington honored Husky legend Kelsey Plum by lifting her No. 10 jersey into the rafters. Plum became the first Washington women’s basketball player to have her jersey retired and sixth Husky overall.
• For the first time since Feb. 20, 2012, Penn State secured a victory over a top-10 opponent after handing No. 9 Ohio State its first loss of the season, 62-59. It was the first win of 2025 for the Lady Lions and first conference victory of the season.
• Through Tuesday, three players are averaging at least 20 points per game during conference play – USC’s JuJu Watkins (25.5 ppg), UCLA’s Lauren Betts (20.1 ppg) and Washington’s Elle Ladine (20.1 ppg). On the boards, a trio averages at least 10 rebounds per game – Illinois’ Kendall Bostic (11.4 rpg), Rutgers’ Destiny Adams (10.7 rpg) and Wisconsin’s Serah Williams (10.2 rpg). Adams is the only player averaging a double-double in conference action.
• The Big Ten leads all Division I conferences with 12 teams among the top 40 in the latest NET rankings, including six in the top 25 (which ranks second) – No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 USC, No. 15 Ohio State, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 23 Maryland, No. 25 Michigan, No. 28 Minnesota, No. 30 Nebraska, No. 36 Oregon, No. 37 Iowa, No. 38 Illinois and No. 39 Indiana. 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.
• Purdue currently has the second-toughest NET strength of schedule in the country. The Boilermakers are joined by USC (6th), Indiana (16th), Rutgers (17th), Iowa (22nd), Penn State (23rd), Michigan (24th) and Illinois (25th) with some of the toughest schedules this season based on NET rankings.
• There are only two undefeated Division I teams remaining this season – UCLA (18-0) and LSU (20-0).  
• Individually, the Big Ten has three players ranked in the top 10 in the nation in field goal percentage – Iowa’s Addison O’Grady (4th – 66.7), Penn State’s Gracie Merkle (6th – 65.1) and UCLA’s Lauren Betts (9th – 61.4). USC’s JuJu Watkins is fourth in the country in total points (455) and third in points per game (25.3). Wisconsin’s Serah Williams (11.4) and Illinois’ Kendall Bostic (11.2) stand sixth and seventh, respectively, in rebounds per game.
• Offensive production remains the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has six teams averaging more than 80 points per game, all of which are included among the nation’s top 20 scoring offenses – USC (9th – 84.1), Ohio State (10th – 83.4), Michigan State (13th – 82.6), UCLA (14th – 82.3), Maryland (15th – 82.2) and Michigan (20th – 81.4).
• In the latest Massey ratings, the Big Ten is second in the nation among Division I conferences in 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 (16.4 apg) while standing second in field goal percentage (.450) and points (75.0 ppg).
• 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, 14 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 – 10,718), Maryland (8th – 8,201), Ohio State (13th – 5,987), Oregon (15th – 5,275), Nebraska (19th – 5,098), USC (21st – 4,974), Illinois (23rd – 4,918) and Purdue (25th – 4,646).
• The Big Ten closed out its non-conference slate with a .841 win percentage, outperforming the SEC (.808), Big 12 (.776) and ACC (.753).
• 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.