WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 2/13/2024, Last updated: 3/15/2024
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Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Feb. 13-15

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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. 12-13)

BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - FEB. 13

  • The Big Ten Conference has 11 games on the docket this week, including five on national platforms. Minnesota and Rutgers open the schedule Tuesday night on the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App) at 7 p.m. ET. A pair of contests will be streamed on Peacock this Wednesday – RV/NR Nebraska and No. 2 Ohio State (7 p.m. ET) and No. 14/12 Indiana and Wisconsin (8 p.m. ET). The Big Ten is back on Peacock Thursday as Michigan heads to No. 4 Iowa for an 8 p.m. ET outing. The television slate wraps up Sunday on BTN with in-state rivals Michigan State and Michigan at noon ET. This week’s remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).

  • Four Big Ten student-athletes were named to the 2024 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year Midseason Team, the Atlanta Tipoff Club/Naismith Awards announced on Tuesday. Mackenzie Holmes (IND), Caitlin Clark (IOWA), Cotie McMahon (OSU) and Jacy Sheldon (OSU) are being considered for the award that recognizes the best player in college basketball.  

  • Indiana’s Chloe Moore-McNeil and Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke were selected as two of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week while Purdue’s Mary Ashley Stevenson was named Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on Tuesday. Moore-McNeil earned the first triple-double of her career on 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over Michigan State, just the fourth triple-double in school history. She added a career-high 22 points, five rebounds and five assists in the Hoosiers’ victory over Purdue. Stuelke led the Hawkeyes to a win over Penn State when she poured in a career-high 47 points on 17-of-20 shooting from the field to break the Carver-Hawkeye Arena record for points in a single game. She also tallied 15 points and six rebounds against Nebraska. Stevenson, the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week, posted a career-best 25 points, the most by a Purdue freshman since the 2010-11 campaign, and nine rebounds to beat Illinois. She was a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line, the first Boilermaker rookie to do so since the 2009-10 season. Stevenson also scored 16 points with an assist, block and steal against Indiana.

  • Nebraska’s Jaz Shelley was tabbed as the Associated Press (AP) National Player of the Week on Tuesday. Shelley, the Big Ten Player of the Week, scored 10 of her season-high 23 points in the final five minutes to help the Huskers erase a 14-point deficit and upset No. 2 Iowa. She went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe in the final 19 seconds to seal the victory while adding five assists, three rebounds and a steal to the stats sheet. Shelley also had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in a victory at Michigan.

  • Caitlin Clark ranks second on the NCAA’s all-time scorer’s list with 3,520 points, just eight points shy of passing Kelsey Plum for the top spot.

  • Graduate student Mackenzie Holmes broke Indiana’s all-time scoring record on Sunday. Holmes finished with 17 points against Purdue for a career total of 2,365 points, passing Tyra Buss’ 2,364 points amassed from 2014-18.  

  • Playing in front of a school-record, sellout crowd of 15,042 at Pinnacle Bank Arena and for a national audience on FOX, Nebraska battled for an 82-79 comeback win to take down No. 2 Iowa. The win tied for the highest-ranked foe Nebraska has ever defeated in program history.

  • With 31 points and 15 rebounds, Serah Williams earned the title for the most consecutive double-doubles in Wisconsin history with nine, passing Theresa Huff’s record (8) that stood for 41 years.

  • Three Terrapins posted double-doubles for the first time since 2020 in Maryland’s win over Illinois. Shyanne Sellers (18p, 11r), Allie Kubek (13p, 10r) and Jakia Brown-Turner (11p, 10r) all got in on the action.

  • DeeDee Hagemann became the ninth player in Michigan State history to reach 400 career assists with four helpers versus Ohio State.

  • The Big Ten is tied for the top spot among Division I conferences with a remarkable nine schools in the top 50 of the latest NET rankings (including four in the top 20, second behind the Pac-12) – No. 5 Iowa, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 11 Indiana, No. 23 Michigan State, No. 26 Penn State, No. 27 Nebraska, No. 33 Maryland, No. 41 Minnesota and No. 50 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 jumped three places to No. 2, tying its highest ranking in program history. Iowa dropped two spots to No. 4 while Indiana is holding steady at No. 14. Michigan State and Nebraska are receiving votes.

  • The Big Ten has three programs featured in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll. Ohio State climbed three spots to No. 2, its highest ranking this season. Iowa fell to No. 5 and Indiana gained a spot to check in at No. 12. 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 – 92.1), Penn State (5th – 86.0), Michigan State (6th – 85.6), Indiana (12th – 81.5) and Ohio State (17th – 80.9).

  • The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (75.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.348), free throw percentage (.740), field goal percentage (.452) and assists (16.4 apg).

  • With a 1.74 assist/turnover ratio, Michigan State sits at No. 1 in the NCAA’s national statistical rankings. Iowa (6th – 1.52) and Indiana (12th –1.43) are also included in the top 15. Individually, DeeDee Hagemann (MSU) comes in 11th at 2.90.

  • The Big Ten features some of the best shooting teams in the country with five programs among the top 25, including three in the top 10, in field goal percentage. Indiana has the best mark in the country at 52.2 percent, followed by Iowa (4th – .505), Penn State (6th – .506), Michigan State (11th – .482) and Ohio State (16th – .469). Indiana and Penn State are also efficient from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers lead the nation with a 41.1 three-point percentage while the Lady Lions check in fifth at 39.8 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 Iowa (1st – 21.0), Michigan State (8th – 19.4), Indiana (13th – 18.9), Northwestern (19th – 18.0) and Penn State (23rd – 17.8). A quartet of Big Ten players rank among the top 25 nationally in assists – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (1st – 8.3 apg), Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (15th – 5.8 apg), Northwestern’s Caroline Lau (T18th – 5.6 apg) and Minnesota’s Amaya Battle (T18th –5.6 apg).

  • Individually, Caitlin Clark (IOWA) leads the country in points (803), points per game (32.1) and assists (207). Serah Williams (WIS) is averaging 3.0 blocks per game, which is good enough for fifth. Mackenzie Holmes (IND) is shooting 65.6 percent from the floor to rank fourth in field goal percentage, followed by Hannah Stuelke (IOWA) at 63.8 percent for seventh and Kendall Bostic (ILL) with a 61.3 clip to stand 12th. 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 15, 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 – 7,662), Ohio State (11th – 7,088), Purdue (12th – 6,364) and Nebraska (14th – 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.