Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Jan. 31-Feb. 3

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Big Ten Weekly Release - Jan. 31

• 16 Big Ten teams will hit the hardwood on Sunday, with four games featured on national platforms while the remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information). RV Nebraska heads to Indiana for a noon ET outing on FS1, followed by Iowa welcoming No. 4 USC for a 1:30 p.m. ET tilt on FOX. A Big Ten Network (and FOX Sports app) doubleheader will round out the day, starting at 3 p.m. ET with No. 1 UCLA and RV Minnesota. Washington travels to No. 8 Ohio State for a 5 p.m. ET matchup.
• USC has sole possession of the top spot in the conference standings with a 9-0 mark, while UCLA is also undefeated sitting at 8-0. Ohio State has an 8-1 record to round out the top tier.
• Maryland head coach Brenda Frese is just one victory away from notching her 600th win at the helm for the Terps.  
• Wisconsin snapped an eight-game skid with an 82-75 win over Michigan. The Badgers banked 12 three-pointers, which tied for the fourth-best performance in program history.
• Oregon picked up its first road win over a ranked opponent since Dec. 13, 2020 by defeating No. 16 Michigan State, 63-59. It was also the first loss the Spartans had suffered at the Breslin Center this season.
• This week’s Associated Press (AP) poll featured five teams from the Big Ten. UCLA remained in the top spot and was joined by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 14 Maryland and No. 16 Michigan State. Michigan, Nebraska and Minnesota received votes.
• UCLA has spent 10 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25, a new Big Ten women’s basketball record for weeks atop the rankings.
• The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today poll featured five Big Ten teams this week. UCLA stayed at No. 1, followed by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 14 Maryland and No. 17 Michigan State. Minnesota, Nebraska and Michigan garnered votes.
• With a top-10 win over No. 8 Maryland, UCLA stretched its season record to 20-0, the best start in program history. The Bruins are the only undefeated team remaining in Division I women’s basketball.
• Through Thursday, two players are averaging at least 20 points per game during conference play – USC’s JuJu Watkins (23.8 ppg) and UCLA’s Lauren Betts (22.3 ppg). On the boards, Illinois’ Kendall Bostic (11.3 rpg) is the only player averaging double-digit rebounds.  
• The Big Ten leads all Division I conferences with 12 teams among the top 40 in the latest NET rankings, including five in the top 25 – No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 USC, No. 15 Ohio State, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 24 Maryland, No. 28 Minnesota, No. 30 Michigan, No. 33 Oregon, No. 35 Nebraska, No. 36 Illinois, No. 37 Iowa 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 Maryland (7th), Indiana (10th), Rutgers (11th), USC (13th), Michigan (16th) and Penn State (17th) with some of the toughest schedules this season based on NET rankings.
• As a team, USC leads the country behind 7.0 blocks per game while Minnesota stands fourth with a 1.70 assist/turnover ratio. UCLA averages 21.3 assists (4th), 45.3 rebounds (4th) and is shooting 49.5 percent from the field (5th). Ohio State owns the second-best turnover margin (+10.7) and Illinois has an 80.0 free throw percentage to check in fifth.
• Individually, the Big Ten has three players ranked in the top 10 in the nation in field goal percentage – Iowa’s Addison O’Grady (5th – 66.3), Penn State’s Gracie Merkle (6th – 66.2) and UCLA’s Lauren Betts (9th – 64.2). USC’s JuJu Watkins is sixth in the country in total points (491) and third in points per game (24.6). Illinois’ Kendall Bostic (11.2) and Wisconsin’s Serah Williams (10.9) stand seventh and ninth, respectively, in rebounds per game. Betts averages 3.0 blocks per game (4th) and teammate Kiki Rice has a 3.0 assist/turnover ratio (8th).
• Offensive production remains the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has five teams averaging more than 80 points per game, all of which are included among the nation’s top 20 scoring offenses – USC (9th – 83.7), UCLA (10th – 82.4), Ohio State (11th – 82.4), Michigan State (14th – 81.7) and Maryland (18th – 80.7).
• Big Ten teams have been passing the rock quite well this season as seven programs rank in the top 25 in the country in assists per game, led by UCLA (4th – 21.3), Michigan State (10th – 18.8), Northwestern (11th – 18.7), USC (19th – 18.1), Iowa (20th – 18.0), Penn State (21st – 18.0) and Nebraska (25th – 17.6).
• In the latest Massey ratings, the Big Ten is second in the nation among Division I conferences in strength of schedule, 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 (16.3 apg) while standing second in field goal percentage (.449) and points (74.4 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 – 8,696), Ohio State (13th – 6,097), Nebraska (15th – 5,458), Oregon (16th – 5,296), USC (21st – 4,974), Purdue (23rd – 4,869) and Illinois (24th – 4,853).
• Junior Lauren Betts swept the weekly awards after being tabbed as the AP National Player of the Week, one of five USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week and the Big Ten Player of the Week. Betts averaged 27.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 6.0 blocks and 2.7 assists during UCLA’s three-game road swing. She recorded a near triple-double (24 points, nine rebounds, nine blocks) in a win over No. 25 Baylor and set the program record for single-game blocks by a Bruin with nine rejections. The Centennial, Colo. native notched a 25-point, 13-rebound, five-block effort at Rutgers and finished with a career-high 33 points while shooting 93.9 percent from the field in a victory over No. 8 Maryland.
• USC’s Avery Howell was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday. Howell set career marks in points (18), made three-pointers (4) and steals (3) in the Trojans’ win at Purdue. She was also a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line, another career high.
• 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.