WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 2/9/2024, Last updated: 3/15/2024
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Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Feb. 9-12

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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. 5-6)

BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - FEB. 9

  • The Big Ten Conference continues to showcase its talent on national platforms this weekend. Saturday’s lone contest will take place on BTN between Rutgers and Michigan at 2 p.m. ET. No. 2 Iowa is back on FOX this Sunday, taking on Nebraska at 1 p.m. ET. Illinois hosts Maryland at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 and No. 5 Ohio State travels to RV Michigan State for a 4 p.m. ET showdown on Peacock. This week’s remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).

  • Ohio State’s Celeste Taylor and Wisconsin’s Serah Williams were named as two of 15 players to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday.

  • Caitlin Clark added 27 points against Penn State to bring her career total to 3,489 points. She ranks second on the NCAA’s all-time scorer’s list, just 39 points shy of passing Kelsey Plum for the top spot. Clark also became the Big Ten’s all-time leader in field goals made with 1,145.

  • Chloe Moore-McNeil tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against Michigan State for the first triple-double of her career and fourth in Indiana history. She is one of only two Hoosiers to ever record a triple double.

  • Hannah Stuelke broke Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena single-game scoring record with a career-high 47 points versus Penn State while Caitlin Clark tied the venue’s mark with a career-best 15 assists.

  • Mackenzie Holmes is on her way to becoming Indiana’s all-time scoring leader. She has 2,348 career points and needs 17 to pass Tyra Buss’ record of 2,364 points.

  • The Big Ten is second among Division I conferences with a remarkable seven schools in the top 40 of the latest NET rankings (including four in the top 20, second behind the Pac-12) – No. 5 Iowa, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 13 Indiana, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 25 Penn State, No. 31 Nebraska and No. 35 Maryland. 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. Iowa gained a spot, getting back to No. 2 for the third time this season, while Ohio State jumped three places to sit at No. 5, its highest ranking this season. Indiana dropped to No. 14 and Michigan State is receiving votes.

  • The Big Ten has three programs featured in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll. Iowa and Ohio State both moved up two spots to No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, while Indiana fell to No. 13. Michigan State continues to receive votes.

  • In the latest Massey Ratings, the Big Ten owns the country’s top offensive power rating (97.7), 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), Penn State (5th – 87.0), Michigan State (6th – 86.2), Indiana (17th – 80.9) and Ohio State (18th – 80.7).

  • The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (76.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.348), free throw percentage (.740), field goal percentage (.452) and assists (16.4 apg).

  • With a 1.78 assist/turnover ratio, Michigan State sits at No. 1 in the NCAA’s national statistical rankings. Iowa (6th – 1.54) and Indiana (14th –1.41) are also included in the top 15. Individually, DeeDee Hagemann (MSU) comes in 11th at 2.95.

  • 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 five, in field goal percentage. Indiana holds the highest mark in the nation at 51.9 percent, followed by Iowa (4th – .507), Penn State (5th – .500), Michigan State (11th – .484) and Ohio State (22nd – .464). Penn State and Indiana are also efficient from beyond the arc. The Lady Lions rank third in the nation with a 40.4 three-point percentage while the Hoosiers check in fifth at 40.1 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 (1st – 21.1), Michigan State (7th – 19.5), Indiana (14th – 18.9), Penn State (19th – 18.2) and Northwestern (20th – 18.0). A quartet of Big Ten players rank among the top 25 nationally in assists – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (1st – 8.2 apg), Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (15th – 6.0 apg), Northwestern’s Caroline Lau (T21st – 5.6 apg) and Minnesota’s Amaya Battle (T21st –5.6 apg).

  • Individually, Caitlin Clark (IOWA) leads the country in points (772), points per game (32.2) and assists (197). Mackenzie Holmes (IND) is shooting 66.4 percent from the floor to rank fourth in field goal percentage, followed by Hannah Stuelke (IOWA) with a 63.8 clip for seventh and Kendall Bostic (ILL) at 63 percent to stand eighth. Mara Braun (MINN) has the best free throw percentage (95.0) in the nation. Sara Scalia (IND) and Madison Layden (PUR) are 11th (.447) and 15th (.442), respectively, in three-point percentage. Defensively, Serah Williams (WIS) is averaging 3.0 blocks per game, which is good enough for fifth, and 10.4 rebounds per game to come in 19th.

  • 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 five 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 – 8,970), Maryland (9th – 7,662), Ohio State (11th – 7,088) and Purdue (12th – 6,364).

  • 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.