WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 2/28/2024, Last updated: 3/15/2024
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Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Feb. 27-29

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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. 26-27)

BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - FEB. 27

  • The final week of the 2023-24 Big Ten Conference regular season tips off Tuesday with No. 14/12 Indiana visiting Northwestern at 7 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App). Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State meet Wednesday with a 7 p.m. ET showdown on Peacock. Action continues on Peacock as No. 6 Iowa takes on Minnesota at 9 p.m. ET. A BTN doubleheader is slated for Thursday, featuring Wisconsin at Maryland (6 p.m. ET) and Illinois at NR/RV Michigan State (8 p.m. ET). All 14 schools will take the hardwood on Sunday, starting with a marquee top-10 matchup as No. 2 Ohio State heads to No. 6 Iowa for a 1 p.m. ET contest on FOX. BTN will air two more games – NR/RV Michigan State at Wisconsin (2 p.m. ET) and Nebraska at Illinois (4 p.m. ET). No. 14/12 Indiana hosts Maryland on Peacock at 3 p.m. ET and Michigan welcomes Purdue at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 to wrap up the regular season. This week’s remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).

  • HISTORY. MADE. All-session tickets are sold out for the 2024 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, marking the first sellout in the history of the 31-year event. More than 109,000 fans are expected to attend the five-day event, scheduled for March 6-10 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. The Target Center is home to the four-time WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx and the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. The tournament returns to the Twin Cities for the second time after a record-setting event last year.

  • Ohio State clinched a share of the Big Ten’s regular-season title with a 79-66 win over Maryland. The Buckeyes improved to 15-1 in conference play and locked in the No. 1 seed for the 2024 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. Ohio State extended its conference record with its 16th Big Ten women’s basketball crown. It is the first since 2022 when the Buckeyes shared the title with Iowa.

  • The USBWA (U.S. Basketball Writers Association) announced its 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year Watch List on Tuesday, featuring five players from the Big Ten Conference – Mackenzie Holmes (IND), Caitlin Clark (IOWA), Kate Martin (IOWA), Cotie McMahon (OSU) and Jacy Sheldon (OSU).

  • Cailtin Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history, had 24 points against Illinois to bring her career total to 3,617 points. She is just 51 points shy of passing Pete Maravich, the all-time scoring leader in NCAA college basketball history at 3,667 points.

  • ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the second time in program history to highlight the matchup between No. 6 Iowa and No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday. The national broadcast will take place from 11 a.m. to noon ET before the game tips on FOX at 1 p.m. ET.

  • The Big Ten is tied for second among Division I conferences with a remarkable eight schools in the top 50 of the latest NET rankings (including four in the top 25) – No. 5 Iowa, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 13 Indiana, No. 22 Michigan State, No. 28 Nebraska, No. 31 Penn State, No. 32 Maryland and No. 45 Illinois. 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 10 of this week’s Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll. Ohio State remains at No. 2, tying its highest ranking in program history. Iowa drops two spots to No. 6 and Indiana is steady at No. 14.  

  • The Big Ten has three programs featured in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll. Ohio State is holding at No. 2, its highest ranking this season. Iowa falls two spots to No. 6 and Indiana gained four spots to check in at No. 14. 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 third in the nation in both strength of schedule for games played and 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), Michigan State (6th – 84.6), Penn State (7th – 83.9), Ohio State (13th – 80.9) and Indiana (16th – 80.5).

  • The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (75.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.349), free throw percentage (.741), field goal percentage (.451) and assists (16.3 apg).

  • With a 1.67 assist/turnover ratio, Michigan State sits at No. 2 in the NCAA’s national statistical rankings. Iowa (7th – 1.54) and Indiana (9th –1.42) are also included in the top 10. Individually, DeeDee Hagemann (MSU) comes in third at 3.05.

  • The Big Ten features some of the best shooting teams in the country with five programs among the top 20, including four in the top 10, in field goal percentage. Indiana has the best mark in the country at 51.8 percent, followed by Iowa (5th – .501), Penn State (7th – .489), Michigan State (9th – .481) and Ohio State (15th – .470). Indiana, Penn State, Iowa and Michigan 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 eighth at 38.3 percent. The Hawkeyes rank 14th with a 37.3 clip and the Spartans are converting at a 37.0 rate for 16th.

  • 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 – 21.3), Michigan State (7th – 19.2), Indiana (15th – 18.7), Ohio State (20th – 17.6) and Northwestern (25th – 17.4). A quartet of Big Ten players rank among the top 25 nationally in assists – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (1st – 8.5 apg), Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (6th – 6.2 apg), Minnesota’s Amaya Battle (19th – 5.7 apg) and Northwestern’s Caroline Lau (24th – 5.4 apg).

  • Individually, Caitlin Clark (IOWA) leads the country in points (900), points per game (32.1) and assists (239). Serah Williams (WIS) is averaging 2.96 blocks (6th) and 11.2 rebounds (8th) rebounds per game. Mackenzie Holmes (IND) is shooting 65.6 percent from the floor to rank third in field goal percentage, followed by Hannah Stuelke (IOWA) at 63.7 percent for fifth and Kendall Bostic (ILL) with a 60.7 clip to stand 12th.

  • 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 20, with both figures leading all Division I conferences. Iowa is second nationally in attendance (14,998 fans per game), followed by Indiana (6th – 9,869), Maryland (9th – 7,612), Ohio State (10th – 7,336), Purdue (15th – 6,102) and Nebraska (16th – 6,088).

  • 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 Illinois-Iowa game on Feb. 25 registered 816,000 viewers, good for the most-watched women’s basketball game in FS1 history.

  • Nebraska’s win over Iowa on Feb. 11 averaged 1,772,000 viewers, making it the most watched women’s college basketball game ever on FOX.

  • The Penn State-Iowa matchup on Feb. 8 pulled 657,000 viewers, good for both the most watched women’s college basketball game on the Big Ten Network and the most watched live women’s sporting event ever on BTN.

  • The primetime battle on Feb. 3 between Iowa and Maryland averaged 1,578,000 viewers, the second-most watched women’s college basketball game in FOX’s history.  

  • The Jan. 27 outing between Nebraska and Iowa drew 421,000 viewers, making it the second-most watched women’s basketball broadcast in Big Ten Network history.

  • 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.