Big Ten Weekly Women's Basketball Central - Feb. 21-24

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Big Ten Weekly Release - Feb. 21

• The penultimate week of the 2024-25 regular season continues with Penn State and RV/NR Michigan taking the spotlight as Saturday’s lone game, a 12 p.m. ET outing on the Big Ten Network (and the FOX Sports App). Sunday’s action tips off at 12 p.m. ET on BTN with Purdue challenging No. 8 Ohio State and continues on the network with Indiana at No. 22/21 Michigan State at 2 p.m. ET. Iowa plays host to No. 3 UCLA at 2 p.m. ET on Peacock before No. 25/RV Illinois and No. 4 USC battle on FS1 at 4 p.m. ET. This weekend’s three remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).
• The NCAA had its first top 16 reveal on Sunday, which included three Big Ten teams. UCLA was tabbed as the overall No. 1 seed, while USC was selected as a No. 2 seed and Ohio State was chosen as a No. 4 seed. The final top 16 reveal will take place on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
• Three head coaches from the Big Ten Conference were named to the 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Watch List presented by AXIA Time, the Naismith Awards announced Wednesday. Ohio State’s Kevin McGuff, UCLA’s Cori Close and USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb were among the 15 coaches on the list.
• USC has sole possession of the top spot in the conference standings with a 14-1 mark. UCLA sits at 13-1 in league play, followed by Ohio State (11-4), Illinois (11-5) and Maryland (11-5). 
• Teams continue to clinch spots in the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, set for March 5-9 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. So far, 13 teams have earned a berth into the tournament (listed in alphabetical order) – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
• Indiana handed No. 8 Ohio State its largest unranked loss of the season with a 71-61 upset win.
• Junior Lauren Betts finished with six blocks against No. 25 Illinois, bringing her season total to 67 rejections and breaking UCLA’s single-season blocks record previously held by Monique Billings (66 blocks in 2016-17).
• This week’s Associated Press (AP) poll featured six teams from the Big Ten. UCLA clocked in at No. 3 and was joined by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 21 Maryland, No. 22 Michigan State and No. 25 Illinois. Michigan received votes.
• The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today poll featured five Big Ten teams this week. UCLA checked in at No. 3, followed by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 18 Maryland and No. 21 Michigan State. Illinois garnered votes.
• Through Thursday, USC’s JuJu Watkins is the only player averaging at least 20 points per game during conference play (23.7 ppg). On the boards, Illinois’ Kendall Bostic (11.0 rpg) is the lone 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. 5 UCLA, No. 6 USC, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 20 Michigan State, No. 25 Michigan, No. 27 Maryland, No. 29 Iowa, No. 31 Illinois, No. 33 Minnesota, No. 36 Indiana, No. 38 Nebraska and No. 39 Oregon. 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 third-toughest NET strength of schedule in the country. The Boilermakers are joined by USC (7th), Oregon (11th), UCLA (15th), Indiana (16th), Michigan (17th), Iowa (19th) and Maryland (20th) with some of the toughest schedules this season based on NET rankings.
• As a team, USC leads the country behind 7.2 blocks per game while UCLA has the top rebounding margin (+14.2), averages 20.7 assists (4th) and shoots 48.4 percent from the field (6th). Ohio State has the best mark in the nation in turnover margin (+10.5) and Illinois has a 79.1 free throw percentage to check in sixth.
• Offensive production remains the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has seven teams averaging more than 75 points per game, six of which are included among the nation’s top 25 scoring offenses – USC (10th – 82.2), Michigan State (12th – 80.8), Maryland (16th – 80.0), Ohio State (19th – 79.3), UCLA (20th – 79.2) and Michigan (23rd – 78.6).
• Individually, the Big Ten has two players ranked in the top 10 in the nation in field goal percentage – Penn State’s Gracie Merkle (4th – 66.7) and UCLA’s Lauren Betts (8th – 61.3). USC’s JuJu Watkins is fifth in the country in total points (632) and third in points per game (24.3). Illinois’ Kendall Bostic (11.1) stands seventh in rebounds per game, Northwestern’s Caroline Lau dishes 6.1 assists per game (8th) and Betts averages 2.91 blocks per game (5th).
• Big Ten teams have been passing the rock quite well this season as six programs rank in the top 25 in the country in assists per game, led by UCLA (4th – 20.7), Michigan State (10th – 18.7), Northwestern (17th – 17.9), Penn State (19th – 17.7), Iowa (21st – 17.6) and Nebraska (23rd – 17.5).
• 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 (16.1 apg) while standing second in field goal percentage (.446) and points (73.5 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 40 in the nation in average attendance, including 10 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 – 10,838), Maryland (8th – 8,415), Ohio State (13th – 6,523), USC (14th – 5,711), Nebraska (15th – 5,523), Oregon (18th – 5,327), UCLA (19th – 5,244), Purdue (24th – 4,849) and Illinois (25th – 4,847).
• Sophomore JuJu Watkins was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday and selected as one of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on Tuesday. Watkins paced USC to a pair of wins by averaging 27.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.0 blocks. She dropped 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in the Trojans’ upset of No. 1 UCLA. Her eight blocks were a new career high and tied for third-most in a game by a Trojan as USC earned its first win over an AP top-ranked opponent since 1983. Watkins also put up 17 points, eight boards, six assists and a steal at Washington.
• Ohio State’s Ava Watson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday. She scored 16 points off the bench and recorded a pair of steals in 18 minutes of action against Minnesota. Watson went 5-for-6 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc.
• UCLA spent 12 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25, a new Big Ten women’s basketball record for weeks atop the rankings.
• 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.